They intentionally wrote sketches that didn't fit into the traditional "set-up -> punchline" formula, leading to a great many that end in utter nonsense or just fade into the next bit.
Severely underrated sketch, really it's one of the most well-written ones of all. Beats the Dead Parrot one, in my opinion. Damn near every line is quotable. "Well, they wanted to have a look at the spiders, sir!"
I remember when I heard someone say that monty python were so great because they didn't make any sexual jokes. Needless to say, that person was wearing an ordinary pair of gaiters.
+Muh Stache That person was obviously not paying attention/not very bright. I mean, in the episode with the communists on the quiz show, Che Guevara and Karl Marx are seen making out and later in bed together. There a large number of more subtle jokes, but sex jokes were definitely in their repertoire. I mean, there's even a sketch where they suggest a tax on... "thingy". :p
This is one of those sketches I didn't appreciate until I grew up and my sense of humor matured. As a youngster I preferred the silly walks and Cheese Sketch.
I remember 1969 very well, thank you. I was 19 at the time. I still think the average audience would have been a bit embarrassed, and some of them would have been too naive to get the joke immediately. It would have been completely unexpected. The gag was followed immediately by other jokes, so residual laughter at that blow-job joke would have melded in with the others.
My country has just declared martial law for at least 60 days, after having been in a civil war for 5 years and once again in times as these I turn to comedy like Monty Python to cope with the difficulties that are to follow. Humanity would definitely not survive without this genre
Oh my god this is one of the sketches that I have never been able to find! In olden days a glimpse of stockings. "No this one's different, sir" is one of the funniest things Michael Palin ever said.
"Roger, the half-parrot, half-man, half-woman, three-quarter-badger, ex-bigamist negro preacher, for whom banjo-playing was very difficult, and he never mastered it although he took several courses and went to banjo college" Ladies and gents, I give you the 2017 Tumblr Gender of the Year
I imagine SCOTUS proceedings go much like this from their transcripts and because justices are just burning time before writing their preformed opinions
This was visionary. And prescient. High surrealism and art of a high order. Ionesco meets English music hall, meets anti-war satire. "The gender-compassionate story" c. 1970? Amazing! Oh, hilarious, too. Thank you, Shirley.
I haven't been to England in rather a long time, and I don't remember how loud their teakettles are, but I remember that they have a reputation for being tight-assed, although I have an intuition that's that's an outdated and nationally chauvinistic stereotype propagated by Americans like myself to compensate for our general vulgarity. Righty-O... my unfounded theory is that British teakettles are the loudest in the entire world, because they have very small orifices, but!... when the steam comes out...WOW... it really bursts forth with quite a show and racket. This is my rather underwhelming metaphor for why Monty Python is so smart yet so outrageously silly. It's non-sequitor high art. Really rather good, even though I have to admit that I'm an ign'ant Yank and don't have any idea who Enoch Powell is or why Mr. Smith should be running the country or what a green grocher from Luton or anyone from Notlob would actually behave like. Sorry... seem's I've become pretentious. Sorry old chap. Cheerio! Sorry again for the rather tedious metaphor, but I just had to get it off my chest. Sorry.
The statement about the hypocrisy of government having different standards of violence for different groups of people was great. People nowadays seem to brush aside atrocities in war and justify collateral damage.
@EuskaltelEuskadi The Liberty Bell March by John Phillip Sousa, of course. Perhaps better known these days for being the theme music for Monty Pythons Flying Circus.
This sketch makes me wonder. If the crusades had been silly, would Jerusalem be in the hands of the Gumbies or the Fairies? And would the Spannish Inquisition then have been expected several hundred years later?
To understand Monty Python you need to understand British humour. Python satire was original at the time. Sarcastic humour is something I use regularly. I dont watch USA humour, it relies on very obvious stage prompts, X marks the spot, and stand up humour with recorded laughter. Monty python is timeless and, courtesy of the Monty Python team is totally copyright free so that the masses could enjoy their humour for FREE!! Good ain't it?
I do believe, good Sir, that you are being unfair to American comedy. It is not nearly as simple and plain as you describe it. Yes, there is some of what you say, but humour in the States encapsulates a wide range of styles suited to a diverse array of personal tastes. However, as an American, I will freely admit that Monty Python is in the top echelon of all time great comedic performances globally. And I apologize, I do believe I was becoming pretentious...
Mike Kemble I think with the majority of American comedies this is true. They do tend to rely on laugh tracks like take Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond for example. And generally the humour tends to be less clever. I don't much care for either of those shows. Perhaps it's for this reason that the best US comedy, The Simpsons, is animated. I mean, you can't exactly have a cartoon with a laugh track, it would be a bit weird.
Isn't it odd that the date of the offence is stated as April 16th, 1942 (2:01)? Surely there would have been no ground action in Westphalia in 1942? Was this supposed to be a joke? Or did Terry deliver the line wrong? Actually about the only year that would make sense would be 1945, which would put it about three weeks before the end of the war in Europe (in which case presumably the court martial would be taking place after VE day).
I like it how every sketch goes off the rails in the end
That's the plan.
I'm convinced Monty Python had no idea how to end a sketch, hence the in joke in the "it's a fair cop" sketch.
They intentionally wrote sketches that didn't fit into the traditional "set-up -> punchline" formula, leading to a great many that end in utter nonsense or just fade into the next bit.
Stormtrooper Elite It was only barely on the teacks to start with
No, it didn't!
"Sorry, but my client has become pretentious" Wonderful line!
This is possibly their most bizarre sketch, and surely one of the most hilarious. "Anything goes in…"
"and doesn't come out!"
Severely underrated sketch, really it's one of the most well-written ones of all. Beats the Dead Parrot one, in my opinion. Damn near every line is quotable.
"Well, they wanted to have a look at the spiders, sir!"
'Fear Naught'
"Quiet, critic!"
Zzyzzyzzs shutup!!
carry on
"Can I go home now?"
SHUT UP!
i love how no one pays any attention to the girl beneath the table
well i did... the only one wearing a blue uniform
To some it flies straight over their heads
I remember when I heard someone say that monty python were so great because they didn't make any sexual jokes.
Needless to say, that person was wearing an ordinary pair of gaiters.
Muh Stache "If I could walk that way..."
Right! You're nicked Sunshine!
+Muh Stache That person was obviously not paying attention/not very bright. I mean, in the episode with the communists on the quiz show, Che Guevara and Karl Marx are seen making out and later in bed together. There a large number of more subtle jokes, but sex jokes were definitely in their repertoire. I mean, there's even a sketch where they suggest a tax on... "thingy". :p
... "Every Sperm is Sacred"...
Not to forget the meaning of life where a man is chased to death by a pack of naked women.
Subtle... veeery subtle...
A remarkable piece that hasn't received the attention it deserves.
Quiet, critic!!
back then was no internet man so ppl dont know about this sketch even myself i just find it when i had 25 years old
This was on Friday nights when my friends and I would usually be at a party. We would drop everything to watch. :)
We should all just trivialize this video. Then we can sustain the highest penalty youtube can enforce.
Tigerfire75 :)
"Basingstoke in Westphalia, sir." God damn Michael is funny in this sketch.
My client has become pretentious
Yeah, but if he took the enemy command post even with wet towels...well, he did capture it.
Must have been cologne, there was no cheese at the shop.
+Degrelle Holt Oh come now, when have the Pythons ever done a sketch about a cheese shop with no cheese in it? Lets' not be silly here!
:)
Well really!
But he captured it through morally unacceptable conduct that violates every single principle of proper warfare. *Haughtily flexes mustache*
Degrelle Holt but he did so in a silly mannor, to which it is a crime to trivialize the war
Thumbs up, anyone from Basingstoke. The one in Westphalia.
I'm from Westphalia and I am almost certain there is no Basingstoke here, neither is a Southampton. We do have a Bad Lippspringe though
How can you not know it? It's a municipal borough north-north east of Southampton.
I'M MOE GREENE It's on the map sir
I was born in Basingstoke (hampshire)but I only lived there for 2 weeks,
You've not missed much.
This is one of those sketches I didn't appreciate until I grew up and my sense of humor matured. As a youngster I preferred the silly walks and Cheese Sketch.
So skating vicars didn't do it for your younger self? There's so much available content here, it's a veritable smorgasbord.
Nothing today approaches the imaginative genius of Monty Python.
would the worlds deadliest joke count as trivializing the war, even though it helped?
+Robert Smith No, that joke was very serious
If it can hospitalize anyone who sees two words of it, it must be handled very carefully.
that joke stunk... or at least it smelled awful
"Wenn ist das nunstück git und slotermeyer ja beiherhund das oder die flipperwaldt gersput"
"Thank you, Shirley" hahah, girl stands up
pettaspro you should see the precision drill of monthy style. you would see why shirley have a bottomless depth of silliness
NOT THAT QUICKLY!!!!
... HE USED TO RAM THINGS UP THEIR
Zulu Romeo you see how the figurant actors almost lost it
you can see where Stephen Fry took his inspiration from for his General Melchett character... almost sounds the same at times
Lol "I run this court! Stand up, sit down!" Love Terry Jones in this.
5:30 My favourite moment - Palin is brilliant in all of it, but this bit makes me crack up helplessly :)
He used to... _oblige_ them, sir.
Thank you Shirley.
hard to not notice a blowjob joke
They noticed alright! But they were probably too embarrassed/shocked to laugh. This was a _very_ risqué joke for those days.
I remember 1969 very well, thank you. I was 19 at the time. I still think the average audience would have been a bit embarrassed, and some of them would have been too naive to get the joke immediately. It would have been completely unexpected. The gag was followed immediately by other jokes, so residual laughter at that blow-job joke would have melded in with the others.
Don't call me surely.
Richardatf Shirley you can't be serious?
'Get me the Prime Minister!'
'Sir!'
'NOT THAT QUICKLY!'
'Sir!'
Wow the end of this clip is like a critique on the output of modern Hollywood.
Anything goes in.
Anything goes out!
Fish, bananas, old pajamas,
Mutton! Beef! and Trout!
Anything goes in.
Anything goes out.
Anything goes in.
Anything goes out!
Fish, bananas, old pajamas,
Mutton! Beef! and Trout!
Anything goes in.
Anything goes out.
(Repeat)
old pajamas
thank you
One of Cole Porter's finest.
My country has just declared martial law for at least 60 days, after having been in a civil war for 5 years and once again in times as these I turn to comedy like Monty Python to cope with the difficulties that are to follow.
Humanity would definitely not survive without this genre
We'll never know if the wet towels were successful, they did have the element of surprise, could have been a winner.
Oh my god this is one of the sketches that I have never been able to find! In olden days a glimpse of stockings. "No this one's different, sir" is one of the funniest things Michael Palin ever said.
This is one of my favourite skits ever, it always gets me.
He used the gaiters to oblige them, sir. LOL
Actually, he was given the gaiters in appreciation of the fact that he would oblige them.
6:35 "I'm sorry, but my client has become pretentious." 👅
One of Terry Gilliam's rare chances to deliver a good line, and he nailed it.
My grandfather was part of the fourth armoured brigade!
spiders were commonly found in captured matchboxes
"He's not the Messiah...he's a very bad boy!"
"Sorry, but my client has become pretentious!" will always be a line that sticks with me, I think.
Easily one of the best Monty Python sketches
"....well they want another look at the spiders sir!"
HAHAHAHA!!
This is Gold. British humor at its best.
The skating vicar is the perfect touch! ❤️
The audience totally missed the "Thank you Shirley" gag.
"Roger, the half-parrot, half-man, half-woman, three-quarter-badger, ex-bigamist negro preacher, for whom banjo-playing was very difficult, and he never mastered it although he took several courses and went to banjo college"
Ladies and gents, I give you the 2017 Tumblr Gender of the Year
For some reason the 3 Quarter Badger part finally just breaks me up, lolmao.
SilentPony Monty Python sketches were ahead of their time.
Why do y'all have to turn literally *everything* into a joke about non-binary people and tumblr
I Bless the Rains Down in Africa it’s every fucking video, without fail it WILL have a “joke” along those lines in the comment section
Well if he captured it with towels instead of a £103.50 rifle then I'd say give that man a bag of Linens and send him to the front.
I swear to God this is legit education.
There needs to be more silly wars
+lukassnakeman Silly ones are best. Three of my four favorite wars were silly, and the fourth was foolish.
Like the war between Canada and Denmark that is still ongoing
The emu war was pretty damn silly.
- I think there should be more silly wars.
- (slaps) less.
- Less. Silly... wars.
... like the way "mashed-bananas" rimes with "pyjamas", touching.
This is one of my fave sketches EVER
I imagine SCOTUS proceedings go much like this from their transcripts and because justices are just burning time before writing their preformed opinions
This was visionary. And prescient. High surrealism and art of a high order. Ionesco meets English music hall, meets anti-war satire.
"The gender-compassionate story" c. 1970?
Amazing! Oh, hilarious, too. Thank you, Shirley.
ALRIGHT! AlRIGHT! NO need to spell things out!
Can I go home now?
shut up!
Not that quickly!
Were going to show these Chinese, Germans.
Well, at least no pigeon was shot, or the punishment decided by the court martial could have been worse!
This is heavy duty for its time.
Only Monty Python could make a sketch this long and still make it funny.
You don't have to be mad to be in the army, but it helps! xD
I haven't been to England in rather a long time, and I don't remember how loud their teakettles are, but I remember that they have a reputation for being tight-assed, although I have an intuition that's that's an outdated and nationally chauvinistic stereotype propagated by Americans like myself to compensate for our general vulgarity. Righty-O... my unfounded theory is that British teakettles are the loudest in the entire world, because they have very small orifices, but!... when the steam comes out...WOW... it really bursts forth with quite a show and racket. This is my rather underwhelming metaphor for why Monty Python is so smart yet so outrageously silly. It's non-sequitor high art. Really rather good, even though I have to admit that I'm an ign'ant Yank and don't have any idea who Enoch Powell is or why Mr. Smith should be running the country or what a green grocher from Luton or anyone from Notlob would actually behave like.
Sorry... seem's I've become pretentious. Sorry old chap. Cheerio! Sorry again for the rather tedious metaphor, but I just had to get it off my chest. Sorry.
"Oh my god... well thank you Shirley"
They should have had Churchill at the door still trying to put on his clothes LOL...
The attire of Mr. Churchill was quite simple and easy to put on. It consisted of a cigar and a fire.
Get me the Prime Minister!
Sir!
Not that quickly!
Sir!
People ditch the fourth series because Cleese wasn't acting in it... But it is as brilliant as the others
Imo one of the best performances of Palin. Kills me everytime
That MP SGT looks like he's ready to crack up, listening to Michael Palin...oh and Palin needs to tuck his Sam Brown strap under his lapel...lol.
silliness and mass murder ain't gonna fly the sky together, zanies
The statement about the hypocrisy of government having different standards of violence for different groups of people was great. People nowadays seem to brush aside atrocities in war and justify collateral damage.
i would watch that movie!
Right. Now: on with the pixie hats!
this fabulous, the writing is beautiful
0:58
'Allo' miss air force officer. And what were you doing under the general's desk?
+Kal'sik “Vader21175” Herensk Obvious really. Playing hide and seek
She was demonstrating How Not To Be Seen.
She was obliging him, making him happy in little ways, it is to be presumed.
She was ramming things up his...?
Now I know where General Melchett and Captain Darling came from.
Yes, straight from the British army!
Dear British Ladies and Gentlemen, as a German I 've to apologise to piss myself laughing about this fantastic scetch. Have a nice one.
Dear sir, I hereby accuse you of blatantly lying.
Everybody knows Germans have no sense of humor whatsoever.
Alles gut.
Her Dying Fiancé
No need to apologize about laughing at funny. I'd rather laugh at history than be angry.
Oh, I understand now, they were all fucking nuts.
My favourite sketch I think.
The cast description from the movie clip has all come true.
funniest show ever on tv any where in the world forever!!!
@EuskaltelEuskadi The Liberty Bell March by John Phillip Sousa, of course. Perhaps better known these days for being the theme music for Monty Pythons Flying Circus.
AnyTHING goes in! AnyTHING goes out!
"Stand up! Sit down!"
This sketch makes me wonder. If the crusades had been silly, would Jerusalem be in the hands of the Gumbies or the Fairies? And would the Spannish Inquisition then have been expected several hundred years later?
Trailblazers, they even filmed an armed forces recuitment ad for the 2020's in the 1970's.
Today I needed to destress, so I watched this skit...
Haha. It definately worked.
There is nothing like this today.
Set is so similar to the set in Blackadder
8:30 they predicted genders in 2017
YES! Anything goes is my favorite song ever! (Mostly cuz fallout but SHHHHHH) but I don't know what it desolved into in this video.
Well, they were jolly interested, sir!
Prophetic, innit.
Graham Chapman just hated silly things...
Anything Goes
It's been too long since I've been obliged.
I want to know why the regiment presented the accused with a special pair of gaiters
"QUIET, CRITIC!"
To understand Monty Python you need to understand British humour. Python satire was original at the time. Sarcastic humour is something I use regularly. I dont watch USA humour, it relies on very obvious stage prompts, X marks the spot, and stand up humour with recorded laughter. Monty python is timeless and, courtesy of the Monty Python team is totally copyright free so that the masses could enjoy their humour for FREE!! Good ain't it?
I do believe, good Sir, that you are being unfair to American comedy. It is not nearly as simple and plain as you describe it. Yes, there is some of what you say, but humour in the States encapsulates a wide range of styles suited to a diverse array of personal tastes.
However, as an American, I will freely admit that Monty Python is in the top echelon of all time great comedic performances globally.
And I apologize, I do believe I was becoming pretentious...
I have to admit Cheers was a fav of mine and M*A*S*H
Mike Kemble I think with the majority of American comedies this is true. They do tend to rely on laugh tracks like take Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond for example. And generally the humour tends to be less clever. I don't much care for either of those shows. Perhaps it's for this reason that the best US comedy, The Simpsons, is animated. I mean, you can't exactly have a cartoon with a laugh track, it would be a bit weird.
It's very much upper middle class / upper class English humour , most Brits dont get it.
Hannah Dyson well my Dad and his friend are both working class cockney guys and they both like it. See you can't generalise too much.
Haha I love "Anything Goes"
Ghostbusters... please take note of what makes good comedy.
Who do you call? The sargent with the special gaiters!
7:21 onwards is Hollywood literal.
I haven't heard that song( 4.40) for ages. still remember the words though
Isn't it odd that the date of the offence is stated as April 16th, 1942 (2:01)? Surely there would have been no ground action in Westphalia in 1942? Was this supposed to be a joke? Or did Terry deliver the line wrong? Actually about the only year that would make sense would be 1945, which would put it about three weeks before the end of the war in Europe (in which case presumably the court martial would be taking place after VE day).
Palin in top form here.
This is what happens when you try to think
not taking things seriously is what we specialise in . god bless britain .
@young5ever 'They went and had a look at the spiders, sir.'
Glorious anarchy
6:06 the old guy next to Gilliam cracks up