John Cleese finds the thought incredibly funny that sometime in the future some media history students have to analyse the deeper meaning of that sketch.
So this duet of sketches, or dichotomy if you will, sums them up pretty well: Brilliant intellectual humor, bordering on the philosophical, mixed with the silliest absurdism you’ll ever see.
My mum and dad didn't 'get' Monty Python in those days. I remember watching the fish sketch in the living room when it was first broadcast. I laughed so hard I nearly got a hernia. My mum and dad were looking at me with stoney expressions trying to work out what was so funny.
One of the Pythons (it might have been Cleese or Palin) said that the "Fish Slapping Dance" sums up the very essence of Monty Python. Can't argue with that!
Love your reaction to these masters of "WTF did I just watch?" comedy. 😀 Their delight in absolute absurdity both highbrow and lowbrow was just amazing. The Upper Class Twit of the Year competition is another brilliant sketch along with the Army Protection Racket sketch (and pretty much that whole episode where The Colonel appears. The episode I think was called Full Frontal Nudity and the entire thing is worth a watch and review). Keep up the great work Megan Ruth!
Monty Python played uncensored on Public broadcasting after 8pm weeknights in the early to mid 70's, and from age 10-12 I would be glued to the TV watching enthusiastically, and improving my vocabulary immensely. times have changed so drastically since those days, but Monty Python is timeless comedy with brilliant writing. I remember one skit where they held a marathon for small bladdered men. Basically, you had all of them jogging while constantly racing off to the trees and bushes to relieve themselves. Funny part of it was my parents didn't mind Monty Python, but they didn't allow me to watch The Three Stooges due to all the violence.
It's great to see someone so young, enjoying this timeless comedy. We were still at school, when Monty Python came out & we'd never seen anything like it. Genius stuff really & even more so, considering it was about 50 years ago. If you haven't seen the films, I would strongly recommend Holy Grail & Life of Brian for starters. I think you'd love them....👍
These sketches really must be seen within context of the entire episode. Some few are truly stand-alone, but almost all build on what went before, usually through Terry Gilliam's animations.
One of the things about the original show, as opposed to just skits from it like this, is that every skit flows into the next one. And every previous skit might intrude into the next one. For instance, in one show they had a skit about animals exploding...and in the final skit of the episode the characters are driving past a sign that says "To the Zoo," and in the distance you hear explosions.
as an adult i always gravitated towards more verbal humor. if its well written verbal humour tends to be more intellectual than visual humor. one thing that made python so endearing to me was how they perfectly combined visual with verbal humor which relied heavily on intellectual aspects and themes. they could be downright silly and juvenile and shift to social commentary in flash. just love these guys. my favorite tv episode remains "mr neutron." its a rare single-subject episode performed in their last season AFTER cleese left to do "fawlty towers." even without cleese its python at their best. check it out. thanks for the video.
The Ministry of Silly Walks, the Olympics and the Parrot sketch are a must among many others. When they did the Parrot sketch in their last ever show, Michael Palin forgot his lines and John Cleese had to tell him what to say. Sometime after the show, Michael Palin was interviewed and, dare I say, it's unique. Their chemistry was amazing.
I've put people in an argument clinic. Mostly guys in their twenties. Who have no idea who Monty Python is. Now hopefully you'll see Who's on Firts with Abbott and Costello.
Absolute genius. The weirdest thing ever is that I've noticed that people in general tend to either love or hate Monty Python. I say it's weird because I cannot imagine not appreciating these guys, and I really wonder what is going on in the mind of someone who doesn't "get" it.
A great sketch is where a man goes to the station to report a burglary, but the 2 constables and the inspector can't communicate normally. 1 constable can only hear low pitch words spoken slowly, the other constable can only hear high pitch voices, and the inspector can only hear words when spoken very fast. On top of that, radio calls are sung as a opera. Known as silly voices in a police station here on RU-vid.
@@MeganRuth yes well that was in the days when you were ALLOWED to be funny. Incidentally, did you know that the Cornish word for RUTH is RED? (Just for info)
Monty Python, back in the days where innoscent silly funnn had only onne agenda, to makeo you luagho...oh I miss those magical days. Very clever people, doing what they knew best, timeless entertainment for the whole family, I wonder if I put speil chack on...
ah no I haven't seen it! It aired a bit before my time... funnily enough even though the Kids in the Hall is Canadian, my family was much more fond of Monty Python!
You should do The Piranha Brothers. Its done mock news story investigative style about a couple of low rent London hoodlums. It's side splitting. Also the Upper Class Twit of the Year sketch.
Megan, I still find Monty Python very funny, despite seeing it numerous times over the years. Try to watch the "Goodies" another British comedy series dating back to the 70's.
Na, everyone does the dead parrot sketch, or the lumberjack song, try bicycle repairman, Mr Pither, or Being attacked by someone armed with a piece of fruit!
This was great, but I really feel like the whole greatness of the TV show is that it randomly goes from sketch to sketch, linked by random, brilliant animation. And then jokes resurface in later sketches, so there's a sort of a throughline, instead of just a bunch of sketches, like any other sketch show. By isolating the sketch, you still do get the surrealness and funniness of a particular sketch, but you lose the over-arching structure. There is one reactor who has reacted to the whole TV series (Dawn Marie, great reactions), would you consider doing the full episodes? They're only a half hour, and you're a great reactor! Stuff like "Spanish Inquisition" is even better in the full episode, for instance.
For me, the bits in Monty P which are funny are really funny but some is a bit dated and silly rather than funny. The cartoon stuff always left me cold. Life of Brian for me is hilarious, poking fun at "US style" holy joes and Bible thumpers.
