Some twenty years ago, there was a movie that assembled players from the Monty Python TV series along with American actors Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis. A Fish Called Wanda was an entertaining comedy featuring an assortment of odd characters. One of those characters, an animal-loving, people-hating, stutterer named Ken, was played by Michael Palin to great comic affect.
As it turns out the last name of Palin’s character was Pile. Although it was somewhat funny to essentially share the same name as a character in a hit movie, it was sort of embarrassing to be associated with such a flawed character. Fortunately, his last name was not mentioned in the movie.
Fast-forward a year or two and who was to appear at the booth across from the one I was manning at the Western Cable Show, but none other than Michael Palin. As it turns out, Palin was in Anaheim promoting his A&E program, 80 Days Around the World. I casually strolled over to the A&E booth and approached Palin with my business card in hand.
No words from me were needed as I simply handed him my business card. The first words out of his mouth were something about needing to contact his attorney. We shared a laugh over the situation. He autographed his photo by starting it with, “To-to-to, K-K-K en….” He impressed me with his class and down to earth personality.
Palin is in the news again, as he is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his unique video travelogue with a new show, 80 Days Revisited. This one hour show is to debut on BBC1 around Christmas. It promises to be more than just about the places he visited, but is about reuniting with the people who helped get him to those places. Congratulations to Palin for this new installment to his old show.