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.
@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.
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.
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.’
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 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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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!❤
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!
JC once said (the video must be somewhere on RUclips) that for a very long time he thought that Michael was the funniest Palin on the planet. That was before he (JC) encountered Sarah.
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.
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.
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.
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 RUclips, 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.
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!!!
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.
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
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.
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!
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
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 RUclips. It is just mind blowing. Anyone caught watching it in North Korea is put to death. I wish I were joking about that.
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.
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.
The "do you want to come back to my place line" was probably the first time I saw a gay character on TV. I can't explain the impact this had on me as a young gay teenager growing up in the soulless evil Christian outer suburbs of Melbourne Australia in the 70's. I remember going to my bedroom, which I shared with my two brothers, and sobbing into my pillow with joy, fear, and frustration. I don't know how I would ever have made it to adulthood without the pythons and their iconoclastic humour
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...
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.
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.
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.
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."
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"
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.
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.
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.
Thanks! Didn‘t know who said those lines. “ He played Gregory (and other roles) in the controversial Life of Brian (1979) - a religious spoof about a man mistaken for the Messiah - uttering two of the film’s most memorable lines. During the final crucifixion scene, Brian’s fellow prisoners try to pass themselves off as him in order to escape death (a subversion of the “I’m Spartacus” moment in Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film). Amid the many cries of “I’m Brian”, Gregory exclaims “I’m Brian, and so’s my wife” - an ad lib by Bayler. Earlier in the film, when the assorted throng worshipping Brian shout in unison “We are all individuals”, Bayler interjects “I’m not” - another ad lib.” - Guardian
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
Legendary! Shoutout to my chemistry teacher for showing us The Holy Grail on successive Fridays, 1983. Don’t know what the movie had to do with chemistry, but teach got the ball rolling…
Michael Palin IS Monty Python, even down to the initials !! Outrageously funny ! The first 3 minutes of Holy Grail are comedy genius, one of my favorite bits of MP/MP, and all down to his comedic skills :)
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)"
Many years ago i sold furniture. I brought out the loan app to fill out. The man's name was Brian Dickus. Why have I never forgotten it? I had to supress laughter, and tears were literally pouring. I managed to tell him I had some thing in my eye , I got another sales person to help me. I ran to my car howling & couldn't stop. I still laugh about it to this day
I'm surprised you didn't include the Life of Brian scene where PFJ member Stan revealed he wanted to be Loretta so he could have babies. Cleese made a comment about "Where will the fetus gestate; are you going to keep it in a box?" He and Idle hid their faces so the camera didn't catch them laughing.
Want to know what the gang has been up to since? Check this out!
Monty Python: Where Are They Now?
ruclips.net/video/C0Rp8CbZYlU/видео.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.
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.
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?"
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
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.
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.
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"
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 )
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!
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.
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”.
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.
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 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 😉
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".
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.
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
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.
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
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!
Love the Biggus Dickus scene.
"Must be a King" is my favorite line from Holy Grail 🤣
" 'ow can y'tell?"
"Well e' 'asn't got shit all over 'im!"
JC once said (the video must be somewhere on RUclips) 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
Monty Python are the world's jewel of humour.
It's 50 years later and they are as revant as ever! They are my comical heroes, always have been, always will be.
These are bits of comedy gold that will never grow old. Thank you Pythoners from the bottom of my funny bone.
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?
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.
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
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 RUclips, 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'm not" line is the most brilliant line in the whole movie.
When I get bad news at the office about a project my standard response is, "Alright we'll call it a draw."
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.
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.
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.
Best comedy troupe of all time.
Unequivocally.
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!!!
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.
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
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.
No matter how many times I have watched Life of Brian, I cannot get through the Biggus scene without screaming with laughter !! xx
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!
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
videos like these are why I watch RUclips
Thank you
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 RUclips. It is just mind blowing.
Anyone caught watching it in North Korea is put to death. I wish I were joking about that.
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 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 😂
'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.
George Harrison had faith in them
"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!
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!
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.
Monty Python is the only group that can go totally off script, or even forget the script, and the audience eats it up.
The greatest comedy group ever! 😄💯
The "do you want to come back to my place line" was probably the first time I saw a gay character on TV. I can't explain the impact this had on me as a young gay teenager growing up in the soulless evil Christian outer suburbs of Melbourne Australia in the 70's. I remember going to my bedroom, which I shared with my two brothers, and sobbing into my pillow with joy, fear, and frustration. I don't know how I would ever have made it to adulthood without the pythons and their iconoclastic humour
As much as I love Monty Python, I cannot give this a like because you always talk over the top of it!
Loved watching Monty Python growing up. I like the idea of this video but there is too much narration covering up the audio from the clips.
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...
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 click on the interesting title, then i see it’s WatchMojo, and I leave at once.
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.
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.
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...
I was at the 2014 show at the O2 where they did the parrot sketch and went out of character. So hilarious.
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"
I didn't know the whole Stolen Wallet sketch was improvised. Comedic genius at work.
Congrats to WatchMojo’s only non-irritating narrator. You are the only Mojo host I can stand to listen to.
"I'm not" has to be one of the funniest and most thought-provoking two words in the history of comedy.
"What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
My favorite moment, scripted or not... "how so we know she is a witch"..." she turned me into a newt, ...I got better"
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?!
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.
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!!!!
Best comedy ever, the dross that passes for comedy today should take note 🏴🇬🇧
"Thwow him to the fwoow!"
"Yes sir, he did!"
I love Monty Python and I’ve got the whole box set of dvds. 😂😂😂
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.
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.
They were absolute genius's....Love their work my whole life!!
i came here for an argument
An argument? Oh, no, this is Abuse!
Gotta be the Biggus Dickus sketch, best ever anywhere.
Who on earth was it who said that comedy works better when it doesn't have to be explained?
Thanks! Didn‘t know who said those lines. “ He played Gregory (and other roles) in the controversial Life of Brian (1979) - a religious spoof about a man mistaken for the Messiah - uttering two of the film’s most memorable lines. During the final crucifixion scene, Brian’s fellow prisoners try to pass themselves off as him in order to escape death (a subversion of the “I’m Spartacus” moment in Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film). Amid the many cries of “I’m Brian”, Gregory exclaims “I’m Brian, and so’s my wife” - an ad lib by Bayler. Earlier in the film, when the assorted throng worshipping Brian shout in unison “We are all individuals”, Bayler interjects “I’m not” - another ad lib.” - Guardian
The definition of comedy. And it's apotheosis.
There’s just that many…another…The black knight…”it’s only a flesh wound” OR “ build us a …SHRUBBERY”
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
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."
If anything, this is a good reminder to go re-watch something Monty Python.
Legendary! Shoutout to my chemistry teacher for showing us The Holy Grail on successive Fridays, 1983. Don’t know what the movie had to do with chemistry, but teach got the ball rolling…
Michael Palin IS Monty Python, even down to the initials !! Outrageously funny ! The first 3 minutes of Holy Grail are comedy genius, one of my favorite bits of MP/MP, and all down to his comedic skills :)
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)"
Many years ago i sold furniture. I brought out the loan app to fill out. The man's name was Brian Dickus. Why have I never forgotten it? I had to supress laughter, and tears were literally pouring. I managed to tell him I had some thing in my eye , I got another sales person to help me. I ran to my car howling & couldn't stop. I still laugh about it to this day
"Intercourse the penguin!"
Damn near broke Cleese!
I love that they crack each other up, makes it that much more funny. Lol!
I'm surprised you didn't include the Life of Brian scene where PFJ member Stan revealed he wanted to be Loretta so he could have babies. Cleese made a comment about "Where will the fetus gestate; are you going to keep it in a box?" He and Idle hid their faces so the camera didn't catch them laughing.
The whole trans movement told off and dismissed in one scene.