Kilimanjaro Expedition is a sketch from the episode of
Monty Python's Flying Circus
''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...
"
The Ant, an Introduction", also appearing in the
Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
film ''
And Now For Something Completely Different''. It has been compared to a comic episode in
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
's ''
The Castle'' in which the protagonist, K., is confused by twins assigned to assist him.
Overview
Arthur Wilson (
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...
), a young
mountaineer
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
, visits the office of Sir George Head,
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
), who is leading an expedition to
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
, on where he says he wants to build a bridge between the "two peaks". Head suffers severely from
diplopia, and repeatedly believes there are two of everything, including Wilson and Mount Kilimanjaro, throughout the sketch. A guide, Jimmy Blankinsop (
Graham Chapman) enters partway through and acts out the expedition route very physically, knocking over furniture in the process. Wilson leaves, feeling he has "absolutely no confidence in anyone involved in it", but the "other" Wilson (now visible) says "I'm game".
References
External links
Full text of the sketch at Orange Cow
{{Monty Python
Monty Python sketches