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I don’t know who he was, but later he rang, saying he was a film producer and would like to ‘talk over some ideas’. While we were thus on display, and chatting very pleasantly (Rick seems the nearest to one of us we’ve met), they pointed out a man who was apparently well-known in NY for star-spotting. He spends all his time outside hotels approaching people indiscriminately and asking them if they’re celebrities. He then takes an autograph off them. Rick guaranteed that if any of us popped out of the elegant revolving door of the Navarro, we would be accosted instantly. We tried it with Terry Jones with total lack of success. Terry even hung around waiting to be recognised. Finally, in some disappointment, Rick buttonholed the star-spotter and said, ‘Aren’t you going to ask your usual question?’ He viewed Terry rather sceptically and then said … ‘OK, can you lend me ten bucks?’

Tuesday, March 23th

Grand Python reunion at the recording studio!1 [Neither Eric nor John had come on the US publicity tour.] All of us, except Terry Gilliam, contributing. John C had written a piece about a Professor of Logic. We recorded it first time. I think John’s psychiatrist should be sent a copy. It was a funny piece, largely, but loaded with rather passionless and violent sexual references, which sounded odd, for some reason. But there was a generally convivial atmosphere – and we had an excellent lunch at Cheung-Cheung-Ki, about fifty yards down Wardour Street.

We decided that our next film would be ‘Monty Python and the Life of Christ’ – with Graham as Christ, and featuring exciting new characters like Ron the Baptist. We also decided with remarkably little fuss that we would all get together to do a six-week stage show in the US next spring.

Terry and I much brightened this evening, when we go to talk to Helen Dawson of The Observer,2 who had just seen the film on her own. TJ had raced around that morning all in a tizzy trying to prevent her seeing it. Terry has this quite reasonable theory that comedy is best enjoyed with an audience of over 1,000, preferably packed closely together – but from this he has drawn the erroneous conclusion that no-one can enjoy comedy except in a crowd of over 1,000. Helen Dawson turned out to have loved the film and laughed at all the right places and even at the Knights of Ni! She talked to us for a half-hour or so. She’s a lively, capable little lady. Needless to say we both warmed to her! Terry confided that this time last night he had been unhappy because Sheridan Morley3 had disliked the film.’Great!’ she said, ‘If Sheridan Morley didn’t like it, you’re alright.’ And she didn’t say it with any malice.

Wednesday, March 26th

To London Weekend Studios for a Saturday morning children’s show with Michael Wale and an audience of kids doing the interviews.

They showed two clips of the Holy Grail film and then the kids asked questions. First was ‘How much do you think John Cleese was missed in the last series?’ I went on about how we lacked an authority figure, etc, etc, at the end of which Terry said, ‘Well, we really ought to ask you that question.’ ‘Oh, I didn’t think it was half as good without him,’ came the smart reply. The last question was from M Wale, who asked us what we thought of the Goodies. Up spoke young Jones and denounced the Goodies publicly for trivialising serious topics and having no values. The interview ended with a Geordie jug band group throwing eggs at us.

Good Friday, March 28th, Southwold

Really quite heavy snow in the village this morning. On the nine o’clock news they were talking of ‘treacherous’ conditions on the roads around London. But the sun came out and melted everything in a couple of hours. Helen and I left, in separate cars, at about 12.30. She to Abbotsley with the kids and me in the Mini to Southwold for a couple of days, as Mother had rung during the week to tell me that Father had had a sharp deterioration in his condition last Tuesday

Physically, he is fast becoming a write-off and there’s a temptation to think that death would be a merciful