Monty Python

This is the famous British comedy troupe most active in the 1970s.  Their humor was definitely oddball, different, over the top, surrealistic, irreverent and “out there”.  I find it MUCH more enjoyable than the excessively dry humor of Christopher Guest & co. in his “Best of Show”, “Waiting for Guffman”, and “A Mighty Wind” movies with his pals Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Martin Mull.  It’s also commonly claimed that Monty Python serves as an inspiration to Saturday Night Live, though I don’t find any of that humor, no matter which cast, to be nearly as oddball as the Python’s, with the possible exceptions of “Landshark” and the various “samurai” roles of John Belushi. 

 John Cleese.  The tallest, Cleese was usually the choice to portray stiff, humorless, serious civilian authority figures such as bankers.  He’s a real handful as Sir Lancelot in “Holy Grail.”  He uses his impressive height to impart comic gravity to his roles.  I really liked him as the newscaster whose desk gets kidnapped, but he continues reporting the news all the way across town, through traffic, and off the dock into the sea.  In more recent years Cleese has played “Q” in the James Bond films.

 Eric Idle.  Gives Palin competition for the “smarmy” one…”nudge nudge wink wink say no more.”  He plays “brave, brave” Sir Robin in “Holy Grail.”   In “The Rutles” he plays the Paul McCartney character, Dirk.

 Graham Chapman.  He could be counted to bring life to various colonels (stiff, humorless, serious military authority figures), stopping the sketch for being too silly – e.g. “vicious gangs of KEEP LEFT signs”.   Excellent as “Arthur, King of the Britons” and Brian.

 Michael Palin.  The host of “Blackmail”, the German accented Queen Victoria, and Sir Galahad.  And of course, responsible for the “Spanish Inquisition” which Chapman was not expecting. 

 Terry Jones.  Often the straight man, but can be funny as well, e.g. nude pianist.  Sir Bedevere in “Holy Grail”. 

 Terry Gilliam.  Actually American, and mainly responsible for the bizarre animation in the serious, with the exception of a “fatal heart attack”.  He does appear in some sketches and as Sir Lancelot’s faithful squire, Concord.

 Flying Circus.  Several seasons worth of complete insanity now available in a deluxe 16 DVD set, from 1969-74 (with all the imperfections in dazzling crystal clarity).  Pink Floyd and King Crimson were big fans of the show.  It starts off with “Liberty Bell”, Sousa’s march in the public domain, with animation ending in the foot squashing down.  To this day, I think of Monty Python when I hear that tune, most often in some parade with a marching band blissfully unaware of how their beloved Sousa has been warped and corrupted in this absurd context. 

            The most popular sketch has to be “Dead Parrot”, with Cleese as an unhappy customer and Palin as the evasive pet store owner desperately trying to convince Cleese, to no avail, that the parrot is not quite dead.  Some episodes have one story which last the whole show, like when the alien blancmanges turn the world into Scotsmen in a bid to rig Wimbledon in their favor, as everyone knows Scots are useless at tennis.  My favorites include:

            the quiz show in which various Marxist leaders (Lenin, Marx, Mao, Castro) are asked soccer questions by Eric Idle (“sorry, it’s a trick question, Wolverhampton has NEVER won the FA Cup”);

            the soccer game between the Greek philosophers and the German philosophers, complete with Karl Marx (yet again, Terry Jones) doing jumping jacks on the sidelines as a substitute;

            the cricket match between pieces of furniture

            the lumberjack sketch (thank you, Michael Palin!)

            various knockoffs of BBC announcements

            “The funniest joke in the world”, a joke so funny that anyone who hears it will literally die laughing, it’s translated into German as the Allies’ secret weapon against the Nazis

            Dennis Moore, the Cleese character who takes lupins (flowers) from the rich and gives them to the poor…who aren’t particularly appreciative of the transfer

            The Ministry of Silly Walks

            Game shows such as Blackmail! And the All-England Summarize Proust Competition

            John Cleese as anti-Masonic architect (“no, I’m sorry, we’re not looking for an abattoir”)

            (“NO ONE EXPECTS”) The Spanish Inquisition      

            Crunchy Frog (spots Harry Potter’s bizarre confections by several decades)

            Hell’s Grannies (featuring the aforementioned gangs of “keep left signs”)

            “your cat needs to be confused!”, in which Graham Chapman advises a couple on how to solve their cat’s apparent ennui

            Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things

            How Not to Be Seen (a guide to camouflage for ordinary people)

            The Hospital for Over-Actors, full of “a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse” actors overdramatically indulging in Richard III portrayals, although Idle, with his deadpan delivery of the line, “appears to be making some progress”

            RAF Banter – in which various RAF pilots from WWII can’t seem to understand each other’s war-jargon banter

            The dueling documentary narrators (Cleese & Idle) chasing each other across the countryside each trying to do a different documentary with only one microphone between the two of them;

 In addition to several seasons of Flying Circus, Monty Python also have several movies! 

 "And Now For Something Completely Different” and “Live at the Hollywood Bowl”.  Nothing more than the sketches redone in a different context, albeit fairly faithfully.

 “The Holy Grail” (1975).  The first real movie, subsidized by Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin (unfortunately, none of them appear in the film).  This is their “adaptation” of the King Arthur story, with clopping coconuts in lieu of real horses (transported to temperate England how? By swallows?  European or African?), ample animation, and hilarious misadventures.  At one point Palin portrays a local noble eager to marry his fairy prince to a girl from a family with better land, and has to tell his guard, “YOU stay ‘ere, and make sure ‘e doesn’t leave”, and “let’s not bicker about who killed who”.   There’s a killer rabbit and a Holy Hand Grenade.  “And there was much rejoicing….”

 “The Life of Brian” (1979).  The Bible story told…a little differently.  The People’s Front of Judea (“what have the Romans ever done for us?”) is worth the price of admission.  Other moments include stonings (“…even if they say ‘Jehovah’!”), haggling over a disguise in the market, “Romanus Eunt Domus” (later copied in “Canadian Bacon”), “welease WOGER!”, and the snobby Jewish couple aghast at being crucified next to Samaritans.

 “The Meaning of Life”.  A series of sketches loosely strung together going from birth – comparing Catholics and Protestants – to death (Death: “You English are so fucking pompous!”).  I could do without “The Autumn Years” featuring Mr Creosote (Jones) vomiting obscene amounts of food everywhere.   

 And now for something, not quite so completely different:

 “A Fish Called Wanda”, which features John Cleese and Michael Palin, teamed up with Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin K-K-K-Kline.   

 Fawlty Towers.  John Cleese’s mid 70s English series about a buffoonish bead & breakfast proprietor.  My favorite was when the B&B has German guests, who he can’t help offending with countless WWII references.

 Terry Gilliam.  His movies frequently include Python members, but he’s hit or miss.  I couldn’t stand “Jabberwocky” (which featured Palin), but I loved “12 Monkeys” – which had no Python members, but had outstanding performances by Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt.  “Brazil”, “Baron Munchhausen”, “Time Bandits”, “The Fisher King” (w/Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges) and “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas” (with Johnny Depp as Hunter S. Thompson) were so-so.

 The Rutles.  This is the humorous documentary obviously spoofing the Beatles.  As mentioned earlier, Eric Idle played the Paul McCartney character, Dirk McQuigley, as well as various narrators.  Michael Palin has a minor role, and even George Harrison has a brief role as well.  It’s sad, but “Magical Mystery Tour” was so low budget, that the Rutles version, “Tragical History Tour”, actually looks better.  “Ouch” replaces “Help!”, “All You Need is Cash” subs out for Love, and the other songs are fairly well done.  Lennon loved the movie so much he refused to return the copies given to him for his approval.