On Tuesday 17^th March 2009, three students from Park High School had the amazing opportunity to meet and interview one of the world’s most influential comedians and well known travel documentary makers. We talked to a comedian that changed the world of comedy, just by writing jokes, which made six friends laugh and so Monty Python was born. As well as this, he has been on some amazing journeys around the world.

 

In his documentary, “Around the world in 80 days”, Michael Palin visited the state of Gujarat. He travelled with a crew aboard the Al Shama, and even though they didn’t all speak the same language, they had the most amazing journey across the Persian Gulf from Dubai to Mumbai. Within seven to eight days, they got through dangerous waters and rough weather - thanks to the help of the Al Shama crew and the wooden dhow. His journey was one he will never forget, so it was no surprise that he wanted to go back and revisit the crew. He learnt that even when you can’t speak the same language, “you can still break down barriers, through sharing a joke.”

 

In his latest series “Around the World in 20 Years” Palin revisited Gujarat in an attempt to rediscover the lost ship and crew. His journey was one of success and joy. Palin explained, “Those were the people I most wanted to see again”, because these were the people who helped him to survive a wonderful, but at times difficult, journey. Throughout this time, Palin encountered many new situations and experienced a few surprises. Bombay’s economy and population had grown vastly since he last visited, but he still realised that it is “A richer city, but it still has big problems.” On the way, he learnt about the drinking policy in Gujarat, which is in place to show respect for Mahatma Gandhi because he didn’t drink. He also saw the Tiffin Walla’s, who are the people who deliver lunches to people around the city and this also really impressed him.

 

When asked if Palin could speak any Gujarati, he just laughed and replied he learnt how to say “Which is the way to the place in Mandhvi?” As well as going to Gujarat, we asked him if he could choose a favourite country. Michael Palin clearly found this difficult to answer. After some consideration he said that, “In terms of adventure, somewhere like Peru was spectacular.” But, “If you want to get the colour and excitement of life, then India is a good place to go to as any.” With all these adventures, we were curious to know how his wife felt about him gallivanting around the world. Again Palin gave a light hearted and personal response, explaining, “She knows I enjoy doing it, and if she says “no” I can’t go, I generally start being sort of restless and start stomping around the house.”

 

All of this travel has taken palace when Palin has been an adult, which led us to ask him what opportunities he had to travel as a child. He told us that he did not travel much when he was younger. Palin grew up in Sheffield, where there “wasn’t much opportunity” to travel. He said that he only travelled in his mind whilst reading books such as “Arabian nights.” As Geography was his favourite subject at school, he was ecstatic when he was given the opportunity to travel around the world for the BBC. Before this, Palin had told us, “I didn’t go out of this country till I was nineteen, when I went to Austria” and “The first time I left Europe was when I was thirty-two when I went to America.”

 

Another topic that we discussed with Palin was his stammering charity. His charity was influenced by his father’s stammer. Palin also played a character, with a stammer, in the famous Hollywood movie called, “A Fish Called Wanda”. The charity was started as he was particularly interested in helping children who had a stammer and he said that it has “been running for sixteen years and it’s been very successful and I’m very proud of it.” This is definitely one of Plain’s lifetime achievements, as it has helped a huge number of students and the charity has in fact been named after him.

 

When asked if he had any advice for children who are affected by stammering, Palin replied, “Remember that the reason why people stammer is not because they are stupid…it is usually because they are bright and they have lots of things to say.” Palin advised, “Remember to be yourself.” This seems like great advice for all students.

 

As our school has recently taken part in Comic Relief, we were keen to find out how he thought comedy could impact on people’s lives. He said, “Comedy is a way of dealing with a lot of problems that we have”. Palin went on to suggest that we should “let comedy and humour be part of our lives.” Comedy has obviously been a huge part of his life; Monty Python had a unique influence on the world of comedy. Yet he seemed slightly puzzled that Monty Python has had such a big impact and said the Monty Python crew had no idea that it would still have an influence today. When asked about his favourite comedian, at the moment, Palin listed many comedians including Paul Whitehouse and Ricky Gervais.

 

Palin’s career has been wide and varied, spanning comedy, writing, films and travel. He found it difficult to pin-point one highlight, but when pushed he considered that “going to the North pole and South pole was pretty good.” He explained that being able to point at the top and bottom of the globe and declare that he had been there was something “only a few people can say”. He also commented that “Meeting the Dalai Lama was a great moment, but being kissed by Jamie Lee Curtis” was certainly a memorable moment.

 

Michael Palin has influenced many young travellers and comedians, so we asked for some advice for students hoping to follow in his footsteps. Palin insisted no one can follow in his or anyone else’s exact footsteps but told us that “there is nothing to stop” us achieving our dreams and suggested we follow our “enthusiasm and passion.”

 

Finally, before we had to leave his enormous office, we asked him for an exclusive scoop on anything that he has coming up in the future. He said that he “doesn’t have any travelling planned”. However, we were lucky enough to be the first ones in the “outside world” to learn the title of his soon to be published diaries from the 1980s. He revealed the name would be “Halfway to Hollywood.”

 

This was an amazing, once in a lifetime experience for us. His determination and achievements with his travelling and his natural talent for making people laugh is an astounding accomplishment that has been enjoyed for generations. Michael Palin really is a national treasure.

 

Ravi, Shivani and Daveena