Ojril Completely Incom Gra Chapman

I didn't know what to expect when I ordered 'Ojril-The Completely Incomplete Graham Chapman', but as a lifelong Pythonphile, I was interested by any original content from Graham. Essentially, this is a book of unpublished and unproduced scripts written by Chapman with others, notably Douglas Adams. Including the very short "VD", "Jake's Journey", a pilot for an American sitcom written immediately prior to Graham's death, the odd conceptual piece "The Concrete Inspector", and the hilarious highlight of the book written in collaboration with the equally offbeat Douglas Adams, "Our Show For Ringo Starr", which was a avant-garde script for an hour long TV show promoting Ringo's then current album "Goodnight Vienna". (The best line is when Ringo gets to say: "The concept of a four-dimensional space-time continuum inevitably suggests that the universe looks like a prawn omelette.") I found "Jake's Journey" a bit tedious and formulaic, and the Ringo piece utterly brilliant, with everything else falling somewhere in between. Also of great use to the collector is a 'Chapmanography' of videos, recordings and books in which Graham somehow contributed. This book is a very quick read, and I recommend it to people interested in Graham or Monty Python, just realize that it really isn't a biographical work as much as a set of quirky skits.

Let's face it: Graham Chapman was weird. Which isn't to say he made no sense. I'm sure he made perfect sense to himself and other alcoholics, but a lot of times he was just plain weird. Still, it's fun to step into his mind just simply because you never know what you'll find. Never predictable, always unexpected, if you ever enjoyed Monty Python you'll enjoy this unique look at Graham's unpublished work. Personally as a Pythonite, I relished and adored it. But even a casual fan will appreciate the unusual sketches and bits that this gem contains.Pick it up. Read it twice. You won't understand all of it, but laugh, because you're not alone.

This is a really funny book. No kidding. Really funny. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Why doesn't some clever producer snap up these sketches and put them on TV then we'd be spared another season full of dreck!

If there is any doubt left that Graham Chapman could write effective comedy outside of his partnership with John Cleese, this delightful collection of unreleased scripts should do the trick. Sadly, unlike Cleese, Chapman could never get his solo projects truly off the starting blocks (we'll skip the sub-par flop that was YELLOWBEARD), and as a result he never had the solo success each of his fellow Pythons have enjoyed in various degrees. Nevertheless, this book is a vivid demonstration of the uncompromising comic spark Graham brought to Python and to Cleese's writing in particular. Without Chapman's brilliantly intuitive and raging insanity, Cleese's humor became safe, formulaic, smug and user-friendly (as in FIERCE CREATURES and -gulp! - WANDA). By the same token, Cleese's shrewd grasp of language and structure were sorely missing from Chapman's undisciplined, inaccessible and scattershot script for YELLOWBEARD. Still, if you're a fan of the blond, pipe-smoking doctor, this is a must-own. There are four separate pieces here, each compiled by Jim Yoakum, who collaborated with Graham on and off in the years before Chapman's death. Graham's longtime companion, David Sherlock, also offers commentary. "Our Show For Ringo Starr," a TV special written by Chapman with Douglas Adams kicks things off, and it is by far the longest piece. It's awkward in places, but the best of it has a manic narrative feel that would not be out of place in a series four Python episode. The story concerns Ringo's adventures with a robot that behaves like an early version of Marvin the Paranoid Android. In fact, Adams recycled the B-Ark sequence from this script for one of his Hitchhiker books, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe." Ringo is mistakenly given powers by this robot, who confuses him with a Rinog Trars. The script is punctuated by proto videos featuring songs from Ringo's (so-so) album GOODNIGHT VIENNA. Some of it is very funny, but after a while the story begins to chase its own tail. The pilot script for "Jake's Journey" is next, and it is my favorite piece in the book. The story centers around an American teen who is sucked into a surreal adventure with a crusty old knight called Sir George (who comes across as a wised-up, more assured version of Chapman's King Arthur from "Holy Grail"). It has a warmth and gentleness that's unique for Chapman, whose humor was usually more aggressive and disturbing. He'd clearly come a long way since the "The Undertaker Sketch". Graham wrote this with Sherlock, who no doubt played a hand in toning down his partner's excesses. It would have made an imaginative TV series, had CBS had the nuts to put it into their schedule (and Graham not had the gall to die from cancer). "The Concrete Inspector," the script for a surreal short film, was mainly penned by Yoakum, but Chapman's touches are nevertheless distinctive. The 'It's technical' joke came directly from Terry Southern's novella MAGIC CHRISTIAN (the film version of whi

I never knew Graham Chapman (the mad man of Monty Python) had written so much stuff! This book is a treasure trove for any Python fan, or for anybody who just likes funny scripts. Highly recommended.