We got a tip yesterday that acclaimed director (and Monty Python member) Terry Gilliam would be visiting the Daily Show ticket line to drum up support for his new movie, Tideland. So we sent a CC Insider spy (and rabid Terry Gilliam fan) to investigate. His full report is after the jump.

So, Terry Gilliam showed up in front of the Daily Show with a giant sign that said "Will direct films for food." He had a plastic cup that people in the Daily Show ticket line filled to the brim with dollar bills. At one point he looked down at the cup stuffed with cash and said, "This is the most money I've made in a long time".

There were a lot of goofy art/filmschool kids waiting to talk to him. Gilliam was super nice, and shook hands, signed autographs and shot the sh*t with every single person that approached him. He even took time to draw some kind of  Monty Python looking animal in a fan's sketchbook:

There were also a few Daily Show writers and correspondent Dan Bakkedahl (below) who totally geeked out on him. One of the writers said, "The nightmares from Time Bandits were worth it!".  They offered him tickets and full backstage treatment:

One of the artschool kids mentioned that he went to SVA and Gilliam said that his mentor Harvey Kurtzman (cartooning legend and one of the founding fathers of MAD magazine) used to teach there. Gilliam said that Kurtzman was the reason that he was out on the street promoting his movie, "Harvey taught me how to hustle!".

A few people climbed out of the Daily Show line to get his autograph. One lady callled her boyfriend and passed the phone to Gilliam and they talked for a good 5 minutes:

There's a screening of Tideland this Friday at the IFC film center. Terry stressed that he needed public support because the movie will get yanked from theaters after a week if it doesn't generate enough $$$. Some kid said that he could still make money on dvd's, but Gilliam replied that he made his movies for the big screen, "The only way I would be satisfied with watching it on dvd was if the home theaters got bigger and people got smaller".

All the geeks (me included) crowded together for a group shot. I'm hoping the whole scenario makes it onto the Tideland dvd extras.

I think the main bit of info he wanted out there was that Tideland is in theaters Friday October 13th. Go see it!