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Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British

comedy troupe A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific genre or style of comedy ...

who created the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was conceived, written and performed by its members

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...

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 ...

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

, Eric Idle,

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

, and

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative

stream-of-consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...

approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), ''

Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It wa ...

'' (1979) and '' The Meaning of Life'' (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' through to absurdist trends in television comedy. "

Pythonesque 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 fou ...

" has entered the English lexicon as a result. At the

41st British Academy Film Awards The 41st British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1988, honoured the best in film for 1987. Winners and nominees Statistics See also * 60th Academy Awards * 13th César Awards * 40th Director ...

in 1988, Monty Python received the

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both ''Holy Grail'' and ''Life of Brian'' are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the

English-speaking world Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...

to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.

Before ''Flying Circus''

Jones and Palin met at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where they performed together with

the Oxford Revue The Oxford Revue is a comedy group primarily featuring students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, England. Founded in the early 1950s, The Oxford Revue has produced many prominent comedians, actors and satirists. The Revue wr ...

. Chapman and Cleese met at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

'' Cambridge Circus'' (originally entitled ''A Clump of Plinths''). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and became president ...

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinto ...

, and

Graeme Garden David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies and a regular panellist on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life and education ...

), and

Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as '' Clue'', '' Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and '' The Whole Nine Yards''. He als ...

(co-writer of ''

Yes Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fr ...

'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister''). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...

and broadcaster

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players. The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before ''Flying Circus'': * ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that originated from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, '' Cambridge Circus''. This is a scripted sketch show. It had a devote ...

'' (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) * ''

The Frost Report ''The Frost Report'' is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March ...

'' (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) * ''

At Last the 1948 Show ''At Last the 1948 Show'' is a satirical television show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions (although it was not credited on the programmes), in association with Rediffusion London. Transmitted on Britain's ITV network in 19 ...

'' (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) * ''

Twice a Fortnight ''Twice a Fortnight'' is a 1967 British sketch comedy television series with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn and Tony Buffery. Graeme Garden suggested to the director, Tony Palmer, that Michael Palin and Terr ...

'' (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) * ''

Do Not Adjust Your Set ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (''DNAYS'') is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The ...

'' (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation)
+ Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes) * '' We Have Ways of Making You Laugh'' (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) * ''

How to Irritate People ''How to Irritate People'' is a US television broadcast filmed in the UK at LWT on 14 November 1968 and written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Cleese, Chapman, and Brooke-Taylor also feature in it, along wit ...

'' (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) * ''

The Complete and Utter History of Britain ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' is a 1969 television comedy sketch show. It was created and written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones between the two series of '' Do Not Adjust Your Set''. It was produced for and broadcast by London ...

'' (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) * ''

Doctor in the House ''Doctor in the House'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of s ...

'' (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show ''

'', broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles. The_Four_Yorkshiremen,_2014_(crop)

Following the success of ''

'', broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from December 1967 to May 1969,

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the

...

, which had been impressed by their work on ''The Frost Report'' and ''At Last the 1948 Show''. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on ''How to Irritate People'' and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.''The Pythons Autobiography by the Pythons''. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, John Chapman, David Sherlock, Bob McCabe. Thomas Dunne Books; Orion, 2003 By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of ''Monty Python'' lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on ''Do Not Adjust Your Set''; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby

Basil Street Basil Street, originally known as North Street, is a street in London's Knightsbridge. It was laid out in the second half of the eighteenth century on land belonging to Lord Cadogan and runs between Sloane Street in the north and the junction of ...

afterwards to continue discussions.

''Monty Python's Flying Circus''

Development of the series

The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1 ...

, and

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

on '' Beyond the Fringe''—seminal to the British " satire boom"—and had worked on ''Frost'', which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show '' Not Only... But Also''. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the ''Flying Circus'' series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes,

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

, whom they had admired on ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series '' Q...'' (1969). Not only was ''Q...'' more irreverent and anarchic than any previous

, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the ''Q...'' shows... illiganwas the first writer to play with the conventions of television." (quote at (a), p. 157) Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 56 41 (14415567757)

Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 56 41 (14415567757)

After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the ''Flying Circus'' series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single

(often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work." Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush. left, Gilliam, Palin and Jones performing "The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python), The Spanish Inquisition" sketch during the 2014 Python reunion. As a sketch writer and creator of animations, Gilliam did considerably less acting, although he did have some notable sketch roles such as this (Cardinal Fang). While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship). Several names for the show were considered before ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was settled upon. Some were ''Owl Stretching Time'', ''The Toad Elevating Moment'', ''A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket'', ''Vaseline Review'', and ''Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot''. ''Flying Circus'' stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). ''Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus'' was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. ''Baron Von Took's Flying Circus'' was considered as an affectionate tribute to

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

, the man who had brought them together. ''Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus'' was suggested, then discarded. The name ''Baron Von Took's Flying Circus'' had the form of ''

Baron Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

Flying Circus Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

'' of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the

Royal Guardsmen A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular ar ...

's 1966 song " Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary '' Live at Aspen'' during the

US Comedy Arts Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the

, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Lord Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

, a British general of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".

Style of the show

''Flying Circus'' popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...

, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...

and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the

subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python". Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of " the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly". Monty python foot

Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

is the

Band of the Grenadier Guards The Band of the Grenadier Guards is one of the bands in the British Army. History In 1685 Charles II allowed the band to maintain 12 "hautbois" (oboe) players. His death in 1685 was so significant for the band that until the Second World W ...

' rendition of

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

's " The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the

Berne Convention The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...

's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to

United States copyright law The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly protection for "original works of authorship". With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of the ...

which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any

royalty payment A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 24 16 (14598681721)

The use of Gilliam's

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

, collage

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

masterpiece ''

Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time ''Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'' (also called ''An Allegory of Venus and Cupid'' and ''A Triumph of Venus'') is an allegorical painting of about 1545 by the Florentine painter Agnolo Bronzino. It is now in the National Gallery, London. Scholars d ...

'' by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme. The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to

Carol Cleveland Carol Cleveland (born 13 January 1942) is a British-American actress and comedian, particularly known for her work with Monty Python. Early life Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United States with her mother and U.S. Air Force step ...

—often described as the unofficial seventh member—who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in ''

Monty Python's Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...

'', they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "

Dead Parrot sketch The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a Sketch comedy, sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' about a non-existent species of parrot, called a "Norwegian Blue". A sati ...

", "

The Lumberjack Song "The Lumberjack Song" is a comedy song by the comedy troupe Monty Python. The song was written and composed by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson. It first appeared in the ninth episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', "The An ...

", "

Spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "

Nudge Nudge "Candid Photography", better known as "Nudge Nudge", is a sketch from the third '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode, "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away" (series 1, ep. 3) featuring Eric Idle (author of th ...

", "

The Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Cathol ...

", "

Upper Class Twit of the Year "Upper Class Twit of the Year" is a comedy sketch that was seen on the 1970 '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode "The Naked Ant" (series 1, episode 12), and also in a modified format as the finale of the movie ''And Now for Something Complet ...

", " Cheese Shop", "

The Ministry of Silly Walks "The Ministry of Silly Walks" is a sketch from the Monty Python comedy troupe's television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', series 2, episode 1, which is entitled "Face the Press". The episode first aired on 15 September 1970. A shortene ...

", "

Argument Clinic "Argument Clinic" is a sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The sketch was originally broadcast as part of the television series and has subsequently been performed live by the group. It relies ...

", "

The Funniest Joke in the World "The Funniest Joke in the World" (also "Joke Warfare" and "Killer Joke") is a Monty Python comedy sketch revolving around a joke that is so funny that anyone who reads or hears it promptly dies from laughter. Ernest Scribbler (Michael Palin), ...

" (a sketch referenced in

Google Translate Google Translate is a multilingual neural machine translation service developed by Google to translate text, documents and websites from one language into another. It offers a website interface, a mobile app for Android and iOS, and an API ...

), and

Four Yorkshiremen sketch The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to ...

" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of

post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits,

Gumbys Very few characters of the BBC television series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' appeared in more than one episode, and when they did, it was usually to link sketches together. A few well-known characters are described below. "It's" man Played ...

(characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".

Introduction to North America and the world

The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(CBC) added ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn ( October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC ( September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s. Lumebrjack Song O2 Arena

Sketches from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' were introduced to American audiences in

August 1972 August 1972 was the eight month of that leap year. It began on a Tuesday and ended after 31 days on a Thursday. The following events occurred in August 1972: August 1, 1972 (Tuesday) *"Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds", the first article in the f ...

, with the release of the Python film ''

And Now for Something Completely Different ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' is a 1971 British sketch comedy film based on the television comedy series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' featuring sketches from the show's first two series. The title was taken from a catchphrase ...

'', featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success. The ability to show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer

Greg Garrison Marvin Ginsburg (February 20, 1924 – March 25, 2005), known professionally as Greg Garrison, was an American producer and director in television. Career Garrison started his television career by accident at the age of 22. Among his first pro ...

. Garrison produced the NBC series ''

The Dean Martin Comedy World ''The Dean Martin Comedy World'' is an American variety comedy television series, seen on NBC during the summer of 1974, as a summer replacement for ''The Dean Martin Show''. It was also that program's last summer replacement series. The show wa ...

'', which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences. Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television station KERA in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, started airing episodes of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ''...Completely Different'' film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly". In 1975

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

broadcast two 90-minute ''Monty Python'' specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in '' Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.'', where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case. With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies. In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.

Departure of Cleese

Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the ''Flying Circus'' at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

flight on the way to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat." The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply ''Monty Python''. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".

Life beyond the ''Flying Circus''

Filmography

''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971)

The Pythons' first feature film was directed by

Ian MacNaughton Edward Ian MacNaughton (30 December 1925 – 10 December 2002) was a Scottish actor-turned-television producer and director, best known for his work with the ''Monty Python'' team. MacNaughton was director and producer for all but four of the f ...

, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the ''Flying Circus'', reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "

How Not to Be Seen "How Not to Be Seen" is a popular sketch from '' Monty Python's Flying Circus''. The sketch purports to be a British government public information film in which a disembodied narrator, voiced by John Cleese, instructs viewers on "how not to be see ...

", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''s UK executive

Victor Lownes Victor Aubrey Lownes III (April 17, 1928 – January 11, 2017) was an executive for HMH Publishing Company Inc., later known as Playboy Enterprises, from 1955 through the early 1980s. Soon after he met Hugh Hefner in 1954, Hefner founded ''Playb ...

, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the " Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.

''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975)

In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' was based on

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. ''Holy Grail'' was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, Jethro Tull, and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur

Tony Stratton-Smith Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...

(founder and owner of the

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

scene (a

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institut ...

send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. ''Holy Grail'' was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the

special '' Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time''. and viewers in a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

poll placed it sixth.

''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979)

Following the success of ''Holy Grail'', reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

era in the same way ''Holy Grail'' had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone

rian RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love". The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor

Kenneth Colley Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...

) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. ''Holy Grail's'' production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, the finances being provided this time by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, who together with

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...

formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films."Life of Brian tops comedy poll"
BBC News. Retrieved 18 August 2019 In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called ''Life of Brian'' an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".

''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (1982)

Monty Python performed four consecutive dates at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

in Los Angeles in September 1980 during preparations for ''Meaning of Life''. The performances were filmed and released in the concert film, ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (directed by Terry Hughes), with the Pythons performing sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of ''Flying Circus'') and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current ''

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album ''Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album'' is the final studio album by Monty Python, released in 1980. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records. Besides newly written songs and sketches ...

''. Monty Python's 4-night stint as headliners at the Hollywood Bowl set a record for a comedy act at the venue that has since been equalled by

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

in May 2022.

''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983)

The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of ''Flying Circus''. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, ''The Meaning of Life'' is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "

Galaxy Song "Galaxy Song" is a Monty Python song written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez. The song first appeared in the 1983 film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' and was later released on the album ''Monty Python Sings''. The song was released as ...

" (performed by Idle) and "

Every Sperm Is Sacred "Every Sperm Is Sacred" is a musical sketch from the film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. A satire of Catholic teachings on reproduction that forbid masturbation and contraception, the song was released on the album '' Monty Python Sings ...

" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of

black humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a

liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...

from a living patient without

anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend". The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver) is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "

The Crimson Permanent Assurance ''The Crimson Permanent Assurance'' is a 1983 British swashbuckling comedy short film that plays as the beginning of the feature-length motion picture '' Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. Having originally conceived the story as a six-minu ...

". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation '' Parrot Sketch Not Included,'' where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.

''Secret Policeman's Ball'' benefit shows

Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the '' Secret Policeman's Ball'' shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

(organiser of Live Aid), U2,

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

, and Sting.Secret Policeman's Ball recruits New York's finest to Amnesty celebration
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 24 April 2012

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

told ''Rolling Stone'' in 1986, "I saw ''The Secret Policeman’s Ball'' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before

he Ball He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it." ''Ball'' co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and

) all appeared together in the first ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' benefit—the 1976 '' A Poke in the Eye'' held at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as ''Monty Python''. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

and Scottish comedian

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

. The ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, Sting and

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...

, and puppets from the satirical TV show ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'', with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.

Going solo

Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably '' A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in ''

Time Bandits ''Time Bandits'' is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaug ...

'' (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed ''

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The ...

'' (1977), and also directed and co-wrote ''

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

'' (1985), which featured Palin, ''

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' is a 1988 adventure fantasy film co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, and starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Robin Williams and Uma Thurman. An interna ...

'' (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. ''

Yellowbeard ''Yellowbeard'' is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Mel Damski and written by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna, and David Sherlock, with an ensemble cast featuring Chapman, Cook, Peter Boyle, Cheech & Chong, Martin Hewitt, ...

'' (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook,

, and

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boot ...

. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series ''

Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...

'' (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film ''

Erik the Viking ''Erik the Viking'' is a 1989 British comedy- fantasy film written and directed by Terry Jones. The film was inspired by Jones's children's book ''The Saga of Erik the Viking'' (1983), but the plot is completely different. Jones also appears i ...

'' also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...

's novel ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

''. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

who played Mole. Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'', '' 3rd Rock from the Sun'', Q's assistant in the

James Bond movies James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

, and ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...

''), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...

'' (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the ''Flying Circus'' on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest (TV series), 100 Greatest TV Characters. Idle enjoyed critical success with ''Rutland Weekend Television'' in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary ''All You Need Is Cash''), and as an actor in ''Nuns on the Run'' (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical ''Spamalot'' has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas. This was followed by ''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), Not the Messiah'', which revises ''The Life of Brian'' as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in

(which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.

After ''Python'' reunions

Since ''The Meaning of Life'', their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the

for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 ''Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python'' TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. However, there were several occasions after 1989 when the remaining five members gathered together for appearances — albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of ''The Wind in the Willows'', which was later renamed ''Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (film), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride''.Nathan Bevan (5 March 2011)
"The life and times of Monty Python’s Terry Jones"
''Western Mail''. Wales Online. Retrieved 19 August 2019 In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "

" for ''

''. Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the

, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the

, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called ''Monty Python Live at Aspen'', (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first ''Flying Circus'' television broadcast, BBC Two, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for Concert for George, George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. Shubert Theatre NYC from Shubert Alley

In an interview to publicise the DVD release of ''The Meaning of Life'', Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques. Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms." ''The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons'' (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to ''Holy Grail'' that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that ''The Meaning of Life'' had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the ''Grail'' and ''Brian'' films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie. A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical ''Spamalot'', based on ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath (actor), Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knights who say Ni, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman. Owing in part to the success of ''Spamalot'',

announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called ''Monty Python's Personal Best''. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material. Neil Innes by Luke Ford adjust

In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', a six-part documentary entitled ''Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut)'' was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the Brian Song, theme song from ''Life of Brian'', with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of ''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), Not the Messiah'' at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that ''A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman'', an animated 3D movie based on the A Liar's Autobiography, memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir ''A Liar's Autobiography'' was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix (TV channel), Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved. On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a science fiction, sci-fi comedy film called ''Absolutely Anything''. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.

''Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go''

In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', over royalties for the derivative work ''Spamalot''. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill. On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at The O2 Arena, the O₂ Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O₂, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by ''South Park'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans. Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold (UK TV channel), Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by National CineMedia, Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.

Python members

Graham Chapman

was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge University, Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in ''Holy Grail'', as King Arthur, and ''Life of Brian'', as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written; and was also the first person to say “fuck” at a British memorial service. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, ''A Liar's Autobiography: Volume VI'', was adapted into an A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, animated 3D film in 2012.

John Cleese

is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom ''

'' (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). In ''Fawlty Towers'' Cleese starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, and received the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning '' A Fish Called Wanda'', in which he starred with Michael Palin, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Terry Gilliam

, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's ''Help! (magazine), Help!'' magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. He co-directed ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "

", the short film that appears before ''The Meaning of Life'').

Eric Idle

Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 51 26 (14578960366)

When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, as well as Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After ''Flying Circus'', he hosted ''

'' four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film ''Splitting Heirs'' (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical ''Spamalot'', based on ''Holy Grail''. Following the success of the musical he wrote ''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), Not the Messiah'', an oratorio derived from the ''Life of Brian''. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.

Terry Jones

has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in ''Life of Brian'', "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.

Michael Palin

Michael Palin, Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford University, Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series ''Ripping Yarns'' together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After ''Flying Circus'', Palin hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled ''Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979'', published in 2007. Palin was awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.

Associate Pythons

Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been

and

. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.

is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for ''Flying Circus''. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl''. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for ''All You Need Is Cash'' (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album ''The Rutles: Archaeology'' and Idle's straight-to-DVD ''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch'', each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the ''Chicago Tribune'' in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.

was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the ''Flying Circus''. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director

brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to ''Time (magazine), Time'', her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in ''Holy Grail''.

Other contributors

Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of ''Flying Circus''. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' and ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of ''Footlights Revue'' (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including ''Out of the Trees''. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the ''Flying Circus'' was Ian Davidson (scriptwriter), Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary ''Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python''. Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of ''Flying Circus'', the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (he taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted ''The Life of Python'' (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as ''Live at Aspen''). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python". Series director of ''Flying Circus'', Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film ''And Now for Something Completely Different''. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson (singer), Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "

" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young (actor), John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Flanagan (model), Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.

Cultural influence and legacy

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By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence." Also A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to

' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."

Comedy stylists

Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Eddie Izzard, Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross,

, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone,"Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript"
Retrieved 10 March 2020 Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, Russell Brand, Jerry Seinfeld, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of ''The Simpsons'', was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in The Simpsons (season 5), seasons five and The Simpsons (season 6), six. Appearing on ''Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly)'', Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "

" sketch. Simon Pegg, co-writer of the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of British comedy films (from ''Shaun of the Dead'' to ''The World's End (film), The World's End''), stated his "love of comedy was hugely informed by Monty Python." In an interview with Parade (magazine), ''Parade'', Seinfeld stated, "Monty Python was a gigantic influence on me. They were just about silly, funny things that meant nothing, and that’s the stuff I love. There’s a wonderful childlike freedom in those kinds of things." ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky and the Brain#Pinky, Pinky from the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' and ''Pinky and the Brain'', giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show ''

'' states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else." Stephen Merchant, co-creator of ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' with Ricky Gervais, stated, "I don’t remember where I got this grand idea that I could somehow be John Cleese. That was my overriding passion from my mid-teens. Cleese had grown up in Weston-Super-Mare, not far from Bristol where I grew up, and he was tall and he was very funny and very British and it’s almost like I thought ‘well if they want tall people from the west country I can do that.'"

Places

; In space * Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python. * In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into Low Earth orbit, low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 1, COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python. ;Terrestrial * After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".

"Pythonesque"

Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. * The most obvious of these is the term "

", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' shows the extent to which we failed". * The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of ''South Park'', whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night). * ''Good Eats'' creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points. * Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The ''Austin Powers'' series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as ''Waiting for Guffman'' and ''Best in Show'', which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."

TV

The Japanese anime series, ''Girls und Panzer'', featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.

Things named after Monty Python

Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways. Monty Python Live 02-07-14 13 04 42 (14598710791)

* The term "Spamming, spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "

" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!". * The Python (programming language), Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE (Python), IDLE, an alternative one is named Eric (software), eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the

. The name "Parrot" was later used for Parrot virtual machine, a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the Cheese Shop sketch, sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch. * In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh), Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomy (biology), taxonomic name of ''Montypythonoides riversleighensis'' in honour of the Monty Python team. * In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour. * In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire. * The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (''Avahi cleesei'') is named after John Cleese. * Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. * The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, ''

''.

World records

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On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of ''Spamalot'' gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the ''Guinness World Records'' attempt. On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as

." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:300 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1969 till:01/09/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:bass value:red id:lguitar value:orange id:kboards value:yellow id:drums value:green id:Vocals value:pink id:Vocal value:purple id:Ad value:purple id:Ads value:purple id:fix value:blue id:Lines value:black legend:Films id:Lines2 value:gray(0.75) legend:Reunions id:Lines3 value:gray(0.5) legend:Live Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1969 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1969 BarData = bar:Graham text:"Graham Chapman" bar:John text:"John Cleese" bar:Eric text:"Eric Idle" bar:Michael text:"Michael Palin" bar:TerryJ text:"Terry Jones" bar:TerryG text:"Terry Gilliam" bar:Carol text:"Carol Cleveland" bar:Neil text:"Neil Innes" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Eric from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/01/1998 till:01/06/1998 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:bass bar:Eric from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:bass bar:Michael from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:lguitar bar:Michael from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:lguitar bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:kboards bar:TerryJ from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:kboards bar:TerryG from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:drums bar:TerryG from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:drums bar:John from:01/01/1969 till:01/10/1973 color:fix bar:John from:02/10/1974 till:21/04/1983 color:fix bar:John from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:fix bar:John from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:fix bar:John from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:fix bar:John from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:fix bar:John from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:fix bar:Graham from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:vocal bar:Graham from:01/01/1989 till:04/10/1989 color:vocal bar:Carol from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:vocals bar:Carol from:01/06/1999 till:31/12/1999 color:vocals bar:Carol from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:vocals bar:Carol from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:vocals bar:Carol from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:vocals bar:Carol from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:vocals bar:Neil from:01/01/1974 till:01/06/1980 color:vocals bar:Neil from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:vocals LineData = at:28/09/1971 color:black layer:back at:09/04/1975 color:black layer:back at:17/08/1979 color:black layer:back at:31/03/1983 color:black layer:back at:08/09/2012 color:black layer:back at:01/06/2015 color:black layer:back at:01/07/1989 color:lines2 layer:back at:31/03/1998 color:lines2 layer:back at:08/10/1999 color:lines2 layer:back at:28/11/2002 color:lines2 layer:back at:23/10/2009 color:lines2 layer:back at:10/07/2014 color:lines2 layer:back at:01/06/1970 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1971 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1972 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1973 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1974 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1976 color:Lines3 layer:back at:01/06/1980 color:Lines3 layer:back at:10/07/2014 color:Lines3 layer:back

Media

Television

;'' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–74) :The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes. ;''Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'' (1972) :Two 45-minute specials were made by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German Dubbing (filmmaking), dubbing. ;''Monty Python's Personal Best'' (2006) :Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.

Films

Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films: ;''

'' (1971) :A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' re-enacted and shot for film. ;'' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975) :King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches. ;''

'' (1979) :Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. ;''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (1982) :A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes (director), Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a Limited release, limited theatrical release in the US. ;''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983) :An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.

Albums

* ''Monty Python's Flying Circus (album), Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1970) * ''Another Monty Python Record'' (1971) * ''Monty Python's Previous Record'' (1972) * ''The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' (1973) * ''Live at Drury Lane, Monty Python Live at Drury Lane'' (1974) * ''The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975) * ''Monty Python Live at City Center'' (1976) * ''The Monty Python Instant Record Collection'' (1977) * ''Monty Python's Life of Brian (album), Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) * ''Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian'' (promo) (1979) * ''

'' (1980) * ''The Monty Python Instant Record Collection'' (US version) (1981) * ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (album), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983) * ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit'' (promo) (1983) * ''The Final Rip Off'' (1987) * ''Monty Python Sings'' (1989) * ''The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off'' (1994) * ''Monty Python Sings Again'' (2014) * ''The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album'' (unreleased)

Theatre

;''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' : Between 1974 and 1980 (''Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series. ;''Spamalot, Monty Python's Spamalot'' : Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; ''Spamalot'' is a musical adaptation of the film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011. ;''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), Not the Messiah'' : the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on ''Monty Python's Life of Brian''. Entitled ''Not the Messiah'', it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in

, Ontario, Canada. ''Not the Messiah'' was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Messiah (Handel), Handel, though probably not as good". ; ''Monty Python Live (Mostly), Monty Python Live'': One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's The O2 Arena, O₂ Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.

Books

Books by Monty Python * ''Monty Python's Big Red Book'' (1971) . * ''The Brand New Monty Python Bok'' (1973) . * ''The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book'' (1994) Script books * ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book), Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1977) . * ''Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK'' (1979, plus script-only reprint) . * ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (book), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983) . * ''Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words'' Volume 1 (1989) . * ''Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words'' Volume 2 (1989) . * ''Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'' (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998) Compilations * ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python'' (1981) . * ''The Monty Python Gift Boks'' (1986) * ''A Pocketful of Python Volume 1'' (edited by Terry Jones) (1999) * ''A Pocketful of Python Volume 2'' (edited by John Cleese) (1999) * ''A Pocketful of Python Volume 3'' (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000) * ''A Pocketful of Python Volume 4'' (edited by Michael Palin) (2000) * ''A Pocketful of Python Volume 5'' (edited by Eric Idle) (2002) Books about Monty Python by Pythons * ''Monty Python Speaks!'' (edited by David Morgan) (1999) * ''The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons'' (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions) * ''Monty Python Live!'' (2009) * ''Monty Python at Work'' (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014) * ''So, Anyway'' ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014) * ''Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'' (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) . Other books about Monty Python * ''Monty Python: The Case Against'' (by Robert Hewison) (1981)

Games

* ''Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game, Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Interactive, Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga * ''Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time'' (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS * ''Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail'' (1996), official game released by 7th Level * ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (video game), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1997), also released by 7th Level. * ''Python-opoly'' (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. * ''Monty Python Fluxx'' (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs * ''Monty Python's Cow Tossing'' (2011), a smartphone game. * ''The Ministry of Silly Walks'' (2014), a smartphone game

References

External links

* * * *
Monty Python
nbsp;– Official YouTube page

nbsp;– photo essay by ''TIME'' magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows

Monty Python on youtube
{{Authority control Monty Python, British comedy troupes British television comedy British surrealist artists British surrealist writers Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) Charisma Records artists 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England British comedy musicians British satirists British parodists British novelty song performers Black comedy Religious comedy and humour

Before ''Flying Circus''

''Monty Python's Flying Circus''

Development of the series

Style of the show

Introduction to North America and the world

Departure of Cleese

Life beyond the ''Flying Circus''

Filmography

''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971)

''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975)

''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979)

''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (1982)

''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983)

''Secret Policeman's Ball'' benefit shows

Going solo

After ''Python'' reunions

''Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go''

Python members

Graham Chapman

John Cleese

Terry Gilliam

Eric Idle

Terry Jones

Michael Palin

Associate Pythons

Other contributors

Cultural influence and legacy

Comedy stylists

Places

"Pythonesque"

TV

Things named after Monty Python

World records

Timeline

Media

Television

Films

Albums

Theatre

Books

Games

See also

References

Further reading

External links