This Is Spinal Tap! is without question one of the funniest movies of all time. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it. It is the stuff of comedy (and metal) legend. Everybody can recite a Spinal Tap quote whether they know it or not (This goes to 11!). Recently, I stumbled onto a show that aired on the BBC a few years back called Ricky Gervais Meets…, where the creator of such masterpieces as The Office and Extras sits down for a longform interview with some of his idols, who include Larry David, Garry Shandling and Christopher Guest.
Gervais makes no reservations about how much of an influence Spinal Tap had on him and the comedy he chose to perform. He spends nearly twenty minutes getting Guest to open up about how the ideas for certain jokes came about, and Guest also shares anecdotes about touring prior to the movie being conceived and how that inspired many of the jokes in the movie. This is an absolute must-watch for any fan of the movie who likes to learn everything about it…
In Part 2, the conversation moves onto the movie Guest was promoting at the time called For Your Consideration and for any fans of his movies, that's also worth a watch. Part 3 is here, part 4 is here.
Now if you excuse me, I have to go and re-watch This Is Spinal Tap.
