Cheers! Thanks for explaining each blooper and sketch like you were teaching special ed kids - it really really helps us to enjoy the classic Python lines and we'd have never seen the funny side without it !
Great version of the dead parrot sketch was for one of the secret policeman's ball. They started the sketch with Cheese saying it's a dead parrot and Palin come back with ' well I will replace it ' the look on Cleese's face was brilliant.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was, and still is, one of my favorite comedies. One of my favorite set of lines is when Cleese says "She turned me into a newt..." and I forget the actor's name "A newt?!" and Cleese's comeback line of "I got better." still cracks me up years later.
@mamacartney What about The Two Ronnies or Morecambe and Wise? Both are Great British Comedy Duos, I'd say. I've enjoyed them all, as a young American, as there isn't really hardly any real "comedy" left (or in the US, anyways). I've been enjoying these good old acts that I had mentioned, from here "across the pond" since I was a teenager.
Correct, they did one series of takes to get their cues and camera angles right then for "THE" take they swapped all but two guards and well, you've seen the results
The older guard’s face when Palin says ‘He has a wife you know.’ Is priceless. He thinks he’s gotten it under control, Biggus Dickus can’t make him laugh…then he hears the wife line and his face says ‘I’m going to die.’
The delivery of the line "'Cause they're made of... wood?" was one of my favorite Python moments. It's like a little boy in school struggling to answer a question from the instructor, afraid of being laughed at by classmates or belittled by the instructor. Thanks for pointing out Eric trying to keep a straight face, I'd never noticed that. Glad he was able to keep it together so they could use that take.
All the selected bits are great, but I saw Life of Brian in the theater with a couple buddies. The Biggus Dickus scene was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Between the centurions trying not to laugh, Palin's egging them on, the audience laughing, we were laughing until our ribs hurt, and slouched so low in our seats we were nearly on the sticky floor. Took a while to recover. God bless the Pythons.
For me, the best part is that Palin himself is obviously a hair's breadth away from cracking himself. When he gets into that one guards face with the line "...when I say the name, Biggus... Dickus!", he is visibly barely keeping it together, and the only thing allowing him to pull it back in is the shift of focus as one of the other guards giggles.
The unmitigated and hilarious irony of claiming that you're NOT different by standing out from the crowd by NOT going along with the lock-step rote of instant dogma they're engaging in creates an almost Zen-like koan of cognitive dissonance that does the best thing that comedy can possibly do - MAKE YOU THINK!
Monty Python was on when I first moved out of my parents house. A bunch of us would gather around and enjoy the skits and sometimes recreating them. They are responsible for my development of a dry and satiric humor in my formative years. Monty Python has never and will never be replaced.
Their humour was genius - even today the funny bits are very funny but the original series was very hit and miss. I would greatly recommend Spike Milligan in all his mediums - another true genius that unfortunately suffers a little due to modern day sensibilities.
@@EndertheWeek And of course Milligan turns up in "Brian" He was actually on holiday in Tunisia (where it was filmed) so they asked him if he wanted take part. An other off the wall comic genius. RIP Spike,
@@mikewilson8513 I had forgotten that. Not the first time he "holidayed" in N. Africa (WW2). I still listen to Goon shows on CD and they never fail to make me laugh and I marvel at the genius of Spike, Peter and Harry. It is such a shame that such swathes of broadcast history were lost because the BBC wanted to re-use tape.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen these sketches and movies and between Cleese and Palin’s incredible talent and delivery I still die laughing.
It would be impossible to select the "best" Python. All of them had incredible deliveries as comedic actors. Their writing styles varied greatly but they were all essential ingredients into the Monty Python vibe. MP's comedy legacy continues to be more priceless with each passing year. Carry on!
What I find amazing and sad is that John Cleese didn't like acting and didn't want to but claims he was basically forced to do it because noone could do what he does. He stated in several interviews that he really enjoyed the writing and creating process and that he was self conscious when it came to being on stage.
@@scobra5941 I ran across a movie I havnt seen or thought of since I was prob 10 years old around '79 I'm guessing. John Cleese and Graham Chapman wrote. Rentadick 1972. I was shocked when I found it online. The over the top depiction of the Japanese characters would be boycotted if that movie was produced today.
Saw Brian on it's first release, in a cinema that held 600 plus people, the whole place was in hysterics, one of the greatest film experiences I've ever had.
I started high school in 1974 which was a year before SNL. My friends and I watched Monty Python every Sunday on PBS, Channel 13 in NYC. Every Monday morning at the bus stop we would imitate the funny sketches we watched the night before.
Cleese said in an interview with Dick Cavett that during a live performance (I believe it was the argument clinic skit), he got lost as he and Palin went off script laughing for a few seconds, then he looked at the front row and asked, "What's the next line?" He said about 10 audience members shouted it out in unison.
Also, in the TV (yes, TV!) sketch where Michael Palin's Mr. Attila the Hun goes to a police office, Terry Jones is clearly having problems with his fake mustache, and then, mid-sketch, just rips it off, throws it in his hat, and continues on. Perfectly Python. And in the WWI sketch, where John Cleese overdramatically plays a chaplain who's lost both arms, when he offers to sacrifice himself, saying "I'm...not a complete man anymore", Graham's perfect beat before saying "You've lost both your arms as well" cracks Cleese up too perfectly to be scripted.
Def 2 great ones, but for me the best corpsing in the TV Series is Cleese's when Graham responds "Intercourse the penguin". That or the French sheep aviators. You really do get to put some strange words together in a sentence when discussing Python.
@@steeleye2112 Ah yes, the Exploding Penguin sketch. When I was in college, I was on the school College Bowl team that went to a regional tournament at Syracuce U. When we got to our hotel, we had some weed and a bottle of vodka. At one point, I just started reciting the Exploding Penguin sketch; and I had the team mesmerized. The next day, we crossed off our school nickname and wrote in "EXploding Penguins."
“Tell you what - we’ll eat your mum, and if you feel the least bit guilty about it afterwards, we can dig a grave, and you can throw up into it.” So wonderfully twisted!
@@steeleye2112 There was another improvised line in that sketch: Graham shouting “BURMA”. Cleese has later said, and you can see it in the sketch, that he had to look away because it was so funny. Graham is also having trouble keeping it together. So in my opinion “Burma” was funnier than “intercourse the penguin”.
I've heard somewhere that in the Holy Grail the reason why Cleese pauses before saying Tim the Enchanter's name is that originally the character had a longer, sillier name but he kept on forgetting so he just ad-libbed the name "Tim".
I took it as a satire of high fantasy wizards always having long winded mystical sounding names, and the fact that Cleese starts to go on a big rambling introduction, only to counterpunch that with his name being anticlimactic "Tim".
Still make me laugh as much as the first time I saw them in the 1980's. Once we discovered them, my mom and I watched the reruns every night. My favorite gag of all time was "The Spanish Inquisition". I used It for months and months at school and had a ball because no one knew what I was talking about. I would sneak up on my mom while she was cooking, poke her with a cushion and shout out "It's the Spanish Inquisition!" and then run off. I was really in love with Michael Palin dressed up as the head of the inquisition, lol! My other favorite was the gag about "The Lupine". Just gems, all of them!
I remember watching Monty Python on PBS in the 70’s. For some reason, my parents thought this was a great show to children who were under 10. And I bless them for it!
To be fair, Python humour works on both levels, child and adult, very well. As a child you just think it is silly and you laugh but as an adult you understand why it is silly and you laugh.
My parents, 4 siblings and myself watched Monty Python s Flying Circus in the 70s every Friday night, 9 pm on PBS. We're preteen to teenagers. It was funny; Hells Grannies, Ministry of Silly Walks, Spam, Spam and so many more.
Heres the thing... Python was a bit magical because individually they are all brilliant comedy writers and performers. Absolute top tier, elite comedians. Thats individually. Together, ideas bouncing off each other, sparks and ideas flying.... They then can make a solid claim to best comedy troup in the history of the sport. Improv moments like these would be both easy and natural for them. Monty Python was comedy as an artform performed by Masters.
They give The Goons (Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe) a serious run for their money, but The Pythons will admit that The Goons were a bit better.
You wouldn't believe exactly how many bits they had to cut from the scripts. Holy Grail, for instance, had only about 10% of the original bits made for it in it.
I’m 14 years old and about a month ago I found out about Monty Python. I saw the Holy Grail and it became one of my favorite movies. Just watched Life Of Brian today. I’m going to check out Meaning Of Life these days. Monty Python is hell of a great group and Truly Comedic genius!❤
JC once said (the video must be somewhere on UA-cam) that for a very long time he thought that Michael was the funniest Palin on the planet. That was before he (JC) encountered Sarah.
Apparently, he just happened to be on holiday where they were filming, and of course got him to do a scene. Milligan was very much on the Python wavelength. Im sure the Goons had an influence on the Python crew. Jokes without the punchline had never been done before. The sad thing is, MPFCircus would never have been made in todays PC, woke etc political climate.
@@tygrkhat4087 Somewhere on UA-cam, there is a Goon Show reunion, filmed for the 50th anniversary of the BBC. They recreated one of the episodes, and it's particularly interesting because they include Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe warming up the studio audience. They got the entire crew together - except for Wallace Greenslade, the announcer, who had passed away by then. They subbed in a very young - and very deliberately serious - John Cleese.
@@tygrkhat4087 And Prince/king Charles. He used to have them round for tea ! (true) Apparently Princess Diana used to get peed off with all the insane humour !
The actor Palin talks to in the Biggus Dickus scene, 'Do you find it risable(?) when I say, Bickus Dickus?' is comedian Chris Langham. You can see Palin almost giggling himself from Langham's goofy expression.
A long, long time ago, I was the guitar player in a band. One time, we had a university gig In Glasgow and, after the sound check, we repaired to a nearby public house along with the support band. The pub was full of students and was as rowdy as any hostelry would be under the circumstances. Python came on the telly, and the place immediately fell silent, apart of course, from the hilarity. It is one of my abiding memories from that time.
When I feel down and can't get myself back to up, I binge watch Python. Snaps me right out of any funk. Monty Python has probably saved my life, more than once, and neither of us knew it.
I on the other hand have been watching them since I was in my teens, and I am now 67. You are in for a long, joyous ride. And who am I? There are some who call me... Tim.
Life of Brian, the give away about what the movie meant was when John Cleese said," You are the messiah and I should know because I've followed a few". Yes, blind faith.
Life of Brian is like having all the laughs compressed into a few scenes. Most of the film I kinda chuckle at. But the Biggus Dickus scene has me rolling on the floor paralyzed with laughter. That scene and the "Welease Woderwick." part.
Palin by far is my favorite which is still a difficult pick because they are all so damned funny. The way he does his different voices and characters crack me up the most. "Don't stand there gobbin! Act like you've never seen the hand of GOD before!!!
One of my favorites was the exploding penguin on the telly. "Penguins don't come from next door, they come from the Antarctic!" "BURMA!" "Why'd you say Burma?" "I panicked!"
I've read that Chapman had forgotten his line, and literally panicked. He also improvised the "intercourse the penguin" line, which nearly got Cleese to corpse.
In the Biggus Dickus scene, the howling laughter after he says "Incontinentia Buttocks" is actually the cameraman who couldn't hold himself together and they left it in
I think that's one of the beautiful things about Python where even when there are bits are missing or characters are temporarily broken it remains funny simply because it's so absurd anyway
My personal favorite is Eric Idle’s song ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from the crucifixion scene in Life of Brian. It’s on one of my Spotify playlists and it always makes me laugh. Not an ad lib but just perfect.
Someone blended it into North Korean propaganda footage. Here on UA-cam. It is just mind blowing. Anyone caught watching it in North Korea is put to death. I wish I were joking about that.
I had no idea they improvised any scenes, in movies or in the show. That makes me like them even more. Although the Biggest Dickus bit really does seem like he's intentionally trolling the guards to get them to laugh. I missed these guys so much. Python trivia: One of the last things Graham Chapman starred in was an Iron Maiden video for a song called "Can I Play With Madness". Enjoy!
Dear Sir; I strongly disagree with your comment regarding the brilliance of Monty Python. Of course I live in a bubble, but still was able to view the dreadfull skits you refer to. I can't finish this letter because I died laughing watching the meaning of life. Sorry Signed Dead Monty Python viewer.
I have always loved Monty Python and I own so many of their shows I even raised my children watching these awesome show. When I would take them for walks they would pretend to be on horses and shout (RUN AWAY RUN AWAY)
Me too, and I think the best laugh ever from my then young teen son was when I mentioned needing to go to the store and return something and said “I hope this won’t be a dead parrot scene.
You neglect to mention that the lead-in to "Stolen Wallet" was a scene in which an angel tells an oaf that he can have anything he wishes, and the wish is to hear a "fairy story with policemen."
Love love love Monty Python. I was a rare female fan in the 80s and 90s. I will never forget quoting Python in the middle of a group of half a dozen guys. They had never even met a woman who liked Python and my quip was met with a stunned silence. Then I suddenly had 6 new best friends. Long live Monty Python!
'I'm not' is possibly the most brilliant line in comedy history. Some have said it was improvised DURING the take, but there's no way something so brilliant happened like that - it surely was - as you say - suggested and then approved beforehand.
Very true. Secondary actors in a scene with say one hundred or so others, don'r simply shout out lines without the directors approval. It was suggested by the actor and it was brilliantly funny.
We converse in Monty Python in this house. From "pie jesu domine" to "bring out you dead" to "african or European" to "Bickus Dickus" to the stuttering in Brian. And on my final card it will say: "She has ceased to be"
First time i heard of or saw Python was Holy Grail on OLD style cable which was fresh and new. I had no idea who or what a 'Monty Python' was, but first watching and being caught off guard at the opening coconut galloping scene, quickly followed by the Black Knight scene, well i was hooked instantly.
I started watching Monty Python reruns on PBS back in the late '70s and never really thought about a favorite Python beyond Eric Idle. Then a few months ago the question of "who's your favorite" came up at work and it hit me-Michael Palin, hands down. Something about his work with this troupe just clicked. Wait 'till Biggus Dickus hears of this...
The version of Dead Parrot on one of the Python albums ends similarly with "Do you want to come back to my place?" "I thought you'd never ask.", which supposedly was also ad-libbed.
To this day, I cannot get Mr. Creosote out of my mind! The infamous haute cuisine restaurant skit was one of the grossest, funniest skits of all their movies. "Bucket for Monsieur" was the tip of the coming hilarity and references to bodily functions. 😂🤣🤤🤮
I'm surprised the Cleese/Chapman mortuary scene ending with the line "...tell you what, we'll eat 'er, and if you feel bit guilty afterwards, we'll dig a hole and you can... (et-cetera'd for those who don't like their humor quite so dark)"
There are many instances of Palin struggling to hold it together during Python sketches - "We'll be showing you more of that photo later on - unless we hear from Charles or Michael" during the Blackmail game show is one personal favourite. Palin as an old lady trying to read a poem whilst angry arabs scream in rage at her from the other side of the stream is another.
Oh, man! this was my life growing up! We all loved Python. That very short but direct bit between Michael and John, always stuck out. D'you want to come back to my place? Looks around... Yeah, awright. You don't know whats going to happen and then it turns into a guy picking up a constable, no less!. No one expected that! Hilarious.
It’s such a bad idea, too. They did another bad-idea thing like that, gangsters trying to shake down the army in a protection racket. The colonel is uncomprehending, and it’s hard to blame him.
cleese said one they were doing the parrot sketch live and when he asked palin 'does the slug talk?', palin improved / or had it up his sleeve- 'well, it mutters a bit' which corpsed cleese.
The best unscripted part of all Monty Python movies was, when Brian accidentally fell off the tower and happened to fall into alien spaceship. It's a miracle that onboard security footage survived, as well as did Brian. Otherwise, they would need to reshoot all scenes with new "adult Brian". Lucky bastards!
The first time I watched Life of Brian and the Dickus scene, was the only time I’ve very nearly, had a momentary loss of bladder control from laughing 😂. Loved both Holy Grail and LoB. You can always tell a Brit if they can quote a line or sketch from Monty Python
Best use of irony. My favorite improvised line had Brian telling the crowd, "We are all different!", the crown mindlessly repeating, "Yes! We are all different," and one cheeky and brilliant extra piping up with, "I'm not." Now that is a perfect example of a spectacular use of irony. 😉 The other extras shushed the improviser thinking he crossed a line. Nope. They boosted his pay to that of a speaking actor. 😋
Want to know what the gang has been up to since? Check this out!
Monty Python: Where Are They Now?
ua-cam.com/video/C0Rp8CbZYlU/v-deo.html
Cheers! Thanks for explaining each blooper and sketch like you were teaching special ed kids - it really really helps us to enjoy the classic Python lines and we'd have never seen the funny side without it !
Why are you explaining the sketch with voice overs?
Is that the joke?
Well done Mr Mojopuk
Great version of the dead parrot sketch was for one of the secret policeman's ball.
They started the sketch with Cheese saying it's a dead parrot and Palin come back with ' well I will replace it ' the look on Cleese's face was brilliant.
let me guess..
you talking over sketches..
l7ke we're not smart enough to comprehend, you narcissistic prick
These gents had me in stitches when I was in my teens. I think these gentlemen inspired Robin Williams. Thanks for so much great humor!!
"Yes! We're all different" followed by a single "I'm not" is absolutely the best line ever. So simple, so clever ♥
It was the shooshing at the end that did me in.
defines Python...
Its paradoxical claim, Kurt Gödel made a career out of it several decades earlier.
@@theoriginalchefboyoboy6025 And it's not even from Pythons themselves.
I think they used that in another scene too. I think where they find the sandal and are divided into sandal-followers and gourd-believers.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was, and still is, one of my favorite comedies.
One of my favorite set of lines is when Cleese says "She turned me into a newt..." and I forget the actor's name "A newt?!" and Cleese's comeback line of "I got better." still cracks me up years later.
That would be Terry Jones as Sir Bedevere.
I think the Black Knight was one of my favs "you've lost your arm!" "No I haven't! It's over there!"
What's especially fun for me is finding places, moments, in real life where you can insert these tidbits into conversation...
My three favorite movie GOATs: Rear Window, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. All outstanding movies.
@@fordid42 "Didja all hear what Mama said?"
Python simply made the world a better place.
They certainly made it sillier.
England produced the combos that would provide humanity with endless joy, fun and originality Beatles and Pythons! Massive national pride!!❤❤
No, they didn't. Your turn.
@@gedofgont1006 nah, they just pointed out the silly ;)
@mamacartney What about The Two Ronnies or Morecambe and Wise?
Both are Great British Comedy Duos, I'd say. I've enjoyed them all, as a young American, as there isn't really hardly any real "comedy" left (or in the US, anyways).
I've been enjoying these good old acts that I had mentioned, from here "across the pond" since I was a teenager.
I once heard that the guards in the Biggus Dickus scene were simply told, "Don't laugh."
Correct, they did one series of takes to get their cues and camera angles right then for "THE" take they swapped all but two guards and well, you've seen the results
@@bradsmckay Its the look Palin has on his face when he moves towards those two guards, absolute gold "He has a wife you know" 🤣
@@OfWodensFolk 😂😂
The older guard’s face when Palin says ‘He has a wife you know.’ Is priceless. He thinks he’s gotten it under control, Biggus Dickus can’t make him laugh…then he hears the wife line and his face says ‘I’m going to die.’
@@Ansible1000 That look that says: I know it's coming and it's stronger than me.
The Biggus Dickus scene is gold. But the father in Grail yelling “I feel happy!” before being clubbed also makes me laugh loud.
"I don't want to go on the cart!" "Oh,. stop being such a baby"
Love to quote that line
The delivery of the line "'Cause they're made of... wood?" was one of my favorite Python moments. It's like a little boy in school struggling to answer a question from the instructor, afraid of being laughed at by classmates or belittled by the instructor. Thanks for pointing out Eric trying to keep a straight face, I'd never noticed that. Glad he was able to keep it together so they could use that take.
All the selected bits are great, but I saw Life of Brian in the theater with a couple buddies. The Biggus Dickus scene was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Between the centurions trying not to laugh, Palin's egging them on, the audience laughing, we were laughing until our ribs hurt, and slouched so low in our seats we were nearly on the sticky floor. Took a while to recover. God bless the Pythons.
I would agree but have to include the Dead Parrot along with Bigus Dickus. I think I pissed myself the first time I saw it.
For me, the best part is that Palin himself is obviously a hair's breadth away from cracking himself. When he gets into that one guards face with the line "...when I say the name, Biggus... Dickus!", he is visibly barely keeping it together, and the only thing allowing him to pull it back in is the shift of focus as one of the other guards giggles.
Centuwian, thwow him to the fowest to fight wild wabid animals.
And then the anticipation, the dread, the expectation of a total wipeout, as he states: "he has a wife you know" . . .
"God bless the Pythons"... wow, that's at least as funny as any Python sketch.
Oh my word, the "I'm not" line from Life of Brian is one of my favourite lines from the film!
The unmitigated and hilarious irony of claiming that you're NOT different by standing out from the crowd by NOT going along with the lock-step rote of instant dogma they're engaging in creates an almost Zen-like koan of cognitive dissonance that does the best thing that comedy can possibly do - MAKE YOU THINK!
@@logandarklighter Yes.
For me every single individual sentence in LOB was hilarious!
Yes lol
Monty Python was on when I first moved out of my parents house. A bunch of us would gather around and enjoy the skits and sometimes recreating them. They are responsible for my development of a dry and satiric humor in my formative years.
Monty Python has never and will never be replaced.
Absolutely 💖😅 The benchmark of Humor for me as well
Their humour was genius - even today the funny bits are very funny but the original series was very hit and miss. I would greatly recommend Spike Milligan in all his mediums - another true genius that unfortunately suffers a little due to modern day sensibilities.
@@EndertheWeek And of course Milligan turns up in "Brian" He was actually on holiday in Tunisia (where it was filmed) so they asked him if he wanted take part. An other off the wall comic genius. RIP Spike,
@@mikewilson8513 I had forgotten that. Not the first time he "holidayed" in N. Africa (WW2). I still listen to Goon shows on CD and they never fail to make me laugh and I marvel at the genius of Spike, Peter and Harry. It is such a shame that such swathes of broadcast history were lost because the BBC wanted to re-use tape.
@@EndertheWeek I agree, absolute tragedy.
Did you ever read Spikes book, "Hitler, my part in his downfall ?" (and Puckoon )
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen these sketches and movies and between Cleese and Palin’s incredible talent and delivery I still die laughing.
Nothing makes Python unwatchable... Unless you have a dry voiceover narrating the setup over irritating background muzak.
No doubt!
Thank you for that, I was thinking "SHUT UP"
It would be impossible to select the "best" Python. All of them had incredible deliveries as comedic actors. Their writing styles varied greatly but they were all essential ingredients into the Monty Python vibe. MP's comedy legacy continues to be more priceless with each passing year. Carry on!
Want to see the very best of the main man?
Top 10 John Cleese Monty Python Moments
ua-cam.com/video/z1REpEEjU9Q/v-deo.html
😅d DDS I’m
What I find amazing and sad is that John Cleese didn't like acting and didn't want to but claims he was basically forced to do it because noone could do what he does. He stated in several interviews that he really enjoyed the writing and creating process and that he was self conscious when it came to being on stage.
Palin's the main man.
@@scobra5941 I ran across a movie I havnt seen or thought of since I was prob 10 years old around '79 I'm guessing. John Cleese and Graham Chapman wrote. Rentadick 1972. I was shocked when I found it online. The over the top depiction of the Japanese characters would be boycotted if that movie was produced today.
Even just watching these short clips I could not stop cracking up during the Biggus Dickus scene
Saw Brian on it's first release, in a cinema that held 600 plus people, the whole place was in hysterics, one of the greatest film experiences I've ever had.
“Very well…. I shall WELEASE… WEGINALD!!!!” By far my all time favorite MP movie
@Bruce Morris He's a wapist, and a wobber.
@@brucemorris3830 It's the most rewatched for me. Just brilliant
Even after all these years Monty Python is still funny
I started high school in 1974 which was a year before SNL. My friends and I watched Monty Python every Sunday on PBS, Channel 13 in NYC. Every Monday morning at the bus stop we would imitate the funny sketches we watched the night before.
Why would they not be? Nothing has ever matched them.
Cleese said in an interview with Dick Cavett that during a live performance (I believe it was the argument clinic skit), he got lost as he and Palin went off script laughing for a few seconds, then he looked at the front row and asked, "What's the next line?" He said about 10 audience members shouted it out in unison.
Also, in the TV (yes, TV!) sketch where Michael Palin's Mr. Attila the Hun goes to a police office, Terry Jones is clearly having problems with his fake mustache, and then, mid-sketch, just rips it off, throws it in his hat, and continues on. Perfectly Python.
And in the WWI sketch, where John Cleese overdramatically plays a chaplain who's lost both arms, when he offers to sacrifice himself, saying "I'm...not a complete man anymore", Graham's perfect beat before saying "You've lost both your arms as well" cracks Cleese up too perfectly to be scripted.
Def 2 great ones, but for me the best corpsing in the TV Series is Cleese's when Graham responds "Intercourse the penguin". That or the French sheep aviators. You really do get to put some strange words together in a sentence when discussing Python.
The French Sheep Aviation sketch also had a shared moustache...seemed improv to me!
@@steeleye2112 Ah yes, the Exploding Penguin sketch. When I was in college, I was on the school College Bowl team that went to a regional tournament at Syracuce U. When we got to our hotel, we had some weed and a bottle of vodka. At one point, I just started reciting the Exploding Penguin sketch; and I had the team mesmerized. The next day, we crossed off our school nickname and wrote in "EXploding Penguins."
“Tell you what - we’ll eat your mum, and if you feel the least bit guilty about it afterwards, we can dig a grave, and you can throw up into it.” So wonderfully twisted!
@@steeleye2112
There was another improvised line in that sketch: Graham shouting “BURMA”. Cleese has later said, and you can see it in the sketch, that he had to look away because it was so funny. Graham is also having trouble keeping it together.
So in my opinion “Burma” was funnier than “intercourse the penguin”.
Love the Biggus Dickus scene.
I've heard somewhere that in the Holy Grail the reason why Cleese pauses before saying Tim the Enchanter's name is that originally the character had a longer, sillier name but he kept on forgetting so he just ad-libbed the name "Tim".
That is my understanding as well and has to be funnier than anything else they could have come up with.
Ay can confirm I've seen him say it in an interview
I was informed on Facebook by someone that it's a myth, bummer, would have been more hilarious if it was true.(there are some who call me, Tim?)
I took it as a satire of high fantasy wizards always having long winded mystical sounding names, and the fact that Cleese starts to go on a big rambling introduction, only to counterpunch that with his name being anticlimactic "Tim".
So now the "Prodigal Sorcerer" card from Magic: The Gathering is generally referred to by gameplayers as "Tim".
Still make me laugh as much as the first time I saw them in the 1980's. Once we discovered them, my mom and I watched the reruns every night. My favorite gag of all time was "The Spanish Inquisition". I used It for months and months at school and had a ball because no one knew what I was talking about. I would sneak up on my mom while she was cooking, poke her with a cushion and shout out "It's the Spanish Inquisition!" and then run off. I was really in love with Michael Palin dressed up as the head of the inquisition, lol! My other favorite was the gag about "The Lupine". Just gems, all of them!
I remember watching Monty Python on PBS in the 70’s. For some reason, my parents thought this was a great show to children who were under 10. And I bless them for it!
To be fair, Python humour works on both levels, child and adult, very well. As a child you just think it is silly and you laugh but as an adult you understand why it is silly and you laugh.
My parents, 4 siblings and myself watched Monty Python s Flying Circus in the 70s every Friday night, 9 pm on PBS. We're preteen to teenagers. It was funny; Hells Grannies, Ministry of Silly Walks, Spam, Spam and so many more.
Watched it as a teenager, would have been WAY too much for me under ten.
Carol Cleveland 😉
Heres the thing... Python was a bit magical because individually they are all brilliant comedy writers and performers. Absolute top tier, elite comedians.
Thats individually.
Together, ideas bouncing off each other, sparks and ideas flying.... They then can make a solid claim to best comedy troup in the history of the sport.
Improv moments like these would be both easy and natural for them. Monty Python was comedy as an artform performed by Masters.
They give The Goons (Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe) a serious run for their money, but The Pythons will admit that The Goons were a bit better.
You wouldn't believe exactly how many bits they had to cut from the scripts. Holy Grail, for instance, had only about 10% of the original bits made for it in it.
@@surrealfarm The Goons were the idols of the members of Python, except Terry Gilliam; who, as an American didn't know of them.
I’m 14 years old and about a month ago I found out about Monty Python. I saw the Holy Grail and it became one of my favorite movies. Just watched Life Of Brian today. I’m going to check out Meaning Of Life these days. Monty Python is hell of a great group and Truly Comedic genius!❤
Look for the film "And Now For Something Completely Different". Many of their best early sketches reshot as a movie. Great.
I hope you were introduced to it by your family
Sadly, The Meaning of Life is nowhere near as good - it's a series of sketches really
Also check "Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl".
Look for Flying Circus
"Must be a King" is my favorite line from Holy Grail 🤣
" 'ow can y'tell?"
"Well e' 'asn't got shit all over 'im!"
Monty Python are the world's jewel of humour.
These are bits of comedy gold that will never grow old. Thank you Pythoners from the bottom of my funny bone.
When I get bad news at the office about a project my standard response is, "Alright we'll call it a draw."
JC once said (the video must be somewhere on UA-cam) that for a very long time he thought that Michael was the funniest Palin on the planet. That was before he (JC) encountered Sarah.
Boom tish!
I'm not sure if she's funny sad or scary
Biggus Dickus makes me weep with laughter. The combination of the guards trying not to laugh and Palin's comic timing.
But Cleese though..... "About eleven sir." Every bit of that movie is so good lol.
@@allenclark4235 You clearly find it wrizzible.
It's 50 years later and they are as revant as ever! They are my comical heroes, always have been, always will be.
Spike Milligan's entire appearance in Life of Brian was improvised.
Apparently, he just happened to be on holiday where they were filming, and of course got him to do a scene. Milligan was very much on the Python wavelength. Im sure the Goons had an influence on the Python crew. Jokes without the punchline had never been done before.
The sad thing is, MPFCircus would never have been made in todays PC, woke etc political climate.
@@mikewilson8513 The Goons had an absolute impact on Python. All were keen listeners of the Goon Show. Another Goon devotee was John Lennon.
@@tygrkhat4087 Somewhere on UA-cam, there is a Goon Show reunion, filmed for the 50th anniversary of the BBC. They recreated one of the episodes, and it's particularly interesting because they include Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe warming up the studio audience. They got the entire crew together - except for Wallace Greenslade, the announcer, who had passed away by then. They subbed in a very young - and very deliberately serious - John Cleese.
@@tygrkhat4087 And Prince/king Charles. He used to have them round for tea ! (true) Apparently Princess Diana used to get peed off with all the insane humour !
I wish you'd STOP TALKING over the majority of the sketches ...... 😝
Hear hear !
No shit. Dude yapping makes the video unwatchable.
Thanks for the warning. I didn’t even bother watching it. I hate that too!
All of the watchmojo nonsense does this.
YES!!!
"I'm not" line is the most brilliant line in the whole movie.
The actor Palin talks to in the Biggus Dickus scene, 'Do you find it risable(?) when I say, Bickus Dickus?' is comedian Chris Langham. You can see Palin almost giggling himself from Langham's goofy expression.
We don't really talk about Chris Langham these days.
@@hedgehog1965uk Whyever not?
@@brunozeigerts6379 Google "Chris Langham trial".
@@hedgehog1965uk Yes, I see. I wasn't aware of this.
wheezable. Having a wheeze is a British expression for having a laugh.
I love that scene! I still laugh every time I watch it.
A long, long time ago, I was the guitar player in a band. One time, we had a university gig In Glasgow and, after the sound check, we repaired to a nearby public house along with the support band. The pub was full of students and was as rowdy as any hostelry would be under the circumstances. Python came on the telly, and the place immediately fell silent, apart of course, from the hilarity. It is one of my abiding memories from that time.
When I feel down and can't get myself back to up, I binge watch Python. Snaps me right out of any funk. Monty Python has probably saved my life, more than once, and neither of us knew it.
Neither of you?
I’ve only started watching them only a couple of weeks ago i love them so much RIP Graham Chapman and Terry Jones
He is not the messiah! He is a NAUGHTY BOY!
Welcome to a large and happy fandom...have fun "Spotting The Gilliam"!
I on the other hand have been watching them since I was in my teens, and I am now 67. You are in for a long, joyous ride. And who am I? There are some who call me... Tim.
@@55tallanh hi Tim i’m a 19 year old collage student from sweden that’s interested in retro things mostly movies and thanks for your comment
@@caronstout354 thanks i’m a 19 year old collage student from sweden that’s interested in pretty much anything retro mostly movies and shows
Best comedy troupe of all time.
Unequivocally.
Life of Brian, the give away about what the movie meant was when John Cleese said," You are the messiah and I should know because I've followed a few". Yes, blind faith.
Life of Brian is like having all the laughs compressed into a few scenes. Most of the film I kinda chuckle at. But the Biggus Dickus scene has me rolling on the floor paralyzed with laughter. That scene and the "Welease Woderwick." part.
Palin by far is my favorite which is still a difficult pick because they are all so damned funny. The way he does his different voices and characters crack me up the most. "Don't stand there gobbin! Act like you've never seen the hand of GOD before!!!
One of my favorites was the exploding penguin on the telly.
"Penguins don't come from next door, they come from the Antarctic!"
"BURMA!"
"Why'd you say Burma?"
"I panicked!"
"what's it doing there?"
"e's standing"
I've read that Chapman had forgotten his line, and literally panicked. He also improvised the "intercourse the penguin" line, which nearly got Cleese to corpse.
In the Biggus Dickus scene, the howling laughter after he says "Incontinentia Buttocks" is actually the cameraman who couldn't hold himself together and they left it in
I think that's one of the beautiful things about Python where even when there are bits are missing or characters are temporarily broken it remains funny simply because it's so absurd anyway
No matter how many times I have watched Life of Brian, I cannot get through the Biggus scene without screaming with laughter !! xx
I was hoping "she turned me into a nnnnnnewt!" and his sheepish followup would make the list. 😄
Yes, that has been a workplace staple ever since 😂
"Always look on the bright side of life!" While tied to a cross!
On the DVD of the musical version of Life of Brian, it's followed by the Lumberjack song.😂
How can you not “leave in” unscripted moments in a live performance? Shouldn’t be in the list at all!
My personal favorite is Eric Idle’s song ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from the crucifixion scene in Life of Brian. It’s on one of my Spotify playlists and it always makes me laugh. Not an ad lib but just perfect.
Someone blended it into North Korean propaganda footage. Here on UA-cam. It is just mind blowing.
Anyone caught watching it in North Korea is put to death. I wish I were joking about that.
George Harrison had faith in them
Biggus Dickus gets me every time!! The expression in Chris Langham's face is priceless because I can relate to that as I have been in that situation!
Monty Python is the only group that can go totally off script, or even forget the script, and the audience eats it up.
videos like these are why I watch UA-cam
Thank you
I had no idea they improvised any scenes, in movies or in the show.
That makes me like them even more.
Although the Biggest Dickus bit really does seem like he's intentionally trolling the guards to get them to laugh.
I missed these guys so much.
Python trivia:
One of the last things Graham Chapman starred in was an Iron Maiden video for a song called "Can I Play With Madness".
Enjoy!
Monty Python is Brilliant comedy gold
Well duh!
Dear Sir;
I strongly disagree with your comment regarding the brilliance of Monty Python. Of course I live in a bubble, but still was able to view the dreadfull skits you refer to. I can't finish this letter because I died laughing watching the meaning of life. Sorry
Signed
Dead Monty Python viewer.
I have always loved Monty Python and I own so many of their shows I even raised my children watching these awesome show. When I would take them for walks they would pretend to be on horses and shout (RUN AWAY RUN AWAY)
Me too, and I think the best laugh ever from my then young teen son was when I mentioned needing to go to the store and return something and said “I hope this won’t be a dead parrot scene.
I was at the 2014 show at the O2 where they did the parrot sketch and went out of character. So hilarious.
You neglect to mention that the lead-in to "Stolen Wallet" was a scene in which an angel tells an oaf that he can have anything he wishes, and the wish is to hear a "fairy story with policemen."
That is quite brilliant too.
Something like these... watch?v=jrf4Mj2Ibu4
Not in the movie. The tv show? If so, thanks, a new insight.
I dare say that line was written after the fact...
Love love love Monty Python. I was a rare female fan in the 80s and 90s. I will never forget quoting Python in the middle of a group of half a dozen guys. They had never even met a woman who liked Python and my quip was met with a stunned silence. Then I suddenly had 6 new best friends. Long live Monty Python!
What was the quote?
'I'm not' is possibly the most brilliant line in comedy history.
Some have said it was improvised DURING the take, but there's no way something so brilliant happened like that - it surely was - as you say - suggested and then approved beforehand.
Very true. Secondary actors in a scene with say one hundred or so others, don'r simply shout out lines without the directors approval. It was suggested by the actor and it was brilliantly funny.
We converse in Monty Python in this house. From "pie jesu domine" to "bring out you dead" to "african or European" to "Bickus Dickus" to the stuttering in Brian. And on my final card it will say: "She has ceased to be"
First time i heard of or saw Python was Holy Grail on OLD style cable which was fresh and new. I had no idea who or what a 'Monty Python' was, but first watching and being caught off guard at the opening coconut galloping scene, quickly followed by the Black Knight scene, well i was hooked instantly.
"I'm not" has to be one of the funniest and most thought-provoking two words in the history of comedy.
Bring out the holy hand grenade…priceless
5 is right out.
Thy foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be thrreee.
The greatest comedy group ever! 😄💯
I started watching Monty Python reruns on PBS back in the late '70s and never really thought about a favorite Python beyond Eric Idle. Then a few months ago the question of "who's your favorite" came up at work and it hit me-Michael Palin, hands down. Something about his work with this troupe just clicked.
Wait 'till Biggus Dickus hears of this...
The version of Dead Parrot on one of the Python albums ends similarly with "Do you want to come back to my place?" "I thought you'd never ask.", which supposedly was also ad-libbed.
I love Monty Python and I’ve got the whole box set of dvds. 😂😂😂
To this day, I cannot get Mr. Creosote out of my mind! The infamous haute cuisine restaurant skit was one of the grossest, funniest skits of all their movies. "Bucket for Monsieur" was the tip of the coming hilarity and references to bodily functions. 😂🤣🤤🤮
[barely spoken through a mouth stuffed with food] F'kawf Aw doan wa' a mint!
@@emilyadams3228 That sketch is still mint quality. cheers! / CS
I'm surprised the Cleese/Chapman mortuary scene ending with the line "...tell you what, we'll eat 'er, and if you feel bit guilty afterwards, we'll dig a hole and you can... (et-cetera'd for those who don't like their humor quite so dark)"
Shame, I was hoping to see the Tim the enchanter scene be on this list lol
Gene Wilder did it one year prior in Blazing Saddles.
"My name is Jim, but some people call me (pause)... Jim."
"What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
There’s just that many…another…The black knight…”it’s only a flesh wound” OR “ build us a …SHRUBBERY”
Gotta be the Biggus Dickus sketch, best ever anywhere.
The definition of comedy. And it's apotheosis.
I click on the interesting title, then i see it’s WatchMojo, and I leave at once.
Brilliant. Just how humour should be.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
"Intercourse the penguin!"
Damn near broke Cleese!
My favorite moment, scripted or not... "how so we know she is a witch"..." she turned me into a newt, ...I got better"
There are many instances of Palin struggling to hold it together during Python sketches - "We'll be showing you more of that photo later on - unless we hear from Charles or Michael" during the Blackmail game show is one personal favourite. Palin as an old lady trying to read a poem whilst angry arabs scream in rage at her from the other side of the stream is another.
Or during the airplane sheep sketch while putting the mustache on John Cleese
@@r.s.204 John: "Maintenant, je vous présente mon collègue, le pouf célèbre, Jean-Brian Zatapathique."
The Blackmail sketch is my absolute favorite Python sketch. "Hello Mrs. Teal."
@@tygrkhat4087 Stop the Film!
@@beej86 He's a very brave man.
Who on earth was it who said that comedy works better when it doesn't have to be explained?
They were absolute genius's....Love their work my whole life!!
I didn't know the whole Stolen Wallet sketch was improvised. Comedic genius at work.
As much as I love Monty Python, I cannot give this a like because you always talk over the top of it!
Oh, man! this was my life growing up! We all loved Python. That very short but direct bit between Michael and John, always stuck out. D'you want to come back to my place? Looks around... Yeah, awright. You don't know whats going to happen and then it turns into a guy picking up a constable, no less!. No one expected that! Hilarious.
It’s such a bad idea, too.
They did another bad-idea thing like that, gangsters trying to shake down the army in a protection racket. The colonel is uncomprehending, and it’s hard to blame him.
@@hoodatdondar2664Nice ahhmy byse ya got 'eah, Cuhh-nul. Shaw would be a shyme if someone wah ta set fyah tao it.
WOT?!
cleese said one they were doing the parrot sketch live and when he asked palin 'does the slug talk?', palin improved / or had it up his sleeve- 'well, it mutters a bit' which corpsed cleese.
these guys are so good.....watching since really 70's on Sunday nights.
what's on the telly ? "I think it's a penguin"
@@SailorAllanAirr yü Mairrry, Queen a Scoats?
Ah ehm!
[fists punching]
AAAHHHHH!!!!
Ever since "The Meaning of Life," I can only say "salmon mousse" like Death did.
"Thwow him to the fwoow!"
"Yes sir, he did!"
I love that they crack each other up, makes it that much more funny. Lol!
The best unscripted part of all Monty Python movies was, when Brian accidentally fell off the tower and happened to fall into alien spaceship. It's a miracle that onboard security footage survived, as well as did Brian. Otherwise, they would need to reshoot all scenes with new "adult Brian". Lucky bastards!
It was Terry Jones...he DID look like DeNiro in that scene! 😊
you forgot to include the "oh, intercourse the penguin!" shout from Graham. for me, the real #1.
If anything, this is a good reminder to go re-watch something Monty Python.
Thank you for reminding these 🙂
The first time I watched Life of Brian and the Dickus scene, was the only time I’ve very nearly, had a momentary loss of bladder control from laughing 😂. Loved both Holy Grail and LoB. You can always tell a Brit if they can quote a line or sketch from Monty Python
Best use of irony. My favorite improvised line had Brian telling the crowd, "We are all different!", the crown mindlessly repeating, "Yes! We are all different," and one cheeky and brilliant extra piping up with, "I'm not." Now that is a perfect example of a spectacular use of irony. 😉 The other extras shushed the improviser thinking he crossed a line. Nope. They boosted his pay to that of a speaking actor. 😋
Have you ever seen Michael Palin's and Terry Jones' 'Ripping Yarns'? Hilarious, of course.
Oh. That old Snetterton expedition of 1927. Unfortunate, that one. Very unfortunate. cheers! / CS
" Blow your noses and seize him." Brilliant !!