My first attempt at starting a topic. I hope it is OK.
Interesting article on how Monty Python impacted the world. As usual any press of this nature is also a plug for something and in this case, it is the new coffee table book "The Pythons" by themselves.
The article even gives a nod to George Harrison for appearing in The Rutles -- which I saw when it first aired and loved. Who can not like the song "All You Need is Cash"? And that he helped with financing other projects.
Drama classes in high school sometimes consisted of reenacting MP & the Holy Grail and laughing hysterically. I loved every single movie and show they made. I learned a lot about laughing from the Pythons.
I also think that John Cleese is incredibly sexy. Is there something wrong with me...?
If there's one thing you can say about mankind--there's nothing kind about man
They had me at "hello." By that I mean
"Good morning, Super."
"Hello, Wonderful."
Not only have they produced gales of laughter from me over many many years, albeit sometimes in the silliest ways imaginable, but they also gave rise to one of the more brilliant film directors of our time, Terry Gilliam.
And the aforementioned Mr. Cleese (rhymes with "cheese") is also largely responsible for the side-splittingly funny Fawlty Towers.
"But it's a dangerous game that comedy plays
Sometimes it tells you the truth
Sometimes it delays it"
The Pythonian Era came out of the tumult of the late Sixties, when the Youth Revolution turned the norms of civilization around, suddenly spinning the table on the decades old staple of common sense in polite society, the unsaid rule regarding the unsaid things that proper people never said or did because "it simply wasn't done".
Free sex, flowing drugs, and the relative freedom to really indulge in decadent behavior is what led to the need for a new age of comedic endeavour, one that would rely more and more upon the bizzare, the outrageous, and the sacreligious. Mass electronic media burned out the old standbys of entertainment in a fairly quick manner, and it wasn't long before some in society, as LBJ predicted, could not be aroused by the normal stimuli. Therefore, it was necessary for the wickedly shocking to be introduced and adapted into the mainstream of art and media.
Monty Python did a very important thing. They made the absurd an appropriate vehicle for entertainment, and by way of this revealed the history of absurdity as well as the absurdity of everyday life. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but there it is, then, isn't it?
Their use of high concepts and intellectual stylings promoted an elevation of the comedy genre that led to it becoming an acceptable and lucrative career for many of today's major film stars. They pushed the limits of visual media, and set off a revolution in comedy and film-making.
Monty Python are the Beatles of comedy.
Best bit? It's either "The Killing Joke" or "The Protestant Couple".
Best performance? John Cleese as Death in The Meaning of Life.
Monty Python's Flying Circus was a natural progression from the earlier radio comedy of The Goon Show (Peter Sellers, Harry Seacombe and the comic genius Spike Milligan - among others) and the television shows such as Michael Bentine's "It's a Square World", Spike Milligan's "Beachcomber" series, The Frost Report (which is where a lot of the Python crew got their start), and the 1948 show.
The Goon Show had been making the absurd a form of popular entertainment years before Python was dreamt up, and even the absurdist (some might say, DaDa) Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band which contained among others the sensational Viv Stanshall ("Sir Henry at Rawlinson End" anyone?) and Neil Innes, pre-dated Monty Python.
This is not in any way intended to belittle the achievements of Monty Python (who I love and whose every DVD I own), but to set the record straight and to give credit where credit is due.
My post was written in the spirit of a faux documentary. I really don't know much about Monty Python, I just went on trying to sound like I know something about Monty Python.
I think it's pretty good bullshit, and I'm proud of it. Thank you for filling in the missing accuracies!
And that he helped with financing other projects.
