Today's Apocalypse Sign: Now For Something Completely DIfferent

I wish to be a little silly today...

Monty Python's Flying Circus silly.


I loved the Pythons from the first viewing. Cleese, Chapman, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam represented the finest in British humor. The accents, the jokes (subtle and otherwise) I found addicting. A lot of people I know find MPFC stupid (of course) and unfunny. They are to be pitied. I would say much of my sense of humor can be attributed to long hours watching many of their shows over and over.

The troupe's way of keeping the viewer off guard was masterful. Rolling credits part-way through a skit or immediately running opening and closing credits one after the other, or Chapman coming in and stopping the action saying it had gotten too silly...you never quite knew what you were in for.

The characters portrayed by each member were all so perfect. Cleese as the Ministry Of Silly Walks employee...could you imagine anyone else doing this.

Ministry Of Silly Walks


Cleese and Palin in the riotous Dead Parrot Sketch...brilliant!

Dead Parrot Sketch



There are various stories as to how the name Monty Pythons Flying Circus came about but the brilliance of Gilliam's opening sequence for the show are undisputed. That alone was reason enough to watch.

The abrupt cutting from one scene to another and Cleese (usually dressed in a dinner suit and impersonating a radio announcer) walking into a sketch to announce, "And now for something completely different". Then off you'd go to...something completely different! It was high comedy and brilliant acting.

Their collaboration resulted in the following well-known sketches:

The Dead Parrot
The Lumberjack Song
Nudge Nudge
Spam
The Spanish Inquisition
Upper Class Twit Of The Year
Cheese Shop
Ministry Of Silly Walks

Naturally the jump to the big screen came...and


There were three real movies made by the Pythons:

Monty Python and The Holy Grail - a full lampoon of the times of King Arthur. The Black Knight, the clapping coconut shells for horse's hoof beats, the Knights who say Ni:



Monty Python and The Life Of Brian  -A religious lampoon of the New Testament.



Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life - sort of a birth through death journey. It was the darkest humor and most violent endeavor. The group claimed to want to "offend everyone" with this film.



As with all good things the group went their separate ways. Cleese and Palin did several movies together and Cleese wrote and starred in the film A Fish Called Wanda. Chapman died in 1989. In a 2005 poll of the UK to find the top 50 comedians, Cleese was voted #2, Idle #21 and Palin #30.

If you have never visited the lunacy that is Monty Python please add that to your list of things to do before you die...

This has been something completely different...tomorrow is the Big O!