This article was originally published in The Big Issue in November 2025.
A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, out now, Simon & Schuster, £17.49
One of the greatest comedy films of all time, This Is Spinal Tap didn't make much of an impact upon its release in 1984.
An improvised mockumentary about a fictional English rock band played by American comic actors who weren't particularly well-known was, apparently, a tough sell. However, it gradually became a cult hit on VHS and is now part of the cultural fabric.
In A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, the film's director Rob Reiner recounts its making alongside co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. A fascinatingly fact-packed gift for Tapheads, it's as much of a labour of love as the film itself.
What began as a sketch for a 1979 TV comedy special hosted by Reiner quickly took on a life of its own when Guest, McKean and Shearer realised they loved improvising - or 'schnadling' as Guest calls it - in character as these none-too-bright yet endearingly sincere and pretentious rockers.
Reiner, a successful sitcom actor who wanted to direct, was similarly smitten, and lo the film was born. Well, almost. Armed with a 20-minute demo reel and a four-page document detailing the band's eventful history, it took four demoralising years of fruitless meetings with baffled executives before they eventually met a producer, Karen Murphy, who understood what they were trying to do. A masterpiece ensued.
Amidst all the generously detailed trivia on the film's production - e.g. they wanted Michael Palin to play Tap's manager, but were too nervous to approach one of their comedy heroes - the book also foregrounds the talents, both musically and comedically, of its three main players.
Guest and McKean in particular are music obsessives who've been friends since the late '60s; their enduring closeness is mirrored by that of their Tap alter egos Nigel and David, albeit without the petty squabbling. Like all the best musical parodists they have a keen understanding of, and affection for, their target (certain jokes in the film are based on first-hand experience).
The authors also reflect upon the strange afterlife of Tap - much like the Monkees and the Rutles they became A Real Band who played shows and released albums - the decades-long legal battle to actually earn money from the film, and the making of its belated and not-bad-at-all sequel.
We're also treated to an enjoyable epilogue in which they 'schnadle' in character, possibly for one last time.
A delightful book.
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