filler

Treading the boards -1962 (20)

** Brian's Mother: "He's not the messiah. He's a very naughty boy!" **

I re read the the lines over and over again. I wasn't an actress but I was willing to try to help my Cambridge Uni friends in their endeavours at 'on campus' entertainment.

John strolled over and leaned his towering figure over my shoulder "OK love, just give us your broadest crassiest Liverpudlian accent then Eric, Terry, and I will pick up the scene and you just hover in the background, hunched over a bit with a scowl and your hands on your hips, OK? you know.... like your normal posture" He waved a hand around flippantly and made me giggle.

"Aye, I sure will" I said as brashly as I could making him smile broadly he then took off across the room doing one of his brand new, soon to be famous 'Ministry of the Silly Walks' Walk. I smiled and turned to walk off the tiny stage.

I was in my final year at Cambridge University and life was finally good. New friends like John Cleese and Eric Idle and their troupe of fellow comics, they make me laugh so hard my sides almost split and tears of laughter fall, instead of tears of sorrow. Such a blessing to see the light of a wonderful happy life for once.

I had already been drafting legal documents for my new friends, their careers seemingly on the verge of stardom. Contracts with the BBC television station and other possible movie deals meant I got to sink my teeth into a new branch of the legal industry – film, stage, screen and music and it was fun.

James visited as often as he could. He was making a go of it in a small band in London which was tremendous for him and mother wrote small letters regularly keeping them mostly happy in tone so not to worry me as I was so far away, I guess.

"Action" yelled Eric as if a producer of a blockbuster film in the making. I hobbled out onto the stage and promptly feel over a stool. Hoots of laughter and people racing in to lift me up laughing and smiling. 

Eric then putting on a posh Queen accent "We are not amused!! WE are the comedians young lady not thee" then it was my turn to double over in fits of glee.

** words from - Monty Python's Life of Brian