Dip My Brain in Joy: A Life with Neil Innes cover art

Dip My Brain in Joy: A Life with Neil Innes

The Official Biography

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 THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY OF NEIL INNES, SONGWRITING POWERHOUSE AND 'SEVENTH PYTHON', BY THE PERSON CLOSEST TO HIM

Nominated for the Chortle Comedy Awards 2025

'A lovely writer and performer. A very sweet man, much too nice for his own good...' - John Cleese

'He was a great writer and he was eccentric and he was clever without being pretentious' - Sir Michael Palin

Few individuals have had such an impact on British culture over the past fifty years as the comedy and music icon Neil Innes.

He was the songwriting powerhouse of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. Beatles muse and collaborator. Injector of art college surrealism into 1960s TV comedy. Instigator of a revolution that led directly to Monty Python, the group he repeatedly joined on screen and stage. He was Ron Nasty, co-founder of the much-loved Rutles, the 'pre-fab four'. Accidental inventor of the phrase 'Cool Britannia'. Much-loved children's TV storyteller, thinker, maker, creator, undisputed national treasure and Britain's sweet idiot laureate.

And through it all, Neil remained one of the kindest and brightest individuals in showbusiness. Musicians, comedians and fans alike loved being around Neil. He created music and joy and art wherever he went. And the person who loved having him round more than anybody else was Yvonne. Neil and Yvonne met at Goldsmiths College in the 1960s and they went on to walk hand-in-hand through life for over fifty years, until Neil's untimely death in 2019.

This book is a heartfelt, eyewitness tale of the life of one of British culture's quiet geniuses. It is tribute to life inside the circus, with the gentlest and wisest of clowns.©2024 Yvonne Innes (P)2024 Bonnier Books UK Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Heartfelt Comedy Inspiring Thought-Provoking
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Heartfelt and funny. One of the best books I’ve listened to. I’ve learnt so much about one of my comedy heroes

Wonderful

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I’ve been a fan of Neil and his work since I was a child watching Puddle Lane and Raggy Dolls and I’ve been so lucky to see him perform live with his solo shows a number of times, with the Bonzos and the Rutles and he was always so lovely whenever I got the opportunity to meet him.

I have been interested to know more about him as a person for a while and Yvonne has written and narrated their lives so beautifully and confirmed a lot of what I always thought about Neil; a great thinker, a lot of fun, a people person as well as a hard worker, massively talented and one of the good guys of this world.

Thank you for sharing your stories and memories with us Yvonne.

A lovely biography of Neil Innes

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The book is a revelation in enlightening us in how much of a workaholic Neil was.he was loved an revered by everyone he worked with it seems . His gentleness and kindness shines through. His enthusiasm for perfection in his music, writings and recordings was incredible. Yvonne manages to let you into their intimate lives without you feeling like a voyeur. As a lifelong fan I found the stories of Neil getting badly treated professionally by so many people really saddening and frustrating although As Neil nearly always brushed it off and carried on creating somehow I had to do the same and carry on listening to Yvonne telling us Neil's story . She does this so well you can hear the love and devotion they both had/have for each other. Brilliantly told I hope that by writing this book it helped Yvonne heal a little. I am now going to go and listen / watch again anything I can find of Neil's work and dip my brain in joy.

How sweet to be a genius.

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Re Neil’s death her honesty is impressive in describing what exactly happened and the feelings involved( something not often addressed, perhaps due to our taboos around death). This I found very moving. They both come across as lovely kind people. I would have liked more about Viv Stanshall and his eccentric shananigans, as a Bonzo fan. I was shocked by how Neil never got the money or fuller recognition he deserved. He was so talented…But his work with the Bonzos and the superb Rutles songs should guarantee him immortality if there is ANY justice in the world…

Heartfelt

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He was every mans every man. It felt as though I knew him. He is greatly missed.

Lovely tribute to Neil Innes.

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