Theroux The Keyhole: When the world went weird (and so did I)

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Although, you think ‘well, why is that a secret?’ But what I found was that the family found me quite irritating, and found me doing them annoying. I don’t know why the vision of a 51-year-old man in tight underpants sweating onto the carpet, and grunting, would not be something you’d want to see in your front room. ‘I don’t know why the vision of a 51-year-old man in tight underpants sweating onto the carpet, and grunting, would not be something you’d want to see in your front room.’ Although initially resisting the idea of going into journalism. "All my friends were writing, and I wanted to be different." Louis found a job on a local paper in the sprawling city of San Jose, "a town where nothing ever happens." A year later he went to work for the New York-based satirical magazine, Spy, where "When I asked some rappers to freestyle on gun safety, one of them threatened to beat me up." Come round to Louis Theroux’s house, where the much-loved documentary-maker finds himself in unexpected danger . . . The dark rumours – of sexual deviance, of being unemotional, of having a morbid interest in corpses – were one of the reasons I’d taken him on as a subject. But it stands for I suppose TV in general, of which I watched quite a lot. Strictly, which I would watch on a Saturday, Succession or Barbarians or White Lotus. Some of it was Tiger King, a lot of it was other series. The Last Dance, did you see that? That was a good series on Netflix, about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. #1 - Nancy

In 1995, Louis developed his own Weird Weekends and produced a critically acclaimed documentary series premiere. As Theroux describes, " Weird Weekends sets out to discover the genuinely odd in the most ordinary setting. To me, it’s almost a privilege to be welcomed into these communities and to shine a light on them and, maybe, through my enthusiasm, to get people to reveal more of themselves than they may have intended. The show is laughing at me, adrift in their world, as much as at them. I don’t have to play up that stuff. I’m not a matinee idol disguised as a nerd."There was a weird bittersweetness in revisiting the events of the past few years and Louis speaks at length about his frustration throughout the whole ordeal and we see how communication breakdowns and unhealthy habits are facilitated by a removal of what we both know to be his purpose in life, to date. Adjusting to life certainly looked very different for Louis and whilst I don’t think his reflections on this period came off as gloating they could definitely sound a bit insensitive at times to people who worked in PPE day to day and weren’t able to have as many enjoyable moments. As The Guardiansaid in its review of the documentary, it is a “sad portrait of a very different California”, contrasting any ideas of the picture-perfect California portrayed in regular media. This pattern of gritty and realistic portrayals crops up again and again in Theroux’s work. He is unafraid of difficult subjects which, as in the case of The City Addicted to Crystal Meth, often makes for uncomfortable viewing. Shedding light, however, on these difficult and challenging stories is what leads to Theroux’s impact and popularity. Come round to Louis Theroux’s house where the much-loved TV documentary-maker, podcaster and best-selling author of Gotta Get Theroux This finds himself in unexpected danger.... Come round to Louis Theroux’s house where the much-loved TV documentary-maker, podcaster and bestselling author of Gotta Get Theroux This finds himself in unexpected danger . . .

Louis also describes how he launches his podcast, Grounded, finally gets to the US to film a new Joe Exotic documentary and aims his sights on the latest incarnation of the far right in a world becoming radicalized by social media. Theroux the Keyhole is Louis at his insightful best, as he faces unforeseen new challenges and wonders why it took a pandemic for him to learn that what really matters in life is right in front of him. His ability to dissect the emotional complexities of modern family life with unflinching honesty makes Theroux the Keyhole well worth a read and a fascinating document of this unprecedented era.I think I didn't enjoy the book as much as I would have if I hadn't just read Miriam Margolyes autobiography, which is an absolute gem and is the best autobiography I've read since Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry, Myriam blends a wonderful amount of personality, stories about her relationships and friendships, anecdotes about fellow actors and celebrities, funny, poignant stories and political commentary.