Hollywood stars come out for JLGB show - The Jewish Chronicle

Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis brought some Hollywood glitz to the 100th episode of JLGB’s virtual lockdown chats. Actor and director Guest is famed for cult comedies such as This Is Spinal Tap and Best In Show. A lesser known fact is that he is the great-grandson of JLGB founder Colonel Albert Goldsmid. “The incentive [to join the event] was the connection that I have to the founder,” Guest told his teenage audience. “That is something I have known about for a long time. I have photographs of the original group from the early 1900s and he’s sitting in the middle.” Appearing in a rare joint interview, the couple answered questions on every-thing from filmmaking to how they’ve sustained their 36-year marriage. Clarinettist Talia from Borehamwood found a kindred spirit in Guest, a classically trained musician who taught himself guitar, piano and mandolin and works daily on his musical skills. He agreed with Talia that music and comedy were inextricably linked, adding: “Many of the actors who I’ve worked with are also wonderful musicians. “Because many of the films I do are improvised, the people are required to be able to play in that sense as you would playing jazz. You know what the song is; you know what key you’re playing in but there are no notes written down.” The couple have two adult children, Annie, 34, and Thomas, 24, and Curtis is also godmother to actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She had plenty of advice for the young audience, especially around the dangers of social media. Citing the example of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, she said it could be a medium for“tremendous good”. But it could also be “an absolute poison for many, many young people who are vulnerable [and] are still starting to create their own minds and ideas”. Guest, who doesn’t use social media, agreed, worrying about the impact of fake news on young minds, particularly among those who simply absorb their parents’ views. “You can’t convince someone that says ‘well that didn’t happen’. There are people who say that no one ever landed on the moon and that there are lasers in space causing forest fires — and 70 million people think that’s true. “I think it’s important to read the news.” Other celebrities to have appeared in the JLGB series include Rachel Riley, Tracy-Ann Oberman and American comedian Bob Saget.