Author Topic: The Monty Python Thread (Read 6501 times)

bout to crash · « **on:** March 19, 2015, 08:57:22 AM »

I figured this should probably exist.

Carry on.

Prog Snob · « **Reply #1 on:** March 19, 2015, 09:09:48 AM »

Indeed, it should. I'm not even sure where to start with their brilliance so I'll let someone else go.

Tom Bombadil · « **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:01:31 AM »

Yes, wherever bicycles are broken, or menaced by international communism, bicycle repair man will be there to smash the communists.

El Barto · « **Reply #3 on:** March 19, 2015, 10:59:43 AM »

Favorite sketch that doesn't involve parrots:

I've always been partial to Ethyl the Frog (the Piranha Brothers). It's a wonderful ratio of silliness to cleverness. The interviews in particular are exceptional. Even the schoolmaster whose interview is only discernible by the miming. I also like when they're willing to spend longer than usual on a good bit. Some of their longer sketches don't work (Scott of the Antarctic) but as a faux investigative report this one worked wonderfully.

Honourable mentions to The Restaurant Sketch, The Visitors and Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit. While Ethyl the Frog is brilliant, it doesn't cause me to laugh like any of these three.

Kotowboy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:01:39 AM »

John Cleese must have been HOARSE after that Self Defence sketch. He basically screams for the entire thing.

Also - the argument sketch is brilliant too and The Upper Class Twit Of The Year.

Zook · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:24:20 AM »

I've seen a sketch here and there which were funny, but I've only seen The Holy Grail as far as movies go.

One day I'll dig deeper.

Kotowboy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2015, 12:03:15 PM »

Controversial I know but I think The Holy Grail is MUCH better & funnier than Life Of Brian.

Orbert · « **Reply #7 on:** March 19, 2015, 01:17:38 PM »

Not so controversial. Monty Python and The Holy Grail is widely regarded as the best and funniest, even if it was their first (And Now for Something Completely Different doesn't count, since it was literally just sketches from the TV show rehashed for the big screen).

Lemon Curry?

El Barto · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2015, 01:25:54 PM »

Quote from: Kotowboy on March 19, 2015, 12:03:15 PM

Controversial I know but I think The Holy Grail is MUCH better & funnier than Life Of Brian.

I don't think it's controversial, though I certainly disagree. While HG is certainly funny, it's funny in a silly, madcap sort of way. I find LoB to be not only funnier, but funnier on more levels. You don't see any symbolism in Holy Grail and very little intelligent humor (aside from the anarco syndicalist commune, I suppose). Life of Brian, on the other hand, is very intelligent. It's still quite silly at times, but it's also wonderful commentary on organized religion and politics. Honestly, I'd rank TMoL ahead of Holy Grail for largely the same reasons. While it lacks the social and political commentary (aside from the Catholics and their Protestant neighbors), it's still more intelligent humor, not relying on the zaniness that HG does.

ariich · « **Reply #9 on:** March 19, 2015, 01:29:06 PM »

BlackInk · « **Reply #10 on:** March 19, 2015, 01:31:05 PM »

Watched their recent live show a few weeks ago. Not as funny as I had hoped. Best part was the improv/blooper bit during the dead parrot scene, that was hilarious.

I love both The Holy Grail and Life of Brian immensly, though I probably like LoB the most. The Meaning of Life has some really good bits as well, but it's not quite as good as the other two.

El Barto · « **Reply #11 on:** March 19, 2015, 01:45:17 PM »

Quote from: ariich on March 19, 2015, 01:29:06 PM

When I excluded parrots from the favorite sketches post, I was going to exclude pilchards, as well. I couldn't come up with a third wildly popular sketch whose subject begins with the letter P so I decided to leave it at one.

Orbert · « **Reply #12 on:** March 19, 2015, 02:40:15 PM »

Ah, The Fish-Slapping Dance! I'm not sure how it came about, but my daughter and one of her friends wanted very badly to do this brief sketch at the youth talent show at our church some years ago. This was when they were maybe nine or 10 years old. They did it!

I played some silly music on the piano, with obvious accents to which one of them could time the small fish slaps, then my daughter pulled out a much larger fish and clobbered her friend with it. As with the original, it was silly and stupid and made no sense, and the audience loved it. (I was especially proud of the "original score" I provided.)

bout to crash · « **Reply #13 on:** March 19, 2015, 11:16:14 PM »

, awesome.

Holy Grail was my introduction to Monty Python and will always be my favorite, maybe followed by Meaning of Life. I need to see Life of Brian again because it's been ages.

masterthes · « **Reply #14 on:** March 20, 2015, 07:09:52 AM »

I'm proud to say I have the entire Flying Circus on DVD. Of course, Dead Parrot is my favorite sketch. Life of Brian is my least favorite of the three movies

Orbert · « **Reply #15 on:** March 20, 2015, 07:40:24 AM »

I have DVD boxed set as well. I worked my way through the entire series, in order, over the course of several weeks.

I'm old, so I remember when Monty Python's Flying Circus, the television show (the group itself is Monty Python), was still relatively new and unknown in the United States. Early 70's, when TV Guide was still the only way you knew what was on TV, and the local public television station from MSU had only recently started listing their content. They probably either didn't have enough to warrant it before, or it the schedule itself wasn't consistent so there was no point. This was when TV stations went off the air at night, and public TV stations had even shorter hours.

The last thing on Sunday nights, at 10:30 PM, was "Monty Python's Flying Circus - Satire". There was always a descriptor, "Comedy", "Drama", "News", "Religion", etc. I didn't know what "Satire" was, but the name of the show practically begged me to check it out.

Oh man. This is insane! I had never seen any British television before, let alone British-style humour, and this just blew me away. I was maybe 12 years old. It was like nothing else I'd ever seen. Years later, in English class in high school, we had a short unit on some of the "lesser" genres of literature. Every literature class covers poetry and stuff like Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy, but this took a look at political, metaphorical, satire, those guys. "Satire"? And I remembered the TV Guide listing which said that "Monty Python's Flying Circus" was satire. I'd just thought it was comedy. But apparently someone at TV Guide, or perhaps the person who submitted the listing to TV Guide, considered Satire important enough to distinguish from generic comedy.

And it's true. Monty Python is like nothing else in the world of comedy.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 20, 2015, 08:01:53 AM »

I would like to buy some cheese.

bout to crash · « **Reply #17 on:** March 20, 2015, 08:39:51 AM »

Quote from: Orbert on March 20, 2015, 07:40:24 AM

I have DVD boxed set as well. I worked my way through the entire series, in order, over the course of several weeks.

I'm old, so I remember when Monty Python's Flying Circus, the television show (the group itself is Monty Python), was still relatively new and unknown in the United States. Early 70's, when TV Guide was still the only way you knew what was on TV, and the local public television station from MSU had only recently started listing their content. They probably either didn't have enough to warrant it before, or it the schedule itself wasn't consistent so there was no point. This was when TV stations went off the air at night, and public TV stations had even shorter hours.

The last thing on Sunday nights, at 10:30 PM, was "Monty Python's Flying Circus - Satire". There was always a descriptor, "Comedy", "Drama", "News", "Religion", etc. I didn't know what "Satire" was, but the name of the show practically begged me to check it out.

Oh man. This is insane! I had never seen any British television before, let alone British-style humour, and this just blew me away. I was maybe 12 years old. It was like nothing else I'd ever seen. Years later, in English class in high school, we had a short unit on some of the "lesser" genres of literature. Every literature class covers poetry and stuff like Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy, but this took a look at political, metaphorical, satire, those guys. "Satire"? And I remembered the TV Guide listing which said that "Monty Python's Flying Circus" was satire. I'd just thought it was comedy. But apparently someone at TV Guide, or perhaps the person who submitted the listing to TV Guide, considered Satire important enough to distinguish from generic comedy.

And it's true. Monty Python is like nothing else in the world of comedy.

Awesome post!

I remember TV Guide. Shiiiit.

Orbert · « **Reply #18 on:** March 20, 2015, 11:01:04 AM »

Appropriate for today.

The 1972 Eclipse of the Sun

A radio broadcast of a solar eclipse. Only from the deranged minds of Monty Python.

Orbert · « **Reply #19 on:** March 20, 2015, 11:06:40 AM »

chaossystem · « **Reply #20 on:** March 20, 2015, 04:16:53 PM »

This thread is making me want to PUKE my GUTS out!!!

Remember THAT one?

WHY? WHY? WHY? Don't we have anything like this anymore?

It's like comedians, comedic actors, and comedic writers stopped being creative after Monty Python!

It's like they got scared and gave up trying to be creative and original.

The thing that made them great was that they would always throw something new and unexpected at you.

Very few people attempted anything like it before or since.

Kotowboy · « **Reply #21 on:** March 20, 2015, 06:31:12 PM »

My favourite English sketch shows since Monty Python are :

• The Fast Show
• Man Stroke Woman ( well worth a watch - very funny & original )
• Big Train
• Harry & Paul

Shadow Ninja 2.0 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 20, 2015, 09:27:58 PM »

Quote from: chaossystem on March 20, 2015, 04:16:53 PM

This thread is making me want to PUKE my GUTS out!!!

you uh

might want to see a doctor about that

chaossystem · « **Reply #23 on:** March 20, 2015, 10:58:10 PM »

You never saw that cartoon on MPFC?

I feel sorry for you.

It almost made me LAUGH my guts out!

Kotowboy · « **Reply #24 on:** March 21, 2015, 07:00:32 AM »

Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson.

chaossystem · « **Reply #25 on:** March 21, 2015, 01:20:34 PM »

How Not to be Seen

Onno · « **Reply #26 on:** March 21, 2015, 01:35:27 PM »

Yay, great thread! Reading Cleese's book now, it's great!

El Barto · « **Reply #27 on:** March 21, 2015, 02:37:46 PM »

Quote from: Onno on March 21, 2015, 01:35:27 PM

Yay, great thread! Reading Cleese's book now, it's great!

Seems few have even heard about it, but there's a video from his Alimony Tour that's excellent. Basically a retrospective his life with lots of video clips from is shows. I'm sure all of it's covered in his book but it's still great to see him present it live. After all, he is quite possibly the funniest man on Earth at the moment.

Alas, only short snippets available on YT, but I'm sure it could be seen in full somewhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiQsi1dntOg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7tsDA7qXqo

Jaq · « **Reply #28 on:** March 21, 2015, 03:19:57 PM »

The first time I saw Monty Python was in the late 70s on public television, a sketch where they were big game hunters using military equipment to hunt ludicrously small animals, with the highlight being using a F-104 Starfighter to kill a mosquito. The punchline was pretty much "someone said you should use a flyswatter instead. Where's the sport in that?!"

And boom, I fell in love.

My sister hates just about anything British. She is a self styled (and self taught) redneck and beer drinker, so naturally British comedy is something she finds just plain bad. British comedy, television, movies, etc, she tells the rest of us just isn't for her and isn't any good.

She walked in on me once watching the Upper Middle Class Twit of the Year bit and laughed so hard she cried and her ribs hurt the next day.

Monty Python cares not for your prejudices. They can make something that kills anyone who watches it.

chaossystem · « **Reply #29 on:** March 21, 2015, 04:09:45 PM »

Never forget:

There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded mosquito!

Words to live by.

chaossystem · « **Reply #30 on:** March 21, 2015, 04:12:03 PM »

Quote from: Kotowboy on March 19, 2015, 12:03:15 PM

Controversial I know but I think The Holy Grail is MUCH better & funnier than Life Of Brian.

You're not alone.

Holy Grail was the only one of the Monty Python movies that I liked.

Onno · « **Reply #31 on:** March 21, 2015, 05:09:23 PM »

Quote from: El Barto on March 21, 2015, 02:37:46 PM

Quote from: Onno on March 21, 2015, 01:35:27 PM
Yay, great thread! Reading Cleese's book now, it's great!
Seems few have even heard about it, but there's a video from his Alimony Tour that's excellent. Basically a retrospective his life with lots of video clips from is shows. I'm sure all of it's covered in his book but it's still great to see him present it live. After all, he is quite possibly the funniest man on Earth at the moment.

Alas, only short snippets available on YT, but I'm sure it could be seen in full somewhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiQsi1dntOg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7tsDA7qXqo

I've seen that. It's hilarious. He is indeed the funniest man on Earth!

Orbert · « **Reply #32 on:** March 21, 2015, 06:13:15 PM »

When I was a corporate trainer, I attended a lecture by John Cleese. He had a series of training videos (I don't know whether or not he still makes them) employing his skills as both an actor and comedian in training people. So he was selected to speak because of that, but also because he's John Cleese, and people would want to see him anyway (I was in the second category). He also had a book out and talked about that.

Anyway, as you might expect, it was a somewhat more "serious" lecture on using humour in training, but it also had a fair amount of humour in it, as that was part of the point. Nobody likes attending corporate training, but it's a necessary evil in the business world. What you can do, however, is infuse it with a certain amount of levity. Not so much that people think it's all just a joke, but it doesn't have to be eight hours of boredom and tedium per day, either.

I already did that quite a bit, having honed that skill during my tenure as a high school teacher, but since I'd never seen Monty Python live, I was just digging seeing John Cleese in the flesh. I sat maybe 20 feet from him, and got to say "Hi!" to him afterwards, but that was it.

KevShmev · « **Reply #33 on:** March 21, 2015, 06:36:06 PM »

Life of Brian is great, and I would agree that it is probably more clever and multi-dimensional than The Holy Grail, but THG is just funnier, IMO. I never not laugh when I watch The Holy Grail.

ariich · « **Reply #34 on:** March 22, 2015, 02:42:13 AM »

Quote from: KevShmev on March 21, 2015, 06:36:06 PM

Life of Brian is great, and I would agree that it is probably more clever and multi-dimensional than The Holy Grail, but THG is just funnier, IMO.

This sums it up nicely for me. Both classic films!

News: The Gift of Music official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fae4FQ4McSY

Author Topic: The Monty Python Thread (Read 6501 times)