Terry Jones

And now for something completely different: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones — better known as members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus — will reunite for the science-fiction comedy “Absolutely Anything.”

Per TheWrap, Eric Idle, the other surviving member of the crew, may join the project as well. But before you go thinking this is an official Monty Python get-together, heed Jones’s words.

“It’s not a Python film,” he said. “It’s a different thing. It’s not really that we’re all getting back together.”

To be fair, they sort of are: Jones is set to direct, with Cleese, Palin and Gilliam “playing aliens and possibly several other additional roles, in true Python tradition.”

Producer Mike Medavoy told TheWrap that Robin Williams will join the cast as well. The film will have a budget of $15-20 million and being shooting in England this summer.

No word yet if the Killer Rabbit will also make an appearance.

Send in your questions for children’s author and former Python Terry Jones

Former Monty Python actor/director and children’s author Terry Jones is coming into the office on Thursday to record a Guardian Books podcast interview about his recent book for adults. But we’ve also got some time with him to ask him YOUR questions about his children’s books, his life and his writing.

Terry Jones was recently shortlisted for the Roald Dahl funny prize for his cautionary tales about animals, Animal Tales. The book, illustrated by Michael Foreman, includes whimsical tales of a dog who cannot understand why he is not allowed to practice medicine, a fox who runs a circus of trained chickens, a flea who thinks he is the manager of a chain of mega-stores and a skunk who falls madly in love with a bear.

Jones’s first book for children, published in 1981, was Fairy Tales. He said, “I’d always loved the idea of fairy tales and I thought it would be nice to write totally new ones – ones that haven’t been told before but sound as if they’re old fairy tales… I just took (my daughter) Sally as my audience and quite shamelessly put into the stories everything I knew she liked – witches and monsters and stuff.”

He went on to publish further children’s stories, including The Saga of Erik the Viking, Nicobobinus and Fantastic Stories.

What would you like to ask Terry Jones? Send your question to childrens.books@guardian.co.uk .

Don’t forget to tell us your name and age. Even better, if you can record your question and email us the audio file, we might be able to include your voice asking Terry your question.

The director of Monty Python’s Life of Brian on causing controversy - and why the film’s “overrated”

Tea-time in north London with a contented, mild-mannered academic of 69 who enjoys writing esoteric essays, and being with his Swedish girlfriend of 28 and two-year-old daughter. He’s a bit otherworldly, with a tendency to hesitate [“er, um”] in case he might be critical of colleagues.

Nothing to indicate that in 1979 Terry Jones, a Welshman, directed and acted in what some call blasphemous and others the funniest British comedy ever made: Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

“I’m amazed we’re still discussing it, and I don’t know why – there’s lots of other good stuff around.”

(Source: radiotimes.com)

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It is rare to travel more than 1,000 miles to attend a book launch – and rarer still to pay £250 for the privilege. But when Kate Berova first learnt that Monty Python star Terry Jones was seeking backers for his latest book through the crowdfunding publisher Unbound, she wasted little time in taking up the highest level of subscription and planning her trip to London.

“It’s a lot of money for me but worth every penny,” says Ms Berova, an administrative director at a St Petersburg forestry company whose love of all things Python extends to her introducing herself as “a lumberjack”, in honour of the Python song. Paying out entitled her not only to attend the launch party last week but also to join 11 others in lunching with the writer.

For those not prepared to go so far, £10 buys an ebook and £20 an additional hardback, with extra goodies accruing incrementally. On average, subscribers to Mr Jones’s new book, Evil Machines, spent £30 and all 766, many of whom have signed up for multiple copies, are listed in its final pages. Further copies are available to the public through Unbound’s website, while an edition for bookshops is being distributed by Faber & Faber.

Evil Machines, a collection of gently absurdist tales exploring our relationship with technology, is the first title to be published by the six-month-old Unbound; four other writers have achieved full funding, and a further nine are still seeking enough backing.

The project upends traditional publishing. Writers pitch to the public and production of their books depends on sufficient support being achieved – “readers choosing what they want to read, instead of publishers doing it for them”, as Mr Jones puts it.

Unbound founders Dan Kieran, Justin Pollard and John Mitchinson admit Unbound is in still its infancy. But it is not the only sign of a shift in the relationship between writers and publishers.

Those confident in their ability to market their own work can claim royalties of 70 per cent by publishing ebooks through Amazon or Apple, a significant increase on the 10-15 per cent they would typically earn. The very biggest names have the option of bypassing intermediaries altogether, as JK Rowling has done with her Pottermore website.

Mr Mitchinson, a former managing director of the publisher Cassell & Co and co-founder of the company that makes the BBC television programme QI, starring Stephen Fry, cites a 2007 report showing that the average UK author earned £16,000 a year.

Stripping out the top 10 per cent, who account for more than 50 per cent of the total, put this average at just £4,000.

Unbound aims to improve the return for writers, splitting profits 50/50, but some book industry figures wonder whether it will in fact help only established names, such as Mr Jones. “I’m not a believer in the wisdom of crowds,” says Andrew Franklin, managing director of publisher Profile Books. “If you’re a complete unknown, it’s not going to work.”

Mr Pollard, a writer and historical consultant who also works on QI, concedes that those writers with a big online presence are more likely to succeed at this stage. But he says that this will change as the website’s membership of registered potential backers increases.

He points to the success of Jennifer Pickup, an unpublished novelist whose book Unbelievable this week became the fifth to attract the support necessary for publication to go ahead.

Given the novelty of Unbound’s model, it comes as some surprise to see the hardback copies of Evil Machines unveiled at the launch: cloth-bound in British racing green, with sewn-in bookmark ribbons and illustrated endpapers, they evoke a bygone era of publishing.

In one respect at least, the same can be said of the project as whole. “Dickens and Johnson were subscription-published to start with,” points out Mr Pollard. “It’s a very old idea.”

‘The Unbounders’ solution is to use their website to cut out the middle men’

It was only when I sat and counted them last Friday that I discovered I’m now the proud author of 26 books. Some would call that a library. The first, Chaucer’s Knight, might never have found a publisher if I had not already made a name for myself as a Python. In the late 1970s it was rather tricky for a new writer to get a book published, especially on what was seen as an academic subject. As it happens, were it not for the launch of the publishers Unbound, my most recent collection, Evil Machines, might not have been published either.

Earlier this year I was approached by my old friend Justin Pollard, a writer for QI who, along with a couple of other writers, had the novel idea of getting books published by involving readers directly. They were frustrated by the way in which the publishing industry seems to have lurched towards the pile-‘em-high bestseller, leaving many books that don’t fit the mould on the slush pile, with brilliant yet quirky ideas never seeing the light of day. Worse still, it is getting increasingly harder for an author to survive on ever-dwindling commissions. UK authors on average earned just £4,000 from writing last year on royalty figures of less than 10%. That’s hardly enough to pay for all our fast cars, lavish houses and gold-plated fountain pens, let alone food and a mortgage.

The Unbounders’ solution is to use their website to cut out the middle men. They ask readers directly what books they would like to see funded and then politely suggest that they might like to put their money where their mouths are. By bringing readers and authors closer together, the publishing process can be demystified, even democratised. Authors can publish books that would not be commercially viable for a big publisher and receive 50% of the profits. How could I not be interested?

Justin wondered if I had ideas for a book that I could pitch directly to readers on their new website. As it turned out, I did. Sitting in my bottom drawer were the bones of Evil Machines, a project which had started life as a book of short stories about malevolent technology, but ended up getting adapted into my first opera. My original idea was for each of the stories to give the appearance of a stand-alone fable, but as you got to about half-way through the book, you suddenly realised each story fitted into an overall narrative. The short stories turned into a novel.

I changed the overall narrative for the opera, and always assumed I’d go back and rewrite the book to conform to the story in the opera, but I never got round to it. When Justin asked me if I had anything kicking around, I revisited Evil Machines, and thought Hey! The story works anyway. Why should the book have to be the same as the opera?

A book based on a libretto based on a book might be a tricky sell to most jaded marketing managers, but Unbound didn’t mind. Their books don’t have to fit any predetermined, genre. There are currently books on the website from a heavy metal-loving sociologist writing about big fish in small ponds, starting with The Best Water Skier in Luxembourg; Soviet defector Vitali Vitaliev’s anti-tourist guide to Italy; and a first novel by a Bristol schoolteacher, Jenny Pickup, who was challenged to writeUnbelievable by her students, the cheeky sods.

We launched Evil Machines and Unbound.co.uk at the Hay festival in May, where I pitched my idea for the book live to 500 readers and read “The Nice Bomb”, a story about a rather charming bomb which lands in the middle of the Johnson family’s living room during supper, and says: “You’re all very lucky! Normally my make and model go off 100% of the time!” Readers could ask me questions about the book, and decide whether they wanted to pledge their money to me, or to another author. The same day, my video pitch for the book went up on the Unbound website, along with the first story, “The Truthful Phone” (which relays what people think, not what they say).

Readers chose how much they wanted to contribute, with benefits ranging from an ebook for £10, a hardback copy (plus ebook) for £20, or even personal dedications and tickets to my launch party for those who were more generous. All the readers who pledged to make it happen would be credited with their name in the finished book. A lovely idea, although not actually a particularly new one. Dickens and Thackeray published some of their best works by subscription in the 19th century, and they seemed to do relatively well. My readers were also allowed into my “virtual writer’s shed”, where I posted further videos and stories from the book. They offered their support, opinions and even criticism. It’s refreshing to get such direct feedback. I just needed to rework Evil Machines for publication, but it’s interesting to think that readers might influence the direction a writer might take with their work. “No! Don’t let it happen! Don’t send him down that corridor! Let him live! Give him an eyepatch and a limp!” I’m not sure that I’ll ever write like this, but there will be someone out there who will.

After just three months on Unbound, occasionally checking to see that my funding pie-chart had crept round another few percent, Evil Machineswas 100% funded. The book was going to be published! And not just any book, but a properly made, cloth-bound, racing-green beauty of a book with Eric Gill lettering, illustrated endpapers and silver trim – a book produced how I wanted it to look, without a peep from Sales and Marketing to tell me where it would sit in the bookshop.

Last Friday, 30 years after Chaucer’s Knight, I had my first book launch party. I’m not a fan of parties, you see, but this one promised to be different. It was for my readers.

First I had lunch with my most generous supporters, who had pledged more than £250 each. Knowing my dislike of most parties, the Unbound team conveniently forgot to tell me about this when I signed up. As it happens we had a rather jolly afternoon. All these people were interested in me and my book! Then even more of my supporters arrived for drinks in the evening. Who’d have thought that my readers would turn out to be such an interesting and affable bunch of people? There was even a lady who had travelled all the way from St Petersburg to join us. I’m extremely thankful to her and to all my subscribers who made the publication of Evil Machines possible. It’s been the most interesting and enjoyable publishing experience I can remember.

Check the website at http://unbound.co.uk/

Production on Monty Python star Terry Jones’ latest film project has hit a stumbling block due to funding issues.

The actor/director recruited funnyman Robin Williams and his former Monty Python co-stars, including John Cleese and Michael Palin, to voice characters in his upcoming sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything.

Production was scheduled to begin earlier this year (11) but Jones admits he’s unsure if movie bosses will be able to finance the project.

He tells Britain’s Daily Express, “I’m hoping we’ll get the money together. Robin Williams says he’ll voice the dog, the Pythons have agreed to voice the aliens. I can’t see the problem but they still seem to be having trouble getting financing.”

But optimistic Jones refuses to give up on the movie, adding, “I’m sure we’ll make it eventually.”

Monty Python star Terry Jones is the latest special guest on our comedy podcast Utter Shambles.

The writer, director and all-round comedy legend joined comedians Robin Ince and Josie Long for a special extended edition of our very own series of comedy podcasts, now in its third series.

In what turned out to be a bit of a coup, Jones very kindly invited us into his north London home where, surrounded by priceless comedy memorabilia, he chatted freely with Robin and Josie about anything and everything.

Over the years, Utter Shambles has featured a great and eclectic list of special guests from Stephen Merchant, Tim Minchin (forthcoming) and Stewart Lee to Alan Moore, Billy Bragg and Scroobius Pip, but this is the first time we played host to comedy royalty, and Terry Jones didn’t disappoint.

In what turned out to be a fascinatingly frank and honest chat, Terry talked about making Monty Python’s Flying Circus, directing the controversial Life of Brian and being banned in Ireland.

He also discussed his recent work, including an opera about a doctor who happens to be a dog, his latest book to be published via the internet and writing anti war poems for kids.

As always, this very special edition of Robin and Josie’s Utter Shambles with Terry Jones can be downloaded for free here.

Coming up on Utter Shambles: Tim Minchin and Tim Key!

Terry, who was born in the town and is patron of the venue, cut the ribbon in front of an invited audience of guests, reminisced fondly about the years he spent in the Bay as a child and his family connections with Theatr Colwyn.

His grandfather and mother appeared on stage there in amateur performance groups and Terry feels a special connection with the 126-year-old venue because of this.

Following the ribbon cut, as part of the Giddy Goat Comedy Festival, there was a screening of the Monty Python cult film The Holy Grail, after which Phill Jupitus, stand-up comic and team captain on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, interviewed the comedy legend about the making of the film. The event ended with an audience Q&A session.

All of the proceeds raised through the screening were split between the venue’s second phase rear of house redevelopment fund and St David’s Hospice in Llandudno, organiser of the comedy festival.

Theatr Colwyn has reopened in September after almost a year of closure for a

£732,000 front of house redevelopment.

Following the £732,000 front of house redevelopment (£500,000 in funding from the North Wales Regeneration Area Programme and £238,000 from Conwy County Borough Council, who own and run the theatre), Theatr Colwyn now has a completely new box office and foyer, full disabled access, a community room and redeveloped basement area.

The project was part of the Bay Life+ Regeneration Programme.

The exterior of Theatr Colwyn has also been given a facelift, with a work costing in the region of £60,000, £45,000 of which was funded through the Property Grant Scheme, administered by Conwy County Borough Council’s Conservation and Regeneration section.

By Rufus Jones

Hello. My name’s Rufus Jones. I play Terry Jones in BBC Four’s Holy Flying Circus.

I also play Terry Jones playing Michael Palin’s wife, because it’s that kind of show, and I’m that kind of guy.

My first memory of Monty Python? I think I was eight years old, my Dad had bought our first VHS player and he had decided to commemorate this with a night of Python.

Unfortunately, he rented The Meaning of Life.

I think he was expecting the silly whimsy of the Fish Slapping Dance - instead he sat there with a panicked grin while his eight-year-old son watched Graham Chapman being chased off a cliff by topless female rollerskaters in G strings.

I spent my early years thinking Monty Python was basically porn. Parrots, Piranha Brothers and Prophets came later.

Holy Flying Circus is hard to describe.

I think the phrase we’ve gone for is ‘a re-imagining’, which only really sounds right if you say it in a Californian accent.

The problem with most re-imaginings is that they frequently end up as de-imaginings, disappointing dilutions of the source material.

But I think Holy Flying Circus avoids this, and most of that is down to writer Tony Roche.

The script was really why we all signed up to do it. It had to be good.

If it wasn’t, being asked to play some of the greatest comedians in history wouldn’t be so much of a holy grail as a poisoned chalice.

But Tony had written something that was so funny you’d find yourself standing up and applauding as you read it alone in your bedroom.

As an actor, one constantly runs the risk of sounding like an enormous tool when saying things like that, but it really was completely exceptional.

Tony wasn’t competing with Python or trying to ape their style - the laughs are more contemporary than Pythonesque.

There are some homages to famous Python sketches, but they’re brief.

The script also tackles censorship and blasphemy with an intelligence that was quite thrilling to be a part of.

Steve Punt as Eric Idle is perfect casting in so many ways, not least because Brian was Monty Python’s very own Mary Whitehouse Experience.

Basically, Holy Flying Circus is as slavishly faithful to the Python story as Life Of Brian was to 1st Century Galilee.

In other words, it’s a mixture of outrageous liberties and surprising truths.

The way TV works means that the first time the six of us were all together in wigs, costumes and in character, it was the first day of filming.

You hit the ground running, and as a result the first couple of days’ shooting hummed with a certain low-level terror.

There’d be a lot of staring into space, trying to focus, with the occasional supportive comment like:

- Nice moustache.

- Cheers. (Pause.) Good grip on the pipe. Very, you know, ‘Graham’.

- Thanks.

Mistakes would occur. I’d try and summon up Terry’s voice and something unpardonably Pakistani would come out.

But then you relax, the impressions begin to run themselves and you concentrate on the script.

I don’t often corpse, but there were occasions.

Jason Thorpe - who plays BBC exec Alan Dick and Tourette sufferer Desmond Lovely - is a mesmerically gormless young man.

And there was a take where Darren Boyd (John Cleese) unleashed without warning a fierce burst of Gumby that just floored the room.

All the Pythons in Holy Flying Circus are somewhat heightened.

In 1979, they’d just returned from the US when the Brian controversy began, so we gave Terry a look that was part Saturday Night Fever, part Welsh scrum half Gareth Edwards.

But half my time in Holy Flying Circus is spent playing Michael Palin’s wife.

Looking over old Python, Terry had a lot of wonderful women in his back pocket, so to speak.

There were the Pepperpots and of course Brian’s mum. But he also had a softer version - there’s a Finishing Sentences sketch from Flying Circus series four that I took my cue from.

I suppose the challenge with Jones The Wife was to try and create something sweet, something truthful, then stick some fake boobs on it and see if the audience still bought it.

It’s a bit of a high wire act.

Acting for days on end in women’s clothing is strange - you forget you’re wearing it and wonder why passers-by are pointing at you.

Only once did it become difficult: The day I had to wear high heels, and spent hours stumbling around like a transvestite baby giraffe.

Holy Flying Circus was a unique experience.

There was the job of not only playing legendary comedians, but the thrill of performing with a cast full of modern comic heroes - Stephen Fry, Mark Heap, Simon Greenall.

You’d look down the shooting schedule sometimes and it would read like a family tree of British comedy.

We all had a great time making it and hope you like it.

To be honest, I haven’t even seen it yet. It may be balls.

In which case - and I think I’ve made this perfectly clear - the script was rubbish to begin with.