I belong to another Michael Palin board called 'pantingpalin' and recently one of the members, (Lou) went to hear Michael talk about his recent travels in the Sahara. I was kindly given permission to post it here for everyone to read.
Lou wrote:
Hi all
Wish you could've been there to see Michael's talk this afternoon in London ... He came on stage looking great wearing white shirt, darkish jeans and black jacket. And a lovely suntan, lol.
He was really amusing, talking about the filming he`s done for the BBC`s "Sahara" programme and the book he`s doing for the series. He and the film crew visited several countries in Africa, including dangerous places like Libya and Algeria. In one country he had to have an armed guard in order to film, which he said was a bit frightening.
I thought he had a dreadful time in Morocco. He said that he and his film team had lived off camel meat for four days - finally, he ate a bit of camel that was almost rotten and it made him quite ill. He said he had to keep running to the lavatory with a roll of toilet tissue, and also had to stop
filming frequently because he was throwing up so much.
But somehow, he still managed to make this episode sound almost funny! I`m sure it can`t have been, but he made light of it.
I`m trying to remember everything he talked about, there was so much. He said he was chatting to a very nice Mali lady about Muslim attitudes to sex and relationships, but then the boat they were on ran aground in two feet of water and they never finished the conversation. Is that Pythonic or
what ... lol lol lol
Michael then answered some questions from the audience, which they called out [i was in the back row so didn`t get a chance to ask anything]
Here are some:
Q Where is your favourite place?
A I like nice cities, like Sydney or Vancouver. But I`m happiest at home in London with my family and friends all around me
Q How do you combat diseases when travelling?
A I take anti malarial drugs, which any traveller knows about. And I`ve learnt to treat local food with a healthy respect
Q Will you make more travel programmes?
A Hmmmm , yeah, maybe. Hopefully
Q Where do you want to go next?
A The Middle East. That crescent of Syria, Jordan, Israel
Lou wrote more in another message:
I`m glad you liked yesterday`s report - just a few extra bits I meant to mention and didn`t.
Regarding the name of the series & book, I believe it`s to be
called "Sahara - with Michael Palin". He made a joke about the producers wanting to call it "Michael Palin`s Sahara" with his name in huge letters, and Sahara in smaller type. However, he said they couldn`t do that because he didn`t own the desert !! The programme is definitely going to be broadcast this autumn.
His whole talk was without a script, he just chatted away merrily without the need for notes - I`ve seen him do that before. Oh, and he did the famous Palin fidgeting which I love: tugged at his ear, waved his hands around a lot, fiddled with his hair. Michael seems to have a lot of nervous
energy on stage.
He also did something really kind for his fans - because not everyone could get into the theatre area to see him, he agreed to stay late and give the talk again so nobody was disappointed. Is he one decent guy or what !! And at the end, he actually thanked the audience for listening to him, and waved goodbye as everyone applauded loudly.
And there was more in another message:
Mike seems to somehow look better in real life than on TV, seems to respond to the feedback he gets from people. Very animated and certainly doesn`t look his age.
He said on Saturday that frequently he and the crew discuss their digestive systems - *everyone* gets ill at some point. On one Sahara location, they all had to share one room and one squat loo. He described how one night he had to run, several times, to the loo clutching a roll of toilet paper, looking like a madman. The audience roared with laughter, rotten sods!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Now I shall post a message for Lou at 'pantingpalin' and tell her all about the MPEB.
P.S. Hi Je . . . . sorry, I mean Dr. Winston or Piglet.
Lou wrote:
Hi all
Wish you could've been there to see Michael's talk this afternoon in London ... He came on stage looking great wearing white shirt, darkish jeans and black jacket. And a lovely suntan, lol.
He was really amusing, talking about the filming he`s done for the BBC`s "Sahara" programme and the book he`s doing for the series. He and the film crew visited several countries in Africa, including dangerous places like Libya and Algeria. In one country he had to have an armed guard in order to film, which he said was a bit frightening.
I thought he had a dreadful time in Morocco. He said that he and his film team had lived off camel meat for four days - finally, he ate a bit of camel that was almost rotten and it made him quite ill. He said he had to keep running to the lavatory with a roll of toilet tissue, and also had to stop
filming frequently because he was throwing up so much.
But somehow, he still managed to make this episode sound almost funny! I`m sure it can`t have been, but he made light of it.
I`m trying to remember everything he talked about, there was so much. He said he was chatting to a very nice Mali lady about Muslim attitudes to sex and relationships, but then the boat they were on ran aground in two feet of water and they never finished the conversation. Is that Pythonic or
what ... lol lol lol
Michael then answered some questions from the audience, which they called out [i was in the back row so didn`t get a chance to ask anything]
Here are some:
Q Where is your favourite place?
A I like nice cities, like Sydney or Vancouver. But I`m happiest at home in London with my family and friends all around me
Q How do you combat diseases when travelling?
A I take anti malarial drugs, which any traveller knows about. And I`ve learnt to treat local food with a healthy respect
Q Will you make more travel programmes?
A Hmmmm , yeah, maybe. Hopefully
Q Where do you want to go next?
A The Middle East. That crescent of Syria, Jordan, Israel
Lou wrote more in another message:
I`m glad you liked yesterday`s report - just a few extra bits I meant to mention and didn`t.
Regarding the name of the series & book, I believe it`s to be
called "Sahara - with Michael Palin". He made a joke about the producers wanting to call it "Michael Palin`s Sahara" with his name in huge letters, and Sahara in smaller type. However, he said they couldn`t do that because he didn`t own the desert !! The programme is definitely going to be broadcast this autumn.
His whole talk was without a script, he just chatted away merrily without the need for notes - I`ve seen him do that before. Oh, and he did the famous Palin fidgeting which I love: tugged at his ear, waved his hands around a lot, fiddled with his hair. Michael seems to have a lot of nervous
energy on stage.
He also did something really kind for his fans - because not everyone could get into the theatre area to see him, he agreed to stay late and give the talk again so nobody was disappointed. Is he one decent guy or what !! And at the end, he actually thanked the audience for listening to him, and waved goodbye as everyone applauded loudly.
And there was more in another message:
Mike seems to somehow look better in real life than on TV, seems to respond to the feedback he gets from people. Very animated and certainly doesn`t look his age.
He said on Saturday that frequently he and the crew discuss their digestive systems - *everyone* gets ill at some point. On one Sahara location, they all had to share one room and one squat loo. He described how one night he had to run, several times, to the loo clutching a roll of toilet paper, looking like a madman. The audience roared with laughter, rotten sods!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Now I shall post a message for Lou at 'pantingpalin' and tell her all about the MPEB.
P.S. Hi Je . . . . sorry, I mean Dr. Winston or Piglet.
