Michael Palin was filming his new Channel 5 travelogue in Venezuela when he was detained by armed guards and held for hours before being let go for a hilarious reason
When he was held at gunpoint by armed guards in Venezuela, Michael Palin used an unlikely trump card to get out of jail – an old Monty Python clip. The comedy legend, 82, was filming a new three-part Channel 5 travelogue in the totalitarian country when he was stopped by gun-toting officers from SEBIN, the country’s sinister intelligence service. But once he’d shown them a video of his famous fish slapping skit, they decided to release him.
Michael recalled: “Things got quite heavy. It wasn’t just the fact that they stopped us from filming, it was the force with which we were stopped. It started with a couple of policemen, then a couple of the National Guard, and then along came men with rifles, bulletproof vests and helmets.
“It was the kind of thing you’d expect to encounter if an embassy was being bombed, it was quite alarming.”
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In the end, Michael and his team were released and he credits his Monty Python Fish Slapping Dance with securing his freedom. He said: “The outcome was rather bizarre, because while we were waiting to hear our fate from the headquarters in Caracas, the guards had found my name on Google.
“Eventually they got on to Monty Python clips and they watched the fish slapping dance, which is always a good thing to show people. Nearly everyone in the world, from North Korea to Venezuela, cracks up when they see that. Once we’d shown them the fish slapping dance, I felt we were OK, and by the end of the day they finally released us. But I did feel we could well be watched from thereon in, given the detention we endured at gunpoint.”
As well as being held at gunpoint, Michael and his team had their bags searched and the contents photographed before their passports were taken and they were detained for several hours.
Michael – who copes with stress abroad by eating British crackers – added: “I understood why they were taking pictures of the equipment, but who wants a photo of my old underpants. But they faithfully did this and it took hours. We were very tired and we hadn’t had anything to eat, so by mid-afternoon they agreed that they would let us go to a restaurant, provided the guards were there with their rifles.”
Guns weren’t his only trial – he also found himself eating worms and ants bottoms on the trip. He said: “We were near the Angel Falls with a family and the meal they gave us consisted of worms that live in palm trees, which they grill.
“They also gave us ants’ bottoms, which I think is quite wonderful – I didn’t really know ants had bottoms, but of course they do! These are quite big ants after all. So I ate ants’ bottoms for the first and probably last time in my life, I don’t think you can get them at Sainsbury’s.”
The worms might not sound great, but Michael enjoyed them. He added: “Overall, I’m very positive in my attitude towards trying foods and there are very few things that have a really nasty taste. They may look odd – like when I ate spiders in Mexico – but you’ve just got to get over that initial disgust at eating something that would be swept into the bin at home, and you’ll often find it’s quite nice.”
Despite the rigours of his trip, Michael, who has also filmed in Iraq and North Korea, has no plans to stop his dangerous missions – or to retire. He said: “I’ve got no plans to retire at all.”
Michael Palin In Venezuela airs on Tuesday, 16th September at 9pm on 5
