I once got to work with Graham Chapman at a talk he gave at my local community college just outside Chicago in the early 80s. When we had broken down the stage and left the building, to my great delight the great man himself was just existing from another nearby door, and I just couldn't help myself. I started reciting Cleese's famous opening lines from this sketch, word perfect but delivered in the most atrocious English accent. Chapman stopped, turned back to look at me and loudly asked if I needed any medical attention. And then invited me to an after party I didn't even know about. I got to talk to him, one to one over a chess board, 3 moves into which he asked, "You don't really play chess, do you?" When I snorted with laughter and confessed that I indeed did not, he said, "Oh, well. Just keep pretending and we can have a nice little chat." One of my fondest memories.
Well, he was quite good at, and totally qualified to give you medical attention. I suppose, as a doctor, at least some of the attention he gave you was medical.
@@professornuke7562 No, it was all moral, philosophical, irreverent and...delightful. By that point, he knew full well how weirdly fanatical the Pythons' American fan base was. (Which both deeply surprised and sometimes frightened them, as Cleese, Palin and Jones have all attested to.) Again, I was maybe 20 years old at the time and had still not even applied for a passport yet. Graham was grace, kindness and a good bit of subtle sarcasm personified.
"So, I curtailed my walpoling activities and sallied forth to infiltrate your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles..." It's actually poetry, when you think about it.
Python had three primary kinds of routines; silly things done in a serious way, serious things done in a silly way, and lists. The cheese shop, Australian table wines, the parrot sketch, book shop, and others.
Venezuelan beaver cheese is my favourite - staggering popular around the manor guvnor!😋 Fun fact: Although beavers are notoriously difficult to milk and don't in fact live in venezuelan this sketch resulted in several recipes for this delicious cheesy comestible.😀
You have multiple errors. It was Ilchester that he said was staggeringly (not just staggering) popular not Venezuelan beaver cheese. Michael also said "squire" not "guvnor".
This sketch continues to baffle many, but it's probably the last time (certainly in Cleese's opinion) that the series did anything truly outside the norm. There is no reason for anything to happen. And that, in itself, is a kind of genius.
I'm now interested in the 'back story' of how the bowler-hatted ensemble came to be there, was it something like-'what are you doing for lunch,Gerald ?' 'oh,Henry and I are going down to Wensleydale's for a bit of greek dancing old boy,care to join us'?
As funny as this sketch is, it's even better on their comedy album where John Cleese's frustration builds up to the F word and all the tension explodes in laughter!
yeah I noticed he replaced the F word with "excruciatingly" here - which is weird because I definitely remember hearing it done with the F word. I suppose what I'm remembering was from them performing live versus what here was on BBC and they probably couldn't use that word.
Well I have never heard of Venezuela Beaver cheese, so if it had curtailed quickly, I would be lacking in mmy knowledge of CHEESE, thank you Mr. CLEESE for informing me of it's existence!
A bit cheesy in parts..but interesting to note so much variety of the product in the world ...i love the tight exchanges between Cleese and Palin in this show
Like so many things, it's hard top pick your favorite. But this sketch has ranked within my favs for decades. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see folks such as yourself to discover and enjoy it too! Cheers!
I was fortunate to see them all live in the 80s at the Hollywood Bowl. Great experience. I recall when Chapman came out as gay and the rest were asked about it and replied, "Yes, we have discovered this and have stoned him to death."
Have you done The Argument Clinic yet? My roommate who was also my bandmate and I memorize that whole thing and gave it at some sort of a skit deal in early college years. This would have been at least a decade after it originally came out.
It`s the English Shop all over the place. But the English Shop doesn`t seem to understand that if you can purchase a good wholesale and sell it retail whilst running a profit best to order more of it instead of running out of it.
At 0:31 I absolutely love those bizarre non-sequitors that Monty Python was so famous for. What the hell are those two dancers and the guy with the mandolin even doing there?
Bouzouki, not mandolin. The purpose was to provide an auditory irritant to augment Cleese's rising frustration with the shopkeeper, and provide a target for his inevitable outburst. "Shut that bloody bouzouki up!"
i've seen every sketch of theirs uncountable times,and yet they never fail to make me laugh i was fortunate enough to see them live at the hollywood bowl in the 80s. john cleese and michael palin were always great together. the parrot sketch aka dead parrot is another of their gems. any sketch where the antagonist drives the victim looney is hilarious. the travel agency is another one like this with eric idle driving palin crazy this time (turnabout is fair play). i see you've already reacted to the dead parrot,so i'm off to watch that!
Did the reader of Rogue Herries (by Horace - aka Hugh - Walpole) try Gruyère or St. Nectaire? Perhaps Mr. Wensleydale had some of that gear in stock but was keeping it back for himself. 😊
You really need to watch the bits right after that one - "Salad Days" . if you are NOT familiar with the movies of Sam Peckinpah, you might not get it as much out of it. And the credits sequence was humorous as well.
Oh, I love Monty Python and especially the cheese shop. Didn't end well. My parents watched Monty Python and my brother and I as well. I grew up with them and if I want to laugh until I cry I just have to watch, "The Marathon for Incontinent Runners".
John Cleese has said that this sketch was the only original thing that they did during the entire third season of the series. Everything else was derivative, he said.
Ill sub because you like Monty Python. Went to see their movie Meaning of life at 10 years old hooked me. But also in the 70s id get Benny Hill on channel 29. Now i feel old.
On one of their albums, when Michael says, "Finest in the district," John says. "Explain the logic in that." "And what leads you to that conclusion?" is alot funnier.
I saw the Python troup do the Lumberjack Song in Vancouver on their Canadian tour in 1973. Forestry being the No. 1 industry in British Columbia back then, the audience loved it and sang along. Wouldn't be allowed now ...
If you like Monty Python, I recommend two movies. The best is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's about King Arthur on the search for the holy grail in the Biblical story. They had a low budget and couldn't afford horses so they had to do some humorous things to overcome that. The other is Life of Brian. It's about a man living Jesus's time and was mistaken to be the Messiah. Brian vehemently didn't want this but can't escape.
Now this is why there are so many English bachelors. APPARENTLY... and I use that term lightly.... All the available bachorettes in England right now are watching this video laughing at how historically funny and dashing John C is whilst he is not buying cheese. Thank you for the video but I must protest as to why Wensleydale is never sold without fruit in it.
@@bobblowhard8823 I’m not referring to the fish slapping dance. There’s another skit where Cleese goes to the post office so he can buy a pet license for his fish. You should look it up if you’ve never seen it.
The bookshop sketch was actually repurposed from Cleese's earlier series, "At Last the 1948 Show". One of his costar from that show, Marty Feldman, brought it before an American audience when he appeared on Flip Wilson's variety show.
Why can't Seppos and Canucks (especially those now living in the UK) not pronounce "Python" correctly? The "o" is a schwa ( /ə/ ), the most common vowel sound in the English language, and the stress is on the first syllable.
A parody of violent American Westerns like The Wild Bunch by Sam Peckinpah and Clint Eastwood that seem to have any reason just to show people get shot.
"Well it's certainly uncontaminated by cheese" is a line of comedy genius.
I once got to work with Graham Chapman at a talk he gave at my local community college just outside Chicago in the early 80s. When we had broken down the stage and left the building, to my great delight the great man himself was just existing from another nearby door, and I just couldn't help myself. I started reciting Cleese's famous opening lines from this sketch, word perfect but delivered in the most atrocious English accent. Chapman stopped, turned back to look at me and loudly asked if I needed any medical attention. And then invited me to an after party I didn't even know about. I got to talk to him, one to one over a chess board, 3 moves into which he asked, "You don't really play chess, do you?" When I snorted with laughter and confessed that I indeed did not, he said, "Oh, well. Just keep pretending and we can have a nice little chat." One of my fondest memories.
Well, he was quite good at, and totally qualified to give you medical attention. I suppose, as a doctor, at least some of the attention he gave you was medical.
@@professornuke7562
No, it was all moral, philosophical, irreverent and...delightful. By that point, he knew full well how weirdly fanatical the Pythons' American fan base was. (Which both deeply surprised and sometimes frightened them, as Cleese, Palin and Jones have all attested to.) Again, I was maybe 20 years old at the time and had still not even applied for a passport yet. Graham was grace, kindness and a good bit of subtle sarcasm personified.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927Maybe he fancied you!! 😅 I envy you, that was a.great story.
Over a chess board or over a cheese board?
@@martinclark7935
Absolutely brillig. I still know cheese far better than I know chess. Cheers!
"So, I curtailed my walpoling activities and sallied forth to infiltrate your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles..." It's actually poetry, when you think about it.
Purveyor's Point would be an excellent name for a shop, but only John Cleese could sell me on that name.
It's poetry whether I think about it or not.
The play on words is even better ... after saying "curds" he said "cur(d)-tailed" in an obvious play of alliteration.
Bad poetry, but poetry nonetheless.
Python had three primary kinds of routines; silly things done in a serious way, serious things done in a silly way, and lists. The cheese shop, Australian table wines, the parrot sketch, book shop, and others.
Monty Python never fails to make me laugh, absolute British classic
it truly is!
Reputedly, shortly after this sketch appeared on the BBC there was a drastic shortage of Wensleydale. Actually, it's one of my favourite cheeses.
As there was also a sudden shortage of Venezuelan Beaver cheese.
@@bobblowhard8823 and camembert.
No holiday is complete without Dad shouting "Shut that bloody Bouzouki up " in a Mediterranean restaurant .
Venezuelan beaver cheese is my favourite - staggering popular around the manor guvnor!😋
Fun fact: Although beavers are notoriously difficult to milk and don't in fact live in venezuelan this sketch resulted in several recipes for this delicious cheesy comestible.😀
You have multiple errors. It was Ilchester that he said was staggeringly (not just staggering) popular not Venezuelan beaver cheese. Michael also said "squire" not "guvnor".
One of my secret fantasies was to own a cheese shop called The Venezualan Beaver
not even close
@@olivegreenpants7153 Will it be devoid of any cheese, such as the shop in this sketch?
I did ask at the cheese counter of my local Sobeys for beaver cheese once. They were certainly uncontaminated by it!
The most amazing thing is how Cleese was able to rattle through all of those cheeses.
I agree!!
I wonder how many he rattled off, God I wonder why he didn't say cottage cheese 🤔🥴or borden cheese melts
@@Nonconformistwilderbeastmanor swiss. Or baby swiss. Or Muenster. Or havarti. Or mozzarella. Or feta.
@@jeffreyjeziorski1480 Emmental would be *a* Swiss cheese.
@@Nonconformistwilderbeastman Or Cheez Whiz, or Velveta.
This sketch continues to baffle many, but it's probably the last time (certainly in Cleese's opinion) that the series did anything truly outside the norm. There is no reason for anything to happen. And that, in itself, is a kind of genius.
I'm now interested in the 'back story' of how the bowler-hatted ensemble came to be there, was it something like-'what are you doing for lunch,Gerald ?' 'oh,Henry and I are going down to Wensleydale's for a bit of greek dancing old boy,care to join us'?
This reminds me of the "Fawlty Towers" episode: Hotel Inspectors with the spoon salesman. Basil said, "Why don't you talk right?!!".
I once had a similar experience ordering dessert in a Pop-Ins in Guildford on a rainy Sunday afternoon in the mid-nineties.
Try the Groom and Horses at Burpham
This sketch always reminds me of a few places I've worked.
The writing is so well crafted and the delivery flawless.
They didn't really know how to end it, which was pretty common for Monty Python. The version on the album had more swearing.
I broke laughing at "I don't care how FUCKING runny it is..."
As funny as this sketch is, it's even better on their comedy album where John Cleese's frustration builds up to the F word and all the tension explodes in laughter!
yeah I noticed he replaced the F word with "excruciatingly" here - which is weird because I definitely remember hearing it done with the F word. I suppose what I'm remembering was from them performing live versus what here was on BBC and they probably couldn't use that word.
What's the name of that please, so i can look it up.
@@nealgrimes4382 ruclips.net/video/E9QN5Rd1GFI/видео.html
Monty Python is always golden comedy! Absolutely genius! You really need to react to Wink Wink Nudge Nudge!
Well I have never heard of Venezuela Beaver cheese, so if it had curtailed quickly, I would be lacking in mmy knowledge of CHEESE, thank you Mr. CLEESE for informing me of it's existence!
Pretty sure he made it up :D
It's illegal to apply logic to Monty Python. The punishment is The Spanish inquisition. lol
No one expects the Spanish inquisition 😂
I dread the comfy chair!
Bet they don't expect that!
A bit cheesy in parts..but interesting to note so much variety of the product in the world ...i love the tight exchanges between Cleese and Palin in this show
Like so many things, it's hard top pick your favorite. But this sketch has ranked within my favs for decades. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see folks such as yourself to discover and enjoy it too! Cheers!
You should react to Wallace and Gromit. You’ll absolutely love them.
Wensleydale is a fine cheese! Red Leicester too. Off to the cheese shop now--I'm quite esurient.
Hopefully it won't be completely devoid of cheese, like the shop in this sketch.
In case you were wondering, a lot of those cheese names he was schpeeling off are places in Britain (from where cheese is produced).
Well, good news, is that the series is showing on netflix here in the States. I don't know if it's available on the other side of the pond.
I was fortunate to see them all live in the 80s at the Hollywood Bowl. Great experience.
I recall when Chapman came out as gay and the rest were asked about it and replied, "Yes, we have discovered this and have stoned him to death."
The "Salad Days" sketch after this on the original TV episode is even funnier!
Indeed! "Say, Lionel--catch!"
The cheese shop was based on Cleese's experiences with a communal shop with very irregular supplies in a squat in London
Have you done The Argument Clinic yet?
My roommate who was also my bandmate and I memorize that whole thing and gave it at some sort of a skit deal in early college years. This would have been at least a decade after it originally came out.
aha that's amazing! 😂 I have reacted to it! It's one of my faves 😆 ruclips.net/video/WYS_wEV4gmU/видео.htmlsi=vU54Kb1LsrEW-5la
little known fact: the cheese shop sketch is based on TRUE events. there really was once a cheese shop in england. thanks for the video smiley.
You should react to Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, their greatest live performance. And have you checked out Absolutely Fabulous?
There's a graphic novel in which the Joker directly references this sketch . . .
It`s the English Shop all over the place. But the English Shop doesn`t seem to understand that if you can purchase a good wholesale and sell it retail whilst running a profit best to order more of it instead of running out of it.
You appear to be bereft of humour, squire. Bang.
At 0:31 I absolutely love those bizarre non-sequitors that Monty Python was so famous for. What the hell are those two dancers and the guy with the mandolin even doing there?
Bouzouki, not mandolin. The purpose was to provide an auditory irritant to augment Cleese's rising frustration with the shopkeeper, and provide a target for his inevitable outburst. "Shut that bloody bouzouki up!"
"I don't care how excrement-ally runny it is..." Pure genius.
I actively sought out every one of the cheeses John Cleese mentions in this sketch.
And they hav´nt google then to make it easy.
Love Monty Python!!! Have you reacted to The Argument Clinic or The Dead Parrot? Two of my many favorites.
Great sketch, but for my money the (audio only) perfomance from the Monty Python's Matching Tie and Handkerchief record is much funnier.
Python is, of course, pronounced 'pie thn' in the UK rather than 'pie thawn.'
i've seen every sketch of theirs uncountable times,and yet they never fail to make me laugh i was fortunate enough to see them live at the hollywood bowl in the 80s. john cleese and michael palin were always great together. the parrot sketch aka dead parrot is another of their gems. any sketch where the antagonist drives the victim looney is hilarious. the travel agency is another one like this with eric idle driving palin crazy this time (turnabout is fair play). i see you've already reacted to the dead parrot,so i'm off to watch that!
Interesting factoid: John Cleese's father's name was Cheese before he changed it to Cleese.
You can never go wrong with some MONTY PYTHON.
When he did ask him if he had any cheese, he lied. He should have just asked him exactly what kind he had.
The Venezuelan beaver cheese is legendary...still can't buy any to this day, it's a shame...
Did the reader of Rogue Herries (by Horace - aka Hugh - Walpole) try Gruyère or St. Nectaire? Perhaps Mr. Wensleydale had some of that gear in stock but was keeping it back for himself. 😊
You really need to watch the bits right after that one - "Salad Days" . if you are NOT familiar with the movies of Sam Peckinpah, you might not get it as much out of it. And the credits sequence was humorous as well.
Amazing he remembered that list of cheeses. Venezuelan beaver cheese! LOL.
Really gives one a sense of just how popular cheese is...
Especially 'round these parts.
G'day folks. Nice intro. We got/get them in Australia too! It's the accent. Now I feel quite peckish.
When you walk into any specialty shop, in fact, ANY shop, you expect it has something to SELL!
Great pub quiz question: on which cheese does Cleese finally lose it with the Greek music!
Perfect linguistic humor
Nice way to get my attention: " i love Monty Python", say no more!
This sketch made one thing clear: There's a lot more cheese out there for me to try.
Now watch the Bride shop sketch from Goodness Gracious Me
Oh, I love Monty Python and especially the cheese shop. Didn't end well. My parents watched Monty Python and my brother and I as well. I grew up with them and if I want to laugh until I cry I just have to watch, "The Marathon for Incontinent Runners".
Did you know John Cleese's real name is John Cheese? His father changed it because he was sick of people making fun of his name.
I didn't! How interesting!
I thought it was his grandfather.
😂😂😂🎉
You should the ultra rare edition from the Secret Policeman’s Ball ‘79.
John Cleese has said that this sketch was the only original thing that they did during the entire third season of the series. Everything else was derivative, he said.
Ill sub because you like Monty Python. Went to see their movie Meaning of life at 10 years old hooked me. But also in the 70s id get Benny Hill on channel 29. Now i feel old.
she is beyond pretty.
On one of their albums, when Michael says, "Finest in the district," John says. "Explain the logic in that."
"And what leads you to that conclusion?" is alot funnier.
Sir Michael Palin, the shopkeeper, takes the lead in the‘I’m a lumberjack’ song. Look it up for a laugh.
I've reacted to it already! With the Parrot Sketch :)
@@MeganRuth Righty ho, must look at that. 👍👍
I saw the Python troup do the Lumberjack Song in Vancouver on their Canadian tour in 1973. Forestry being the No. 1 industry in British Columbia back then, the audience loved it and sang along. Wouldn't be allowed now ...
New sub for Manchester, loving your reactions 😊😊
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy my videos 😊
This, the argument clinic and the Dead Parrot show Cleese and Palin were the best
If you like Monty Python, I recommend two movies. The best is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's about King Arthur on the search for the holy grail in the Biblical story. They had a low budget and couldn't afford horses so they had to do some humorous things to overcome that. The other is Life of Brian. It's about a man living Jesus's time and was mistaken to be the Messiah. Brian vehemently didn't want this but can't escape.
I’ve seen the Holy Grail multiple times! It’s hilarious 😆 still need to watch life of Brian though!
One of my favorite MP skits.
Two words. Richard Ayoade. The guy is freaking funny.
This sketch wouldn't be allowed today for "promoting violence." Has our world gone mad and lost its sense of humor? Yes.
Now this is why there are so many English bachelors. APPARENTLY... and I use that term lightly.... All the available bachorettes in England right now are watching this video laughing at how historically funny and dashing John C is whilst he is not buying cheese. Thank you for the video but I must protest as to why Wensleydale is never sold without fruit in it.
One of my favorites is the fish license skit. John Cleese was just great at playing Englishmen that were just nuts.
“You’re a loony.”
And don't forget the argument clinic sketch.
@@bobblowhard8823
I’m not referring to the fish slapping dance. There’s another skit where Cleese goes to the post office so he can buy a pet license for his fish. You should look it up if you’ve never seen it.
Spot the Loony
If you liked this then I highly recommend you watch...the argument clinic..it's hilarious..
I have :)
You must react to Python's "Spanish Inquisition" sketch. It's seminal Python.
They produced a similar sketch at a later date set in a book shop.
The one without the gannet - they wet their nests
@@paulbateman3922
"Why don't you try W.H. Smith's?"
"I did, they sent me here."
"*Did* they,"
The bookshop sketch was actually repurposed from Cleese's earlier series, "At Last the 1948 Show". One of his costar from that show, Marty Feldman, brought it before an American audience when he appeared on Flip Wilson's variety show.
@@dadoctah iirc At Last the 1948 Show was also the origin of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch
I'd love to see you react to a sketch called THE CHASE by The Kids In The Hall.
John´s real name is Cheese. 😀
Clever Cleese/ Palin piece ( of cheese, if only he asked for dairy lee😄)
Wow, look how young John Cleese is here.
Then puts on an American cowboy hat...and walks out. 😂
Monty Python: dumb humor for smart people.
Monty Pythons "my brain hurts".
This must be the cheesiest joke of all time.
The audio version from their record is even funnier.
I didn’t realize there were so many varieties of cheese. No mozzarella or pepperjack, either, I suppose.
Though he did ask for mozzarella
Another good is the parrot shop
Why can't Seppos and Canucks (especially those now living in the UK) not pronounce "Python" correctly? The "o" is a schwa ( /ə/ ), the most common vowel sound in the English language, and the stress is on the first syllable.
As a suggestion...: Rowan Atkinson interviewing Elton John.
A parody of violent American Westerns like The Wild Bunch by Sam Peckinpah and Clint Eastwood that seem to have any reason just to show people get shot.
if he'dve asked whether there was any cheese right at the beginning, there would've been nothing to watch
Cheesy - cool.
i wish i had cool looking eyes. i have to resort to colored contacts.
It's Hugh, not Horace! Burma!
One of their best but I'm not sure the young lady liked it that much. The word play par excellence.
Who keeps a shop open with no product to sell? I guess that's the joke.
What a sweet smile and face you have.
And Illchester IS a cheddar.
Canadians are great!
Thank you! 😆
Monty PyTHON
thought a lot of the cheeses were made up. But then one by one I found they were real! Suspect that the only joker is Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.
What's in the mug, lass?
Coffee! :)