I am torn between that line and Mr Blimey being slapped with a chicken by a guy in full medieval knight's armour. Including the gentle stroking of the chicken before he starts slapping.
I know how the Pythons avoided punchlines like the plague, but I couldn't help but laugh at Chapman's "Blimey! Whatever did I give the wife?" the hardest. That man really packed a punchline!
What? You really did not find it funny when the Customs Officer said "You couldn't smuggle a grease-proofed paper"?? He summarized briefly everything that showed how bad the smuggler was at his job --- and then made it clear how he himself could not do his own job either. That is funny.
Fun trivia about this sketch: it originally ended with a cut to the officer's wife saying, "I don't know, but it's better than sandwiches," but the BBC made them cut it.
That fly buzzing around Palin when he can’t answer the question makes it so much funnier. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but it makes the shot.
'Enry Thatcher is more than likely a knowing nod to the notorious Norman Pilcher though he was a detective, not a uniformed cop. Paid up members of the counter culture would have known all about that conniving little scroat.
This is a fantastic sketch precisely because of how un-Pythonesque it begins. An incompetent smuggler that can help blurting out his hare-brained schemes to a world-weary officer could be part of any basic midbrow comedy, but it just ramps up the tension until a roaring take-off of silly begins with the priest getting dragged off for a stripsearch and ending in Brigadier Arthur Gormanstrop, Mrs..
@@lauriecook2399 I would protest about the last comment, as I am 25 and am writing from a car where I receive the BBC World Service. Sincerely, Mr Lyman Shithop (Mrs)
@@AnonyMous-pi9zm As as semi-prolific semi-aquatic youtube commenter, I would like to protest that a certain paper bag of certain illicit substances is certainly absent of a certain sandwich. Cordially, Dr. Ms. Big-Fat-Ugly-Bug-Face-Baby-Eating O'Brien Sr. the Third (Esq.)
Dear Elon Musk, I would like to complain of the way you have handled X (formerly Twitter), however, I refuse to go on the platform, so you will have to settle for reading my complaint here, on RU-vid, the only social media I use. As with most people my age, I am 50, but that's no reason to rebrand that dumpster fire of yours with the name of my generation. Haven't we suffered enough having spent our entire lives being abused by our Boomer parents? It's enough to make me long for the carefree days of my earliest years, spent playing next to my parents 1968 Harvest Gold Mercury Montego, the leaded gas fumes of her 351 Windsor V-8 filling my tiny pink lungs, and smoothing out the wrinkles in my impressionable gray matter. In any event, wht was I saying? Yours, etc., Mrs. Smith (not actually married)
I don't see "sjw" or anyone else complaining about this kind of stuff, all I see is many people flipping their shit about some supposed "sjw" complaints which do not exist.
Same here, there are only a few people complaining about political correctness and millions who are offended by them and need to go to their safe space... Oh the irony!
Blake Stone I'm not an English, so could you explain why you fellas on your island apparently are so hostile against anyone abroad -even if it's one of your own guys?
@@Leon_der_Luftige I mean, BLIMEY!, can't a man in a free Brexit land just eat his squirrel without being harrased by people from abroad or people reentering the sacred borders of our mosques and kebab factories?
Don't say that about their Python Rabbit. It may seem a long way far across the borders. But rumours tell of rabbits at high speed over taking trucks, lorries and motor cycles on the M1 motor way.
Oh no, the Confuse-Cats Corporation of Chile is on it! We charge cheaper prices and confuse cats an average of 5% more per attempt with only a 99.99% increase in mortality rates.
Confuse-a-Cat Ltd and Confuse-Cats Corporation of Chile fails to confuse cats thoroughly, according to a nationwide poll! Fishes-on-Wheels confuses cats with fully-trained and licensed fishes! We start with 5 goldfishes, and end with 3 puffer fishes! Those puffer fish go on to become 22 trout at the Trout Training College of the Northern End of My Backyard Pool! We then introduce those trout to the fine art of bassery by enrolling them in the "How to Become a Bass" class, which takes place at the Bass Training College of the Southern End of My Backyard Pool! Finally, after they've refined themselves down to 7 high-functioning bass, they become enlightened (literally) by growing lights and becoming about 886 angler fish! They take driver's ed, and learn how to find cats! After they find the cat... They confuse it... Thoroughly. After their job is done, they revert back into 3 puffer fish, and live the rest of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean!
This is one of those Python sketches where I always suspect it's based on a real-life event covered in the British press that I wasn't privy to. Another one is the Air Force base sketch ("Nice base you got here, shame if something...happened to it...").
More of Cleese riffing on the idea of the totally improbable being perfectly reasonable! He deadpanned such lines throughout his career to great effect. It helped that his imposing height and authoritative bearing made it sound like he was gaslighting his subject all the time, making their protestations sound absurd when in fact HE was being absurd himself.
God I miss the old comedy..... at 50 years of age... it seems like only yesterday I was watching these as a kid. I haven't watched Television since M.A.S.H. went off the air. Times are changing.
The Smuggler is my favorite Python sketch. It's chunky and has rhythm. Many little jokes that build up to not one but two punchlines. Cleese admired Palin and always came to life when they did sketches together. Cleese only tolerated Chapman and still subtlety disparages him to this day.
What? Where do you base that Cleese disliked Chapman? And "berates him to this day"? His dead friend and co-worker? Are you sure you haven't got that mixed up or something?
I used to watch this program with my Mother we loved Monty Python ❤ ♥ 💙 😍 💜 sadly she's gone now RIP dear mom. But now I share these videos with my children.
Just imagine a time when Big Brother didn’t already know where you had been or if your credit card had already bought a load of watches in Switzerland.
Humor and what we think is funny changes and evolves over time. I'm 62 and remember thinking Monte Python was hilarious and I still do, but it's different now.
Holy Moly I think you are right given the context, but if you were talking about a certain watch that was being smuggled then you could talk about that watch's smuggler.
Brains for Dinner Actually this would take us into an interesting part of language, the grammatical structures known as voices :) Usually you speak in an active voice (the man smuggled the watches), but in this case you'd be speaking in what is known as the passive voice (the watches were smuggled by the man). Basically switching out the subject and object of a clause! Isn't that fascinating? /s
shockingly modern...police brutality (the "customs officer"), but also the Constable that tries to deposit "certain substances" in the suspect's home...that is exactly what some police officers have done to innocent car drivers in the US: smuggling stuff into the cars, finding it, reporting the driver and causing all kind of mayhem in the aftermath
I see lots of comments here, admiring it. Some comments, highlighting its uniqueness. Others perplexed that British people are funny. I can assure them, that Monty Python's humour, represented a new generation of satirists. The legacy of which, is "all over the place" now. Thanking you for the video 👍 Salutations, from Kensington and Chelsea; in London. 🇬🇧
“I’ve smuggles bombs, cameras, etc., you name it, I’ve smuggled it!!” “You’re not a real smuggler. Move along.” “Poor fellow, I think he needs help.” “Right, cut the wisecracks, vicar, get to the search rooms and strip.” Tbh that sounds just like something US customs would do
Because chickens are one of the best things to smack people with. And he needed to be smacked. By that knight. Would have been better if it still had a full suit of feathers on, though. The chicken. Not the knight.
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
FRASER: So buck up your ideas all of you, and remember my name is Fraser, Fraser, spelt B-A-S-T-A-R-D. VERGER: That’s not really how you spell it is it?
Max Gill they shouldnt be allowed back, im no racialist but to be honest if theyre not keen enough to stay here, why should we let them back... AT THE TAXPAYERS EXPENSE?!
One of the great nights of my life was when i saw Cleese and Idle live together..two of the fathers of modern comedy. Have to go now..my head hurts, know what I mean, nudge nudge?
