Took a drive down to LA on the chance of gettig a ticket for the sold-out event, and I got lucky.  And yes, it was an Event with a capital E, a grand and glorious evening for all things Ruttling.  On hand were Gary Weis (who directed the original film with Eric and professed to remember nothing about it at all!); Eric; Neil Innes (who just flew in from London that afternoon, but was still very much on form; and Ricki Fataar, who tried to, but didn't completely succeed, at being "the quiet one."
 
 

After all were introduced, the original "All You Need is Cash" was screened.  Not only was this (presumably) the first time it was ever shown on the big screen, it was also, according to Eric, the first time he had ever seen it with an audience!  He said later it was marvelous to hear all of the laughs, and find out how well it played in front of a crowd.  And boy, did it!  The audience laughed, giggled and guffawed throughout, even bursting into applause for the appearances by Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Michael Palin and George Harrison.  And of course, a standing ovation.

The panel began as Eric and Neil discussed their first collaboration on "Do Not Adjust Your Set," and soon began taking questions from the audience.  In addition to subjects familiar to long-time followers of the band, Eric told the wonderful story of filming on location, with he and Neil in full makeup and costume and being beseiged by a hysterically happy Beatles autograph seeker that completely igrnored the REAL George Harrison standing next to them.  A favorite question was from an audience memver asking about the Rutles selling their entire music catalogue to Jermaine Jackson.  But the biggest excitement surrounded word of a new Rutles film that Eric is currently shooting (incorporating music from Neil, much from the 1995 Archeology CD).  A 5 minute clip was shown, with appearances by a Who's Who of show biz, ranging from Steve Martin and Robin Williams to Clint Black and Bonnie Raitt.  Eric explained that he found a lot of the footage from the original filming, including some concert footage of the band, and is putting it together much in the spirit of the ABC-TV Beatles special shown in the US last fall.  No word yet of a TV/cable network deal, but stay tuned....

Hope this is enough to give you folks a feel for what went on...Eric and Neil were surrounded immediately after by autograph seekers, but still managed to slip away for the party afterward (I had a chance to catch up with Peter Crabbe, who was part of the rep company for Eric's tour last year, and was also the butler in the Aspen reunion).

So there you have it folks, straight from the Goose's mouth.  We'll keep you updated on any follow-up, including the possibility of a new Rutles' movie.....