IGNFF: It's interesting how prescient some of the selections are, given the current world climate…
IDLE: It is, isn't it?
IGNFF: Especially the song "We're Much Better Than You Are…
IDLE: Yes.
IGNFF: When was the album recorded?
IDLE: It was recorded around this time last year, probably from about now till the Summer, and then we did some more early in the Fall. It was mainly about reshaping, and trying to get the shape right.
IGNFF: Was the subtext of the song a conscious decision, or is it just easy to read subtext into a song like that?
IDLE: I think this is fairly general satire that has become very topical, because people started behaving like archetypes again. I think this is a major satire thing, and the satirical parts seem to speak to us more strongly. In another time, we may well think that the funny little animals were the most funny. But now these things pop out at us, as if, "Oh! That seems to be what's going on!"
IGNFF: How do you compare how audiences react to satire now to how audiences reacted to the material you did during Python in the late 60's/early 70's?
IDLE: Python was post-satire. I call it generalized lunacy. It deals with archetypes, which is why it can rerun all the time. It doesn't have any localized basis in time. Satire tends to respond to exigencies of the moment. What's interesting about this is that it's got a bit of both, so that the satire tends to apply to right now…
IGNFF: As you say, in a generalized fashion. Because in listening to it, you can apply many different meanings to what it's saying, besides just being funny on a base level…
IDLE: That's good.
IGNFF: And when are you going to launch your own reality series? Something like "Eric Idle's Have You No Shame?"…
IDLE: I've got an offer to do The Rutland Isles, but I'm not sure if it's a good enough offer yet.
IGNFF: Which network?
IDLE: They shall remain unnamed, lest they be ashamed by the paucity of their offer.
IGNFF: But this is the perfect venue to do just that…
IDLE: To insult them…
IGNFF: Shame them in print.
IDLE: No, I can't do that.
IGNFF: Is it something that is fully developed in your mind, as far as translating it to live action?
IDLE: I'm torn between doing a general full-length, like, DVD of the islands, or doing an episodic 25 minutes. You know, episodic with a different island each week… just a TV series. That's my dilemma at the moment. Part of me likes to wrap things up and go on to something different, but I haven't quite made up my mind yet.
IGNFF: I assume it's also a matter of not getting bogged down in something should the deal turn sour…
IDLE: Well, they never kind of offer you a series – they always offer you pilots. I hate being in that sort of mainstream of commerce.
IGNFF: Is it easier to pitch it in the US or the UK?
IDLE: In the US.
IGNFF: So essentially, one day we could have the mockumentary of The Travel Channel actually playing on The Travel Channel…
IDLE: It would be nice. I think that's an appropriate place.
IGNFF: It's amazing that no matter how many channels we have, they all still go after the same broad, watered-down audience. You'd think with 1,000 channels they'd at least try to play to a niche every once in awhile…
IDLE: Yeah, I guess so. That's because it's got commercials on it. That's the issue.
IGNFF: What other projects do you have lined up for the future? You've always struck me as the most prolific of the former Pythons…
IDLE: Really? I have a movie I want to direct, which is called Remains of the Piano – which is a piss-take on Merchant Ivory…
IGNFF: This is the Award-Seeking film?
IDLE: An Award-Seeking film, which is close to going. What else am I doing? I have a musical which is a secret, and we'll announce it soon. John Du Prez and I have written this musical.
IGNFF: Is it in the same vein as your past work, or is it a "straight" musical?
IDLE: It's a comedy. It's got some good stuff in it.
IGNFF: Will we be seeing more Rutland Isles CDs?
IDLE: I don't know. I really don't know. We're trying to reinvent the comedy CD. There's just no market for them… they've been sort of out of existence, so one needs to see if people actually buy these things – not just copy them and send them around to each other! That's why I'm offering the calendar on the website to encourage people to actually buy the thing.
IGNFF: We'll definitely be linking back to the website…
IDLE: Oh good! Because you can only get the calendar through the website.
IGNFF: Are there going to be more updates on the website as time goes by?
IDLE: I would hope so. A website can be very time-intensive, but I'd love to have one where people can contribute to it – like invent islands and make their own flags, and their own laws. I think that'd be kind of fun. Fill in some of the 468,000 islands. Find the ingenuitive people who can sit at home and write this stuff… invent the animals… I'd love to do that. I haven't quite had the time to take away to figure out how that would work.
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/392/392962p1.html
