There And Back: Interview with Michael Palin
by James Rampton
Sir Michael Palin is back with a tour and new book...
Cover image: John Swannell
Here’s an announcement that will delight Sir Michael Palin’s legions of fans: “I don’t think I’m ever going to stop.”
The enormously popular presenter, comedy legend, bestselling author and actor, but he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. He is still twice as busy as people half his age.
The indefatigable star’s latest project is a brilliant new stage show. “There and Back – The Diary Tour 2024” brings to life Michael’s forthcoming diary. Also called There and Back, it will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 26 September.
The tour starts on 15 September in Norwich and then travels to cities across the UK before finishing at London’s Cadogan Hall on 15 October.
Like Michael himself, it is captivating, compelling, charismatic, charming and comic. Talking to me in the run-up to the tour, he calls it, “70% comedy and 30% tragedy – much like life!”
The show is based on the fourth instalment of Michael’s acclaimed diaries, covering the years 1999 to 2009.
Over two mesmerising hours, and employing the magnetism and warmth that have made him a beloved figure the world over, Michael recounts the minutiae of living in a world battered by such potent winds of change.
And yet amid all the tumult, there is one constant: Michael’s unquenchable inquisitiveness and endless thirst for adventure. The show tracks his life as he films four blockbuster travel documentaries – Hemingway Adventure, Sahara, Himalaya and New Europe – and reaches the height of his fame as a much-loved TV traveller.
The presenter also hones in on his domestic life and recounts how five years after the last of his children flew the nest, he began his most affecting journey yet – as a devoted grandfather.
They say you should never meet your heroes, but that is not the case with Michael. He is as delightful in person as he is on stage and screen. Not for nothing, is he frequently described as the nicest man in showbiz. Michael, who still writes a daily diary, gives his own précis of the show. “It covers how my career panned out during that decade. I actually had no plans to carry on travelling at all.
I wanted to go back to acting and writing. I was in fact writing a novel at the time. But I ended up being tempted back to globetrotting and in the end made a number of TV journeys that turned out to be among the best…”
And then, “There were all these other things going on in the background. We think it was quiet time. But of course, there was 9/11, 7/7, the CJD crisis, when cattle were burnt in enormous numbers, and the war in Iraq.”
“I’M 81 NOW. I HAVE TO GO STRAIGHT BACK HOME AFTER THE SHOW TO HAVE A MUG OF HORLICKS AND SLEEP IN MY OWN BED.”
On a happier note, “I was gathering a number of very good friends around me. There are people like David Attenborough, Barry Cryer, and Alan Bennett, who feature a lot in the diaries. I always benefited from their wise words, and I feel very privileged to have spent so much time with them.”
Michael will also be talking about his enduring friendship with his fellow members of the Monty Python team. He says, “The best thing is, when we do get together, we still make each other laugh. That’s the basic thing which holds us together, our humour and our delight in laughter and the same kind of jokes.”
He smiles, “John Cleese does a very good satire of my travel shows. He always says, ‘Who’s seen one of Michael’s travel programmes? All he asks is, ‘Where did you get that hat?’’”
Assessing the cultural legacy of Monty Python – who have bequeathed to the world such timeless comedy moments as the “Dead Parrot” sketch – Michael recalls, “ In the early noughties we were persuaded into creating a lot of Python collectibles. One of them was a wine called the Norwegian Blue Red. We actually printed a label with that on it.”
With a laugh, he adds, “I realise my contribution to the world as it is today is as a parrot salesman. I never forget that!”
Another major topic in the show is Michael’s family life. “I think a good diary includes whatever is happening to you at the time, and a lot of my diaries are about being at home and how we all get on and how we are.
“So in these diaries, our last child leaves home, so it’s just my wife and I together. I turned 60 in 2003, and we discussed whether I would retire. Of course, I didn’t, but that was part of the family debate at the time.”
Is there an overarching theme to “There and Back – The Diary Tour 2024”? “One thing I talk about a lot is learning new things. I discuss what sort of longevity my work might have and whether I can keep going. There is lots of worrying about where I am going and making mistakes along the way.
“So it’s a holistic look at 11 years of my life when I was going from youthful exuberance into middle age. But the thing is, although I was middle aged, I didn’t stop. There seemed to be an awful lot going on. And I know that’s how it’s always going to be. I think I’ll die in harness!”
Michael is relishing the prospect of being in tour. “I love the theatre tour because it’s different every single night. But whenever you step on stage, it’s a different place and a different audience.
“Although you perform similar material at each show, I enjoy the spontaneity of walking out on stage and changing things at the last minute. Also, you can actually see the people who like your material. On television, you don’t know who’s watching.”
Michael, who has had two trains and an asteroid named after him, takes great pleasure in interacting with fans during the show, but does not usually hang around afterwards to chat. “I’d love to, but there just isn’t any time really. So I just make it as friendly and warm as possible during the actual show. I’m 81 now. I have to go straight back home after the show to have a mug of Horlicks and sleep in my own bed. It’s not like the old days!”
What does Michael hope that audience members will be saying to each other as they leave the theatre, then? “They’ll be saying, ‘39 pounds! You must be joking!’ No, the great thing about doing these shows is that people come along because they know me. They’re not saying, ‘Who is this Michael Palin? He’s just reading bits out of his diary. Come on. He doesn’t jump through any flaming hoops or do any acrobatics.’
“People who enjoy my work will be interested in the background to a lot of the major travel programmes that I did, how I decide what to do next, how I face challenges, and how I deal with getting older in a young person’s world.
“I’m driven by curiosity. You never, ever come to the stage where you say, ‘Right, I know it all now’. Absolutely not. The more you ask, the more you realise how little you know.”
In addition, “It keeps you healthy. Making programmes is very good for you mentally. You have to learn about a different way of life in totally different surroundings. You also have to be physically strong to do it. Filming is like a commando raid for three weeks. You just go in, get as much material as you can, and then come out again. I find that demanding and very exciting.”
And so, “I’ll do it until someone tells me to stop”.
I don’t think that moment will ever come.
THERE AND BACK – THE DIARY TOUR 2024 – 15th SEPT– 15th OCT
There And Back: Diaries 1999-2009 by Michael Palin is published by W&N ON 26th Sept in hardback, ebook and audio download.
NorthernLife Sep/Oct/Nov 24
