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Origins of Monty Python
jyuter writes "CNN posts the first chapter of the new Monty Python book, 'Monty Python Speaks!' It's a bit long, but an interesting read. " Well, the topic icon seems very applicable today. Read it-really good stuff.
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They are THE classic comedy troupe. This article just proves that they stand the test of time..
"Blue.. no yellow!"
Ark
"I build my canopy of steel.. it fulfills my sense of real.. a chrome protection" - Catherine Wheel
This parrot is dead!
No it's not, it's just resting...
Police State UK - news and
But then NO ONE expects the Spanish Inquisition! :)
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
They are THE classic comedy troupe.
Classic, as in, old?
Insert mind here.
I think it was Terry Jones who had this quote: "We were going for something that would be completely indescribable. Given that 'python-esque' is now in the OED, I think we pretty much failed miserably."
According to Michael Palin, John Cleese got up at Graham Chapman's funeral and said, "Graham Chapman, writer of the parrot sketch, is no more. He has ceased to be. He has gone to meet his maker..."
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Linux: "There's a penguin on the television set"... Of course, everyone loves penguins.
The US and Cryptography: "Help, help, I'm being opressed!"
Cafeteria food: "Spam, spam, spam, spam..."
...and they set such high standards in humor and animation, that now we have South Park.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
I say, how fast does an unburdened swallow fly? Well, I guess that depends, do you mean the eastern European or the African swallow? Well, how the hell should I know? ...
... is the department for the preservation of SILLY WALKS
Oh... Intercourse the penguin!
Nobody expects the Linux Inquisition!
Did you expect that? Huh? HUH!?
On one Simpsons episode Homer goes back to college and hangs out with a bunch of computer nerds who, guess what, know all the words to the Holy Grail (just like me!)
Ni!
Monty Python was pretty funny, esp the Holy Grail, but I always felt that they were overrated. I thought American shows like SNL and In Living Color were a lot funnier, but maybe that's just a taste issue.
Be forewarned -- the first one you listen to will be so confusing that you might be tempted to stop listening. DON'T. Once you understand the basic characters (Major Dennis Bloodnok, Bluebottle, Neddie Seagoon, Eccles, and Hercules Grytpype-Thynne) and what the heck they're doing, you'll split your sides laughing.
What's your favorite episode? Mine must be Six Charlies In Search Of An Author. Pirandello, eat your heart out!
He's fallen in the water! Needle Nardle Noo!
"But always she's the spectre of uncertainty I first endured, then faded, then embraced..."
- Wakey Wakey!
- voom?!? voom?!? That parrot wouldn't voom if you put 9 million volts through it!
- it's pining for the fjords!
- the only reason that parrot isn't pushing up the daisies is because it's feet are nailed to the cage!
- he fucking snuffed it!
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
I like South Park, but it's not going to be anything like Python. It really looks like it's headed in the same direction as Beavis and Butthead - all the kids love it becuase it's the most vulgar show on TV, all the parents hate it for the same reason. Eventually, all the kids start realizing, "Hey....this isn't very funny anymore. Now it just kinda sucks." and then they change the channel.
But The Simpsons just keeps on going. By the way, Metallica will be the next Led Zeppelin, mark my words.
Ok, I'm lame for posting a reply on my own post. After seeing a mix of "big deal" and "Python rules" posts, though, I thought I would chime in again.
:)
I think you're right about Python being generational. I'm not quite 30 and I caught the Python reruns on PBS starting in my early teens. It was very fresh to me.
I also eventually saw the Python films. At the time, only "geeks" (bad thing to be at my school) were into that stuff. I kept quiet about it, except when I was around my friends who were part of the Drama club. There, it was an inside joke to us.
I think the appeal is their creativity and their willingness to take a simple premise and push it to the farthest extremes. Sometimes, the original premise might not be hysterical, but they would push it until it was (remember the "organ collectors" in "The Meaning of Life"?)
Python didn't make me roll on the floor often, but I DID smile a lot. It was witty, creative, and fun to watch. Certainly, part of my affection is nostalgia now. The fact that I can openly drop a Python reference around people today and have them "get it" is also cool.
Anyway, that's about enough of my "What Monty Python Means to Me" essay.
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
"My brain hurts!" .... "No, my brain in my head, my brain in my head!!"
Wah!
Cafeteria food? Bah ... the term "spam" itself, as used on the Internet.
... :)
I *wish* our cafeteria had served something as edible as SPAM
Oh, and baked beans.
-- Rick
I sleep all night and I sleep all day
He's from Microsoft and he's OK
He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day
I code VB, I eat my lunch, I go to the lavat'ry
On Wednesdays I do nothing
But collect pay from Bill G.
He codes VB, he eats his lunch, he goes to the lavat-ry
On Wednesdays he does nothing
But collect pay from Bill G.
He's from Microsoft and he's OK
He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day.
I code VB, whilst taking a dump
Ten lines done in two hours
I wish I had GNU/Linux
I just crashed my Windows taskbar
He codes VB, whilst taking a dump .. ??
Ten lines done in two hours
He wishes he had GNU/Linux
He just crashed his Windows taskbar
He's from Microsoft and he's OK
He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day.
I code VB, and MFC
NT is such a crock
I wish I'd learned BSD
Just like my dear papa!
He codes VB, and MFC .. ?!?
NT is such a crock
He's from Microsoft and he's OK
He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day!
Yet another twisted drwiii presentation :P
Yeah, that was shown several times on Comedy Central.. It was a special held during some awards show in Colorado.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Instead of posting more great quotes from easily the funniest television show of all time, I'd like to point out that Monty Python's Flying Circus is in syndication on A&E Saturday evenings. Check your local listings for exact times, but it's great since they play the episodes in order, and fill up an entire hour with classic sketches.
It's unbelievable that it's been over 30 years and they've yet to be topped in insanity. I mean, there's not a single television show or film that is more lunatic and psychotic than these brilliantly creative skits (and of course, animation). Say...no...more!
The funniest skit I ever saw, ever, was MP's 1812 Overture, played by the exploding orchestra. I've never laughed so hard since. We had a screening of the episode in one of our Lit classes in college - relating to surrealism in arts/media - the whole class was, quite literally, on the floor, helpless with laughter.
"shop smart:shop s-mart" ash
ON september 28 A&E will release the first 2 seasons of the Flying Circus on DVD!!!
"And after the spanking there's the oral sex"
"-- well I could stay a bit longer..."
Funny thing...
Some humor works based on premise, and you can describe the general idea to someone, and they'll snicker or not, depending on how well you told it. Python has great comic ideas, sure, but it has that quotability thing going on. People tend to remember the exact words used in a particular sketch/movie. That doesn't happen very often in comedy. Lessee: Far Side (Bummer of a birthmark, Hal...), Raising Arizona (Son, you got a panty on yore hed.) There are more, I know, but I'm lazy today.
In the Live at the Hollywood Bowl movie, the Pythons were rightly stunned at hearing their jokes recited along with the routine, like singing along at a rock concert. Even better, after the line was recited, everybody would crack up as though hearing it for the first time.
Weird and interesting stuff. Wish I could bottle it for use in my writing...
Yes.
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
South Park (particularly the movie), on the other hand, has a little bit of reality in it. It exposes and makes fun of all the inconsistancies in our society (i.e. it's ok to let your kids see tons of senseless violence and killing, but the minute someone says a 'naughty' word (isn't the whole idea of swearing a dumb concept anyway?) or takes their shirt off, then that media has warped their fragile little minds ;)
I do have to agree with you though...the Simpsons are the best :)
Save the children; quit overparenting!
John Cleese came to speak at Cornell earlier this year. He's actually a professor at large here, believe it or not. ... absolutely hilarious.
First we watched 'A Fish called Wanda'. Then he took questions, where he demanded that everyone address him as 'Professor Cleese' before answering any questions
He's actually a very interesting, thoughtful and (when he wants to be) serious speaker.
Ken Shabby kills me every time.
Ohhhh, I hav'nt *cough*cough* in Weeks, *huchhh*
He'll be up in a minute!
:)
I'll bet he's laughing his wings off too.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
The Geek Race! Oh what a skit.
:)
How about this one? I'd lauke to repowt a bur-gul-laa-rey.
Or this one? Mr. Johnson has learned the first rule of not being seen. However, he has chosen a very obvious piece of covah! Kablooey!
Monty Python humor is truly an art form.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
Is that an african or a european swallow?
Look! It's the old man from scene 37!
What's the capitol of Assyria?
It's only a flesh wound! Oh! I see! Runnin' away ayy? Come back and fight like a man! I'll bite ya legs off!
And now for something completely different...hehe.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
First, I cringe with every misquote. My friends and I can't go 10 minutes without some obscure Python-ism (Ditto for Star Wars tho). So I darn all thee misquoters to heck (unless it's actually applied in satirical context)
;-)
But enough of that. What I wanted to say what that it's great to see something like Python so alive and well today. It is THE classic. Heck, a few months ago, a local radio station did a Monty Pyton special. Great it was too, a lot of skits in vocal form, spliced to all hell.
It was great to hear them, and I must say, that the entire 'Cat License' skit, including the song 'Eric the Half a Bee' was just as great on the radio as on the tube. I'd go into a tirade of quotations, but that's not really necessary right now =) Everyone else already have.
Bet you expected me to though. Nobody expects the silence of a deranged Python fan! And I must say that that was nearly obscure enough to still render my comment quote-free.
So, that's where Tony Hendra came from.
Anyone else notice how CNN's editing almost disappeared? Sometime, they're going to make a major mistake and be sued. Of course, they are the ones who claimed that JFK Jr. was found alive in Rhode Island without first verifing the source.
Hickory Dickory Dock, some chick was ...
Ying Ti Iddleipoo
I run a goon show site over at
members.xoom.com/goonshow
I put up 4 to 5 goon shows a week for public resumption. There are also links to scripts, fan sites, and even a connection to the bigest Charlie of them all.
Come listen to where the Pythons got the inspiration.
You can also get more info on more Old Time Radio Shows at
wsmg.org/otr/guide.php3
Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap!
The last url should be
wsmf.org/otr/guide.php3
Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Oh wow that is the funniest thing ive seen in a LONG time!
Though I can't find the original article, this is the true, verifiable "Geek Test" that our erstwhile Mr. Katz was seeking to define several months ago.
Being a geek is not determined by whether you prefer 'The Matrix' or 'SW:TPM'. It is simply a matter of how much of 'MP and the Holy Grail' you can recite from memory.
(Extra Credit for 'Life of Brian')
I think the responses to this thread already are more than enough proof for this hypothesis.
--sugarman--
>The Geek Race! Oh what a skit.
You mean The Upper Class Twit of the Year contest?
mother's womb probably.. each and every cast member they ever used.
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
I love python, the goons and tons of the stuff i think is creative and original humor. they sought to bring a little creative light in a world of blandness and sameoldcrap.
What is bizzare is that some of the strongest fans of these creative lights seek only to parrot (not dead) the lines heard rather than take up the call to creative whackiness.
Which do you think would honor more the spirit of thier humor, repititon or creation?
( and for extra points...Which Goon show meber made an apperance in Life of Brian?)
Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap!
My fave ggonshow at the moment is Foiled By President Fred.
But My fave changes every week.
To listen to the goonshows head over to
memebers.xoom.com/goonshows
I post 4 to 5 shows every week, in mp3 format. There are also lists and links to follow to learn abou the goons.
These things are priceless. Collect em all and construct the new MEgaEccles.."hows yer old dad"
Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap!
If you get a chance, I suggest you see this movie.
I've never laughed so hard in a movie theatre.
Like Python, it's not for everyone. Out of the 20 people there, my wife, myself, and two other people were laughing our heads off. The rest of the audience jut didn't get it.
For the obscure Python line, check the sig. It hasn't changed for months.
"oohhh... I didn't know Schopenhauer was a philosopher!"
".....Oxford/Cambridge...."????
Is this for real, but are Americans really so stupdid they wouldn't understand the term 'Oxbridge' after numerous paragraphs about 'Oxford & Cambridge'?
That show, to me, captured a lot of what MP is all about...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Hang on...
Just gotta get back into my chair...
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (THUD! again)
I'm O-kay... God, that was SO fscking funny! The look on that's poor guy's face... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
And he's using a QuickCam...
And he's just realized that the guy that BO'd him probably captured the hanky-panky that went on last night...
For those of you too damn lazy to cut-n-paste, here's a clickable link: HOLY SH!T
God, this one's a classic! That's it, this one's WALLPAPER!!
Who says cracking isn't worthwhile? This was sure worth it!!
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
I don't know if it's still in use, but my father, who is a manager for JCPenney (dept store similar to Sears), said that they had a training video that featured the Parrot sketch. It was how *not* to treat customers and how to handle problems with merchandise, etc. It's amazing where this stuff shows up.
Chris
mtnbkr@mindspring.com
It looks like they are sponsoring the link -- don't they rely heavily on M$ products? Doesn't Amazon support more "Geek/Linux/Nerd stuff?
I figure if I buy the book I might as well buy it from linux users.
Fawlty Towers was pretty awesome, too. What's her name? Connie Booth? I think she is or was married to John Cleese. Must make for an interesting homelife.
---
EVER WATCHFULL OF THE M$ CON$PIRACY
Even unreleased episodes!
WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!#
I love Python (the show. I am more partial to Perl when it comes to comp. langs.)
But nothing is more boring than a bunch of old farts sitting around talking about thier "glory days" 30 years ago.
Hopefully this book gets better and talks about some actual episodes and how they came about. I care less about how these guys met and what goofy college theater stuff they did back in 1963.
-geekd
Out of all the comments, nobody mentioned the Whizzo Confectionary Company. Well just for the record, I like Chocolate Crunchy Frogs best because they are made with only the finest "hand picked dew covered baby frogs, lovingly packed in ice and flown in for freshness." But nowdays just walk down the street in any big city and you'll see that Spring Steel Surprise is very popular among the youth as they all tend to have steel things sticking out of their face here and there. Whizzo Confectionary is a maker of fine confections that will delight and confound for a long time. Gotta go, I hear that Lark's Vomit Delight calling now. Mmmmmm! :-)
"Do you get wafers with it?"
"Course you don't get fuckin' wafers with it!!!"
MrCreosote Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump! "You're right! There isn't enough room to swing a cat in here!"
Zontar The Mindless,
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Although I beleive that the Kids in the Hall come close.
I am SO glad that so many people positively responded to the mention of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Yes, the troupe was heavily influenced by the The Goon Show and Ernie Kovacs (plus a number of shows I don't remember offhand), but what did result is (IMHO) the most effective display of comedy on television I've EVER seen. I really think that that the Python troupe had to be extremely intelligent in order to parody everything British, just like the fact the more you think about it, the more you know that the original contributors to MAD magazine had to be quite intelligent to effectively parody everything American from the middle 1950's on.
The Python genius showed right from the start with one of the earliest "sketches," the famous "Killer Joke." The version we saw on TV was unbelievably funny and SO much more intelligently-developed than any American comedy of its day--let alone today! The first time I saw it in 1975, I nearly fell off my chair laughing out very loud! (^_^)
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
You got my interest, but the site is down (and has been for some time evidently). Is it anywhere else?
support gun control: take guns from cops