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Post by reveuse on Nov 18, 2006 4:35:32 GMT
I ventured into a theatre this week for the first time since Ruf's last performance of Rock n Roll...
What a contrast but what a great evening! This was a special 'audience with' in aid of leukaemia research. Mel Brooks was 'interviewed' (for which read prompted very occasionally) by Alan Yentob from the BBC. They also showed a few clips of his work but mostly it was just Mel telling tales and answering questions from the audience.
Lovely intimate little theatre in Piccadilly, great atmosphere and what a sweet, charming, clever, funny man Mel truly is. I felt privileged to be there.
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Post by britfan2 on Nov 18, 2006 16:20:37 GMT
Lucky you! I have always thought Mel to be all that you describe. The man is also a genius in the world of comedy.
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Post by mcr5137 on Nov 18, 2006 16:24:17 GMT
How fun! I think he's a genius! So what kind of tales did he tell and can you give a synopsis of the Q&A? Just little bits.........I think he's so talented I'd like to hear his thoughts!
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Post by reveuse on Nov 20, 2006 0:04:45 GMT
Jeepers - I don't know how much I can remember, though I spent the whole evening laughing...
He told tales from pretty much the whole of his career, from his early days as a writer on a 1950's live US TV comedy show (sorry, can't remember the name of the comedian who starred, but the clip was hilarious) right through to what he's working on now ( a musical version of Young Frankenstein).
The stories were mostly funny things that happened on and off set and his recollections of people he worked with. He adored Madeleine Kahn and told a wonderful tale about Gene Wilder on the last day of Young Frankenstein, sitting on a sofa on set and saying to him "can't you write a few more scenes? I don't want to go home."
The audience questions ranged from what he thought about the difference between US and UK sense of humour (his answer: most things travel >UK but irony doesn't travel well >USA, though his own brand of humour seemed to do well all over) to what he thought of the recent changes in the balance of power following the US elections (answer - a somewhat guarded one that got stronger as he went along and ended with him saying that he thought most people wanted a US withdrawal from Iraq). He was also asked how he thought he got away with 'Springtime with Hitler' (he recounted a funny tale about the backers' first reactions to the scene being rather like those of the audience in the play/film) and whether he thought he would be allowed to make Blazing Saddles now (an emphatic 'no' - "we'd never get away with the 'n' word, or all the comedic references to colour"). And he said that Richard Pryor had helped write the film but that Mel had ended up writing most of the black jokes (all of which he checked with Richard) while Richard wrote most of the Mongo stuff. Richard apparently wanted to play the black sherriff himself, but his drug/alcohol record was so bad at the time, the studio said he was uninsurable.
It was a fascinating evening and what struck me most (apart from how comedically gifted he is) was what a sweet man Mel Brooks really is. I'm sure he's had some rough times in the business over the years and run across some unpleasant people, but all his tales were positive ones and he didn't have a bad word to say about anyone. A real gent. And incredibly sprightly for his 80 or so years - he was up and down out of his chair like a yo-yo and his singing voice is still strong (he burst into a chorus of 'springtime' at one point!)
Hope that gives you a flavour.
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