"Candid Photography", better known as "Nudge Nudge", is a sketch from the third ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became know ...

'' episode, "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away" (series 1, ep. 3) featuring

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadway ...

(author of the sketch) and

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 ...

as two strangers who meet in a pub.

Sketch description

Idle (playing a character sometimes referred to as "Arthur Nudge") sits too close to an unassuming pub patron played by Terry Jones. Idle asks Jones a series of questions about his romantic relationships that seem odd and cryptic, but that are eventually revealed to be complex

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

s. Jones becomes irritated by the line of questioning and asks Idle, directly, what he is implying. Idle forwardly admits that he really wants to know whether Jones has ever " slept with a lady." When Jones directly answers "Yes," Idle curiously asks him, "What's it like?" This conclusion makes it one of the few Monty Python sketches to end on a clear

punch line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...

In other Monty Python material

The sketch appears in the 1971 spin-off feature film, '' And Now for Something Completely Different'' and the 1982 concert film '' Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl''. It was also performed when the Pythons appeared on '' The Midnight Special'' and was recorded for the 1976 concert album '' Monty Python Live at City Center''. In its original airing on ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', the sketch was preceded by a short link in which Idle,

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 ...

portray schoolboys being interviewed for television by

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 ...

. During the interview, Idle announces that he's written a sketch called "Nudge Nudge". In ''And Now for Something Completely Different'', the sketch is followed by a cut to a scene in a gym, where Terry Gilliam dressed as a nun on an

ergometer Ergometer may refer to: *Exercise machine, equipped with an apparatus for measuring the work performed by exercising * Indoor rower, called an ergometer by rowers * An instrument for measuring the amount of work done by human muscles ''Ergometer ...

replies (dubbed by a female voice), "I think it's overrated." Then, the " Self-Defence Against Fresh Fruit" sketch is played in the setting. Idle's character in the pub makes several cameo appearances in later episodes, referred to as "Arthur Name". In '' Monty Python Live (Mostly)'', the sketch segues from "

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North P ...

". In the background, a piano version of " Never Be Rude to an Arab" is heard. Eventually the sketch segues into a new opening title song for ''Blackmail'' which incorporates samples of Idle's ''Nudge, Nudge'' dialogue.

History

Originally written by Eric Idle for

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...

in another comedy show, the sketch was then rejected as a script. Eric Idle openly admits the script is confusing, the joke being mostly in the delivery.

Reception

The phrases, "nudge nudge" and "wink wink", are part of the English lexicon as

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

atic phrases implying sexual

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

was a great fan of Monty Python. In an extra on the Rutles DVD, Idle states that "Nudge Nudge" was Presley's favourite Python sketch and was the origin of Elvis' habit of referring to people as "squire." Idle reprised the sketch in TV advertisements for Breakaway and Nudge chocolate bars, with the punch line changed to include the product name. A reference to this is clearly heard on '' Monty Python Live at Drury Lane''.

References

External links

The script
* http://www.montypython.net/scripts/nudge.php {{Monty Python Monty Python sketches 1969 neologisms Comedy catchphrases Quotations from television