Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British

comedy troupe A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated Employment, 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 comedic genr ...

formed in 1969 consisting of

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 humour, surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel (Monty Py ...

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the

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

series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which aired on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to

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

' influence on music. (The live version of the Web page does not contain the quoted line, but the archived version does.) Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream-of-consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative control that allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. They followed their television work by making the films ''

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...

'' (1975), '' Life of Brian'' (1979), and '' The Meaning of Life'' (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while it has coloured the work of the early editions of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' through to absurdist trends in television comedy. At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the

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

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 History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

. ''Holy Grail'' and ''Life of Brian'' are frequently ranked on lists of the greatest comedy films. A 2005 poll asked more than 300 comedians, comedy writers, producers, and directors to name the greatest comedians of all time, and half of Monty Python's members made the top 50.

History

Before ''Flying Circus''

Jones and Palin met at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights

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

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

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

, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of '' Yes Minister'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister''). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer 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 was developed from the 1964 University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Footlights revue, ''Cambridge Circus (comedy), Cambridge Circus ...

'' (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers) * '' The Frost Report'' (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of David Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers) * '' At Last the 1948 Show'' (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer) * '' Twice a Fortnight'' (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) * '' Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) * '' We Have Ways of Making You Laugh'' (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation) * '' How to Irritate People'' (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member) * '' The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers) * ''

Doctor in the House Doctor in the House may refer to: * Doctor in the House (novel), ''Doctor in the House'' (novel), a 1952 novel by Richard Gordon ** Doctor in the House (film), ''Doctor in the House'' (film), a 1954 British film adaptation of the novel *** Doctor i ...

'' (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers) The BBC's satirical television show ''The Frost Report'', 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. Following the success of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (which was broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969), Thames Television 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, with their first meetings then taking place at Cleese's apartment in Basil Street, Knightsbridge in central London.

''Monty Python's Flying Circus''

Development of the series

According to show director Ian MacNaughton, the first discussion over the idea for the show, ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', was a result of BBC's comedy advisor, Barry Took, bringing the Pythons along with John Howard Davies (director of the first four episodes) and MacNaughton together into one conference room at the BBC Television Centre.''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (LP vinyl) liner notes
Archived image
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett,

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

, and Dudley Moore 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 comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

, whom they had admired on '' The Goon Show'' (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''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

, 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

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 ...

, 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." Charles Isherwood writes that the Pythons "derived their sketch formats in part from the rowdy tradition of the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

." 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 stream-of-consciousness (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 9:00AM and finished at 5:00PM. 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, "The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python), The Spanish Inquisition" sketch performed by Gilliam, Palin and Jones at the 2014 Python reunion. As a sketch writer and creator of animations, Gilliam did considerably less acting, but 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 () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

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

Anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

s"). 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 Basin'', ''Vaseline Review'', and ''Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot''. Reportedly, these names were considered for the show because the group members found it funny that the show name would have nothing to do with the actual content of the series. ''Flying Circus'' stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. ''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, 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's Flying Circus'' of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen'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, 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, 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, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Lord Montgomery, a British general of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; 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 North ...

, 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 garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", to be then interrupted by the title sequence 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, aka end credits or end titles, are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, or video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to or at th ...

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 sabotage the established social order and its structures of power, authority, tradition, hierarchy, and socia ...

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 dramatic convention, 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. ...

), 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 is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's " The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to

United States copyright law The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack ...

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 to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

, 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 or ...

s. The use of Gilliam's surreal,

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

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 on 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 ar ...

s. The giant foot that crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is the foot of

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

, cut from a reproduction of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

masterpiece '' Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'' by

Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...

. 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 Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

. 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—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'', 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 Lumberjack Song", "

Spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...

" (which led to the coining of the term

email spam Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, refers to unsolicited messages sent in bulk via email. The term originates from a Spam (Monty Python), Monty Python sketch, where the name of a canned meat product, "Spam (food ...

), " Nudge Nudge", " The Spanish Inquisition", " Upper Class Twit of the Year", " Cheese Shop", " The Ministry of Silly Walks", " Argument Clinic", " The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in

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), and " Four Yorkshiremen" 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 (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 (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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

Sketches from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film '' And Now for Something Completely Different'', 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. Garrison produced the NBC series '' The Dean Martin Comedy World'', 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". Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, started airing episodes of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Ratings shot through the roof, prompting other PBS affiliates to pick up the show. Devillier states, "We got the Nielsens in and started looking at the Saturday ratings. The first night, it was a 6 rating. We couldn't believe it. We didn't know what a 6 looked like. The next week, it was a 7 and it may have taken a month but it stayed there and we started getting 8s, 9s and 10s." There was also cross-promotion from

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "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 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?'' 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 series, 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 sketches penned by Cleese and Chapman 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 size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

flight on the way to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 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." In 2012, Jones spoke on Cleese's work in the third series and subsequent departure, "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 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, 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", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''s UK executive Victor Lownes, 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 series, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. ''

'' was based on Arthurian legend 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 music, 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 experiments ...

, Jethro Tull, and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums). The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the film. "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 ABC 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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 (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

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 rianwho 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 The Beatitudes () are blessings recounted by Jesus in Matthew 5:3–10 within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. In ...

), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) 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 Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, the finances being provided this time by

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

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

, 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 several years. His bus ...

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. In 2006, it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' magazine called it "an unrivalled satire on religion". 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 Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

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 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 four-night stint as headliners at the Hollywood Bowl set a record for a comedy act at the venue; it has since been equalled by Dave Chappelle 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" (performed by Idle) and " Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

from a living patient without anaesthetic 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 (in which a paramedic appears at the door of a living man 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". 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. Although not as acclaimed as its two predecessors (''Holy Grail'' and ''Life of Brian''), ''The Meaning of Life'' was still well received critically and was screened at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix.

''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 that it has more than ten million members a ...

. 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 (organiser of

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

), U2,

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

, 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 the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

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 BallI 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 Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' benefit—the 1976 '' A Poke in the Eye'' held at Her Majesty's Theatre 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 and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. 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 music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, Sting and

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

). 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 Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show '' Spitting Image'', 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 David Rappaport, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael ...

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

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a Nonsense verse, 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' ...

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

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

'' (1985), which featured Palin, '' The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films. HandMade Films, the film studio that George Harrison co-founded to produce ''Life of Brian'', contributed to British cinema in the 1980s, producing classics of the period including '' The Long Good Friday'' and ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'' (both starring Bob Hoskins), ''Time Bandits'', and '' Withnail and I'', with the studio also launching Terry Gilliam's directorial career. ''

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

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

, and Marty Feldman. Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series '' Ripping Yarns'' (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'' 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 p ...

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908). Born in Scotland, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in ...

's novel '' The Wind in the Willows''. 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 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 television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'', ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'', Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and '' Will & Grace''), 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, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional ...

'' (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 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 Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

'' All You Need Is Cash''), and as an actor in '' Nuns on the Run'' (1990) with

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He was appointe ...

. 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 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, 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 Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. This was followed by '' Not the Messiah'', which revises ''The Life of Brian'' as an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

. 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''.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 " Dead Parrot sketch" 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 Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998, during the US Comedy Arts Festival, 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,

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

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 George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks. 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 about such a possibility in November 1989, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

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." Shubert Theatre NYC from Shubert Alley

The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons ''The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons'' is the official autobiography of the Monty Python team, released in 2003. It covers the whole of Python history, from their childhoods all the way through to the 30th anniversary celebrations in 1999. ...

'' (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 also spoofs popular musicals, including those of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004, ''Spamalot'' was nominated for 14

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

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 Sara Elena Ramírez Vargas (; born August 31, 1975) is an American actor. Born in Mazatlán, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved from Mexico to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juillia ...

, who played the

Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (, , , , ) is a title used by multiple characters in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. As either actually fairy or fairy-like yet human enchantres ...

, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, 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'', PBS 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 theme song from ''Life of Brian'', with

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

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'' at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. 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 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

. 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 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 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

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

comedy film called '' Absolutely Anything''. The film would combine

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...

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 Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

, 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 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 ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' creators Trey Parker and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

, who are massive Monty Python fans.

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

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 Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link. In April 2015, the five surviving Pythons participated in a reunion event moderated by John Oliver as part of the

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

at the Beacon Theatre in New York City following a 40th anniversary screening of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.

Broadcast rights

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

secured the global streaming rights for the Monty Python catalogue in 2018. Shout Factory picked up American and Canadian distribution rights from Netflix in 2024.

Python members

Graham Chapman

was originally a medical student, joining the

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. 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. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, '' A Liar's Autobiography: Volume VI'', was adapted into an 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 The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

. In ''A Fish Called Wanda'', Cleese went against type, with ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' magazine stating: "For a generation of fans who grew up with Cleese doing silly walks and mock Hitler salutes with Monty Python, this was something completely different indeed. For the first time, Cleese was being romantic in his role in A Fish Called Wanda."

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 Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

's ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

'' 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 Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before ''The Meaning of Life''). Gilliam has directed thirteen films in total, and collaborated with Palin on three of them, which included Palin starring in ''

'' (1985).

Eric Idle

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 The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning musical '' Spamalot'', based on ''Holy Grail''. Following the success of the musical he wrote '' Not the Messiah'', an

derived from the ''Life of Brian''. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.

Terry Jones

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 " ouspeak to him on subjects as diverse as

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

s, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

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

Sir Michael Palin attended

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, 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 knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

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

Neil Innes 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 The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a Tributes to the Beatles, memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison ...

. 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

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 The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' 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. Carol Cleveland 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 Ian MacNaughton 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 Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', 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. 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 Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

, 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 and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as " The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.

Cultural influence and legacy

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." Ron Devillier, the PBS programming director who put ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' on American television, states, "they brought through a kind of phony baloney surface ethic that we all lived under and shot right through it and split it in half. If you really let it happen, you could laugh at yourself. All the things that they were doing were really funny like playing on our sensibilities and making fun of them in a very funny way, pointing out how pompous we can be and making fun of themselves at the same time." Danny Gallagher of the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' writes, "Monty Python has also been good to American comedy. If America's television viewing public had never seen "The Lumberjack Song" or "The Dead Parrot" sketch, we might still be holding up ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' as a supreme example of cutting-edge TV comedy." ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketch comedy, sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and ...

'', featuring the slapstick and innuendo of Benny Hill, which contrasted with Python's more absurdist style, was also a hugely successful British comedy on US television, with Charles Isherwood writing in ''The New York Times'': “Benny” and “Monty” were essential poles of British television comedy as imported to America in the 1970s." 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 Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

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:

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen ( ; born 13 October 1971) is an English comedian, actor and performance artist. Known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Haf ...

, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker,

, Vic and Bob,

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

, Russell Brand, Robin Williams,

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld gained stardom playing a semi-fictionalized version ...

, Eddie Izzard, and

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

, creator of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', 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 seasons five and 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 " The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch.

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...

, creator of '' Wallace & Gromit'', was inspired by Gilliam's animation in Monty Python "to be a bit wacky and off the wall".

, co-writer of the '' Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of British comedy films (from '' Shaun of the Dead'' to '' The World's End''), stated his "love of comedy was hugely informed by Monty Python". Jerry Seinfeld told ''Parade'', "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 from the animated television series ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

'' and '' Pinky and the Brain'', giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent. Graham Linehan, co-creator of the sitcom ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...

'', cited the ineffectual protest of ''Life of Brian'' upon its release as an influence for the ''Father Ted'' episode " The Passion of Saint Tibulus". 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 Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

of the American 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 ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' 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

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s 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 Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

launched a wheel of cheese into

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1.

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, 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 Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

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 " Pythonesque", which has become a byword in

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causality, causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portra ...

, 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 The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' 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 ''

'', 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 Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born 5 February 1948), known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy ...

'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 is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

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 A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

in other ways. * The term "

spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...

" 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 Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!" * The 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 An integrated development environment (IDE) is a Application software, software application that provides comprehensive facilities for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source-code editor, build automation tools, an ...

of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named

eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and

Larry Wall Larry Arnold Wall (born September 27, 1954) is an American computer programmer, linguist, and author known for creating the Perl programming language and the patch tool. Early life and education Wall grew up in Los Angeles and Bremerton, Wash ...

involving the merger of Python with

Perl Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Though Perl is not officially an acronym, there are various backronyms in use, including "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language". Perl was developed ...

was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running

bytecode Bytecode (also called portable code or p-code) is a form of instruction set designed for efficient execution by a software interpreter. Unlike human-readable source code, bytecodes are compact numeric codes, constants, and references (normal ...

for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the 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 The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian

palaeontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the 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 North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. * 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 ''

''. * The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, '' Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album''.

World records

St George's Day Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...

, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of ''Spamalot'' gathered in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' 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 Gumbys." 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:1600 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:fix value:blue id:vocal value:purple id:vocals value:magenta id:ad value:pink 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:1 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:Graham from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:bass bar:Graham from:01/01/1989 till:04/10/1989 color:bass bar:John from:01/01/1969 till:01/10/1973 color:lguitar bar:John from:02/10/1974 till:21/04/1983 color:lguitar bar:John from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:lguitar bar:John from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:lguitar bar:John from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:lguitar bar:John from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:lguitar bar:John from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:lguitar bar:Eric from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/01/1998 till:01/06/1998 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:kboards bar:Eric from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:kboards bar:Michael from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:drums bar:Michael from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:drums bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:fix bar:TerryJ from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 color:fix bar:TerryG from:01/01/1969 till:21/04/1983 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/1999 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/06/2012 till:31/12/2012 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/06/2009 till:01/02/2010 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/01/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:vocal bar:TerryG from:01/03/2015 till:01/09/2015 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:ad bar:Neil from:01/05/2002 till:01/05/2003 color:ad 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'' (1969–1974): 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 WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

. *'' 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: *'' And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971): A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' re-enacted and shot for film. *''

'' (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. *'' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (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 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 theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

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'' (1970) * '' Another Monty Python Record'' (1971) * '' Monty Python's Previous Record'' (1972) * '' The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' (1973) * '' 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'' (1979) * ''Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian'' (promo) (1979) * '' Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album'' (1980) * '' The Monty Python Instant Record Collection'' (US version) (1981) * '' 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. *'' 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

. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

stamps, issued in February 2011. *'' 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 Handel, though probably not as good". * '' 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 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 * ''

'' (1977) . * '' Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK'' (1979, plus script-only reprint) . * '' 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) * ''

'' (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'' (1990) a video game released by

Virgin Games Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

* '' Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time'' (1994) released by 7th Level for Macintosh and MS-DOS * '' Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail'' (1996), official game released by 7th Level * '' 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 * ''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

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Monty Python
nbsp;– Official YouTube page

nbsp;– photo essay by ''TIME'' magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
() {{Authority control 1969 establishments in England 1983 disestablishments in England Arista Records artists BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award Black comedy British comedy musical groups British satirical musicians British comedy troupes British novelty song performers British parodists British satirists British surrealist artists British surrealist writers British television comedy Charisma Records artists Culture of the United Kingdom European Film Awards winners (people) Religious comedy and humour Surreal comedy Surrealist groups Virgin Records artists