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Parky- The One Man Show.
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Parky- The One Man Show. we went and saw Michael Parkinson in his one man show, Parky, tonight. whilst i was not really sure what to expect it more or less unfolded much as i thought it would- a talk on his life interspersed with some of his favourite moments from the various interviews he has done on his shows. i am not quite sure when i became a fan of Parky, it is just one of those things that has always been there and missed when it hasn't been. i was interested to discover that between 1984 and 1997 he recorded no shows- it seemed that he was always on television for much of that period in Australia. his critics often let fly at the lack of confrontation in his style, but i think it adds to the attractiveness of the programme. i think we have all been in positions where we have faced criticism for some action or another and been unable to get an explanation out about how we saw things; hell it was much of the reason i quit my job recently. so being able to get an explanation of some event from the person involved can be a positive. until recently i thought that Posh and Becks were both dickheads but having watched their joint interview and his solo interview with Parky, Beckham comes across as a nice guy with a cunt wife. the revelation that she behaved so poorly towards him when the first allegations of his infidelities came out despite most of them being blatantly untrue makes you wonder if he didn't confess to the whole Loos scandal just to get it out of the way. i mean the idea of having to beg your wife through the front door of your own home to be let into the house because she says its the only way she is going to let him in must have been a deeply humiliating moment. plus you have to wonder about her grip on reality when she describes herself as an average working mum a few minutes after telling the world that she regularly spends 10 000pounds on shopping trips to Bond Street. the most memorable Parky interview in my mind, though certainly not the best, was the appearance of a supremely inebriated Oliver Reed and a smart-arse Clive James. there were several moments when Reed looked like he was going to punch James; but his probing of Reed gave an awful insight into the machinations of his brain and the cause of his drinking- to be that talented and still so deeply unhappy. one of my favourite moments was Robbie Williams' first appearance on the show. with his boyband background and a few media appearances i thought Williams' just a wanker in love with himself. but the revelation that despite all his success that he hadn't thought he was truly famous until he appeared on Parky's show because his gran thought the only famous people in the world were Parky's guests made me view him with a bit more of an open mind. he was really impressive for a while there but you have to wonder, given the quality of some of his latest offerings, whether Williams might be having a few drug problems or something. we were talking about Williams and Nirvana songwriter Kurt Cobain and comparing them to Lou Reid and Warren Zevon; whilst immensely talented i don't think either is a truly great songwriter for Williams seems to be resting on his laurels and Cobain thought that he had done everything and blew his brains out. Williams might make a comeback but Cobain forfeits his status forever in my mind because he never even tried to readjust himself to exploring his talent further as he grew older; Jeff Beck is another i put into that category. i am a bit more tolerant of the claims of Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison because their deaths were apparently accidental (there is no evidence they overdosed on purpose) but they did waste their talents by succumbing to their habits. you could conceivably make the argument that their drug use made them great<b> writers </font></b>but the fact that they overdid it still makes me hesitate to think of them as, shall we say, complete songwriters. My favourite Parky interviews involved two comedians- Lenny Henry and Billy Connolly. the other comedian i liked is Ben Elton, but he does not give up a lot about himself. Henry and Connolly, however, were not simply funny, there was always some little element of what made them who they were brought up in the shows they appeared on. Henry's honest discussion of his marital problems (he is married to Dawn French). Connolly is always a riot and his stories go on and 'maybe return to the point or maybe don't' of his one man show, the most pleasing aspect was the fact that his favourite interviews were with people not well known outside of their fields, but whose insights were quite remarkable. if there is one fault with Parky's style it was the freedom it gave to some to opine on a chosen 'crisis' without any real knowledge of what they were talking about. all in all it was a pleasant stroll down memory lane.  In truth is there no beauty? I am not in love; but i am open to persuasion. |
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Are you sure it was Lenny Bruce,methinks not. Sobriety is a serious business and business has not been good.
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lenny henry In truth is there no beauty? I am not in love; but i am open to persuasion.
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