No Naughty Bits Press Night #montypython #terrygilliam #michaelpalin

A very short and very loud clip of Terry Gilliam gesticulating a lot

It was a total celeb-fest! In other words, to use a Jonathan Ross term, the celeb/civilian quotient was rather high!

Nigel Franklin talking to Terry Gilliam still gesticulating

In no particular order, on Tues 13 Sept, in addition to Terry Gilliam himself, the Hampstead Theatre was graced by:

• Emma Thompson
• David Gilmour
• Steve Punt
• Larry Lamb
• Alexei Sayle
• Greg Wise
• Maureen Lipman
• Amy Rosenthal
• Simon Jones
• Nancy Lewis-Jones
• Tim McInnerny
• Alison Steadman
• Maryam d'Arbo
• Hugh Hudson
• Robert Hands
• Christopher Biggins

I had such fun that night - one of the most amazing and memorable nights of my life. Thank you SO much to all the lovely staff of the Hampstead Theatre who looked after me so well.

I gave the author of http://therealgilliamfan.blogspot.com over in the US a bit of a shock during the interval. I called her up, then handed my phone to Terry Gilliam. She blogged about the experience here: I Just Told Terry Gilliam "I Love You!!".

In addition to chatting with Terry, I was very pleased to be able to see Simon Jones again. He is SUCH a lovely man. So warm, kind and friendly. I had to talk about his "This is my receipt for your receipt" scene in Brazil, obviously. I also met his wife, Nancy Lewis-Jones, who I think was very tickled for having just seen herself on stage in 1975. And I met their charming son, Tim Jones, who took this picture of his dad and I.

John Wood (me) with Simon Jones

As if that wasn't enough, I ALSO had a chat with David Gilmour. I told him that the album Wish You Were Here was a major part of my school years and that it is just an incredible album. I've got an idea I'm not the first to tell him that, but I'm really glad I did anyway. It sort of completes the circle, and it's not every day you get the opportunity to do that sort of thing now is it?

Press Night Photos/Reviews

1. Wooller.com
2. Broadway World
3. The Arts Desk
4. The Stage
5. What's on Stage?
6. The Independent
7. This is London
8. The Guardian
9. Benchmark.dreamhosters.com
10. The Telegraph
11. The Financial Times
12. The Financial Times - Arts Extra
13. The Metro
14. British Theatre Guide
15. Hampstead Theatre News
16. BBC Radio Four's Front Row
17. Variety
18. Pythonesque
19. West End Whingers
20. (As Yet Unnamed) London Theatre
21. Theatre Voice
22. Wall Street Journal

The Real Gilliam Fan Blog

• No Naughty Bits: How smutty British childish humour took on corporate American and won
• I just told Terry Gilliam "I love you!!"
• First Look: Hampstead Theatre's "No Naughty Bits"

Other links

• Hampstead Theatre on Fousquare
• Hampstead Theatre's Twitter feed
• Twitter search for "No Naughty Bits"
• Twitter search for "Hampstead Theatre"
• Hampstead Theatre's Facebook Page

The last page of the script, signed by Nancy Lewis-Jones and Terry Gilliam