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Monday, June 14 at 0900 Bangkok and Jakarta Wednesday, June 9 at 1930
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Monday, June 14 at 0800 Acclaimed British writer, actor and world explorer Michael Palin joins this week's Talk Asia and shares with host Anjali Rao some of his remarkable adventures. While in Hong Kong for the Royal Geographical Society, Palin caught up with Anjali Rao at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. He recalls how his TV series ‘Around the World in 80 days' first took him to the city via a container ship from Singapore. "It's a burgeoning, energetic place and every time I come back the view has been blocked by another building somewhere else. But in the core of it there seem to be an area that doesn't change that much." Two decades on from when he first circumnavigated the world, he explains why globetrotting still appeals: "There's an attraction to the unfamiliarity to me. I love to get out of my own little shell and find out how other people live and what the country looks like, tastes like and all that sort of stuff." Before becoming an iconic TV traveller, Palin first gained recognition as a member of the legendary British comedy group Monty Python. The group created the influential sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which later spawned into films, albums, books and a musical. Palin recalls working with the Python team as one of the happiest times of his life: "Because with this particular group of people there was something that worked you know, I hesitated to use the cliché ‘chemistry' but there was a sort of comic harmony amongst us." The comedy's unique British humour also transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity in the U.S: "We cracked America in the most unusual way...it spread around the public broadcasting network to places you'd expect it go like Boston and New York, but no, it all started in Dallas. And it was because we were a sort of cult show, it was really college kids and all that..." Palin also reveals how he managed to keep a poker face on the set of films such as 'Life of Brian' and 'The Holy Grail': "To keep the comedy fresh, you've really got to try and get it on the first take...So you're always on the verge of cracking up, which is quite good and it's quite good place to be because you want the audience to be cracking up, but you want to be just holding off." Despite his fame and fortune, the 67-year-old still lives in the same house as he did 25 years ago and stays grounded thanks to his family: "My children, bless them, are continually rude about everything that I do. They watch Python a bit now but they say ‘Oh Dad, not you again! Oh no, not a dress!' and they're very good. They cut me down to size." He also tells Rao how he maintains a strong relationship with his childhood sweetheart and wife of 44 years, Helen Gibbins: "Helen and I married...because we made each other laugh and humour has been a very important part of our life and that's quite good." Palin's interview with TALK ASIA will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia after the first airing.
For more information, please visit www.cnnpressroomasia.com. Related links:
Talk Asia official site
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