Graham Chapman: Graham Crackers: Fuzzy Memories, Sillybits, And Outright Lies

Graham Chapman: Graham Crackers: Fuzzy Memories, Sillybits, And Outright Lies

Graham Chapman is probably the least famous member of Monty Python: His colleagues tended to play more colorfully comic characters, and he had the poor taste to die in 1989—on the day before the comedy troupe's 20th anniversary. That he has received less attention than his collaborators is a shame, because, as a new Chapman book makes clear, he was a very funny man. Graham Crackers is a collection of Chapman miscellany compiled by occasional writing partner Jim Yoakum. Autobiographical bits appear alongside leftover skit ideas (including an excerpt from the much-discussed unproduced television show for Ringo Starr that Chapman wrote with Douglas Adams), and essays about his exploits with England's lunatic Dangerous Sports Club and the equally lunatic Keith Moon. The slim book has clearly been cobbled together from whatever was left lying around, but it feels more like a tribute than a cash-in. While Python completists will want it more than most, any book that includes the story of Chapman's lecture appearance before the Cambridge/Oxford University Union dressed as a carrot is bound to be worth a look.

 
Join the discussion...