An evening with Michael Palin to support Age UK Camden

The Gospel Oak resident is a trustee and long term supporter of Age UK Camden and appears on Thursday at Cecil Sharp House, Primrose Hill, at an exclusive 'an evening with' in support of the independent charity.

This isn't the first time you've been to Cecil Sharp House?

I've been a few times most recently in 2014, when we were rehearsing for the Monty Python reunion at the O2 Arena. The earliest rehearsals were the first time I'd seen all the Pythons together for a very long time and we had our read through. It was then that we knew whether it was worth doing the show, whether we could still be funny, and they turned out to be very, very good sessions.

I watched your Hell's Grannies Python sketch the other day when you were 'senile delinquents' beating up young men. Did you think about getting older back then?

The idea then was that grannies were considered very old people and you could put them in certain situations where it would be funny. Hell's Grannies instead of Hell's Angels is a wonderful situation to put older people in and then you could have them swaggering up the street, pushing young people off the pavement and twirling their handbags, which I thought was a great vision of what older people could do. Maybe not what they should do.

Sir Michael first found fame as one of the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus (Image: PA)

You recently told Bertie, your grandson, that you'd been to 98 countries. Did you notice how different cultures treat their older population?

Generally speaking, the poorer the country, the more they need the whole family to pitch in and as a result, older people, the grandparents, have to take more part in daily life. Their knowledge and wisdom is fed back into the community, so a lot of the traditions are handed down from generation to generation. In a lot of countries old people are not seen as redundant but as very important elements in the life of that society.

There’s an idea that the internet has replaced the wisdom of the old because you don't have to find someone to ask, you just Google it.

That's the problem with digital media. You feel you can answer every question just by getting onto the right website, but you can't really. A lot of the questions you ask come from direct contact with whoever you're talking to, because life isn't linear. Part of the enjoyment of conversation is that you exchange ideas, and sometimes ideas are unusual, or they're not the obvious connection that you would get if you went to a website. I think it's good that people are diverted every now and then from just getting the right answer.

You must have met some wonderful older characters on your travels?

Yes, and now I am one! The Dalai Lama was remarkable because he was such a direct and friendly man and yet he was seen as a very important, almost godlike figure. The way he interacted with people was to treat each person as an individual human being with their own characteristics and he was very straightforward and unpretentious.

You’re still full of energy and engaged with the world… you're blessed with good health and still working. What has been the key?

You have to have an appetite for life and enjoy every day as much as you can. Whatever you do, try and make each day a fresh experience. Also, just be curious. That's been the key thing in my life, wanting to know about the world around me and the people in that world, and why they think the way they think. There is a danger that as you grow older, you think 'oh, I can't do that'. Whereas each day in some way, however small you can have a different experience if you're curious and want to learn something.

Do you feel that technology is geared towards the young? Age UK Camden offers digital inclusion and computer training for older people, and I know it’s one of the things that, we as your children, help you out with the most.

Yes, I need a lot of help. I'm lucky I have you all to help me because we live at a pivotal time. Technology is moving so fast and has the ability to not just help you think but think what you think and select what you see. It's becoming so sophisticated that you’re in danger of being left behind. I mean for seventy odd years of my life, we haven't had this sophisticated digital world, so most of my experience is based on a different, slower way of life. In some ways it improves our lifestyle enormously. In other ways, there are problems. Older people will be left behind because they don't have the ability to take advantage of the digital world the way the young can.

Sir Michael following the 2019 investiture for his Knighthood (Image: PA)Do you still find the same things funny?

Oh yeah, I do. I mean sense of humour's an important thing to maintain and in my case I had a rather inflated sense of humour. When I could first remember looking at life, I was just fascinated by people and human behaviour, which often is very funny. That's what humour is all about. If you have the ability to laugh, not only is it something that brings people together, it's an important tool that relieves the pressure sometimes. If you can find something funny, you're better off than someone who would find it absolutely ghastly.

You're obviously not retiring anytime soon, so what's on the agenda?

I've got a book coming out in September, which is a family history about great Uncle Harry, who died on the Somme. That's been interesting work because I've had to find out about someone for whom little was known apart from his war career. It's been like a detective story but also, it's finding out something about your family. I feel quite close to him in an odd way. And then I should be doing another travel series in Africa, hopefully in October,

Do you still find travelling a pleasure?

I sitll love being in a foreign country; because again this is curiosity x 100. Everything is different in some places, and because history and geography were my favourite subjects, I'm learning about the history of a country I didn't know. Moving around the world now, travel is becoming quite difficult especially if you're older. Insurance companies charge enormous amounts to insure you, you're not encouraged to travel, but then I think of some of the wonderful eccentrics of British exploration, they wouldn't be put off by a few bits of paper.

You don't like being reminded that you recently turned 80, but how do you feel about ageing?

You're slightly deluded because you think you're still 27. A lot of people of my age think that mentally they are in their twenties and then think they're perhaps physically in their twenties - and then you get a lot of surprises that you can't move with such agility as you did before. And little problems occur as the body begins to say, 'well, I've served you well for 80 years and now bits are beginning to wear out'. So, part of me is very pleased to be 80 and still reasonably fit and able to take advantage of all the wonderful things in the world, but I know it's not long to go really and you think back a lot, which is not a bad thing, but it slightly slows you down.

Are there some good things about getting older?

One is you have a breadth of life. By the time you get to 80, you know all the mistakes you've made, and you hopefully try and avoid them again. And also, if you're lucky enough to be reasonably fit you get enormous satisfaction from just doing simple things like going for a walk or a short swim. You don't have to do much to give you a feeling that you've achieved something.

How do you feel about spending your later years in Camden? Have you ever been tempted to retire somewhere quiet?

Apart from the odd day or so, I've been happy living in Camden. I'm lucky that we found a house which we liked, in an area we liked, in a community we liked. Plus, there's Hampstead Heath, the most wonderful asset, which I never get tired of and still use every day. Camden's just out of the centre of London, but very quick to get into London and there's a lot of vitality, it's a borough that is open to change, it's not blinkered or mono-cultural at all. As a traveller, I appreciate the fact that there are many people in Camden from different lands and places. I find that quite stimulating.

Age UK Camden is a local independent charity supporting older people across the borough and shining a light on the many challenges older people face. It is dependent on support for a significant proportion of income. Donations can be made via www.ageukcamden.org.uk or by text. To donate £10 text AUCP10 to 70460 or £20 text AUCP20 to 70460. Texts cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message.