Extra tickets released for Monty Python London 2014 + The 10 best Monty Python sketches
As extra tickets are released today for the almighty comedy troupe Monty Python’s last ever live tour, we pay tribute to five ground-breaking comedy greats with our top ten sketches
With extra tickets released this morning for the almighty comedy troupe Monty Python’s last ever live tour, this is one rare situation where the all too often overused once-in-a-lifetime cliché wholeheartedly applies. And given that the last batch sold out in 43.5 seconds, these tickets are unlikely to stick around for long. The ‘Live (mostly): One Down, Five to Go’ reunion – one of the biggest comedy shows in London – promises plenty of the old classics (kept up to date with contemporary, topical twists), plus material that’s never been performed live. And, of course, some fresh new gags.
Though John Cleese may no longer be agile enough to perform his ‘silly walks’ slapstick masterpiece, this is an exceptional opportunity for many millions of fans whose understanding of comedy was defined by Python’s ground-breaking writing and humour, yet never got to see them perform live.
But for less fortunate, non-ticket wielding Python enthusiasts, the final three-hour show will also be broadcast on the BBC Gold channel on 20 July alongside a backstage special. According to Eric Idle, the Pythons are 'very excited that not only do we get the chance to screw up on stage, we get a chance to screw up live on TV too'.
In the meantime, we pay tribute to the surreal and satirical comedy of the genius that is Python, and their seminal style or sense of humour that fused silliness with high art, philosophy, politics and culture. All the while, incredibly, without alienating anyone who might not have gotten the Oscar Wilde quotes or references to Confucianism.
Here we present a medley of their best and perhaps lesser known sketches (not just your standard list of Dead Parrots & Lumberjacks), by Flora Hughes-Onslow.
There's a lot that's great about this sketch: the peasant highlighting the stark stupidity of the legend of King Arthur and Excalibur – 'strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government'. The aggressive standpoint of over-defensive, self-righteous communists – 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!', 'Bloody peasant', 'Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that?'. And best of all, perhaps – the fact that the medieval peasants appear to make their living piling up filth into mud pies.
THE PHILOSOPHERS' FOOTBALL MATCH
With Confucius as ref, Thomas Aquinas and St Augustine as linesmen, and a German and Greek team headed up by Hegel and Socrates respectively, this is an uproarious example of the Pythons' intelligent imaginations running riot. The match and sketch finishes with Hegel arguing that the goal does not count because 'reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, while Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming that it was offside.'
Aside from the hilarious concept that Adolf Hitler sought refuge after the war in Minehead, Somerset, disguised as Mr Hilter – and the reactions of the friendly locals when stumbling upon three German leaders poring over a map of Stalingrad, ‘planning a little excursion are we Mr Hilter?’ – Cleese’s impersonation of Hitler’s distinct public oration style is just great.
Idle’s endearingly cheeky but immensely irritating character in 'Nudge Nudge' is a timeless gem. Not to mention the sketch's introduction from Palin, Idle and Jones dressed up and acting as shy little schoolboys.
In another wonderfully imaginative sketch, Python introduces the characters Vivian Smith-Smythe-Smith (has an O-Level in camel hygiene and can count up to 4), Simon Zinc-Trumpet-Harris (married to a very attractive table lamp), Nigel Incubator-Jones (a stockbroker whose best friend is a tree), Gervaise Brook-Hampster (in the Guards and used as a waste paper basket by his father), and Oliver St.John-Mollusc (whose father was a Cabinet Minister and whose mother won the Derby), as they all battle it out for the eminent Upper-Class Twit of the Year title.
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A sketch for Python’s Flying Circus, this is an amusing play on the anecdote whereby, responding to something witty that James McNeill Whistler had said, Oscar Wilde commented ‘I wish I had said that’ – to which Whistler replied, ‘you will Oscar, you will’.
One hundred percent silliness, this little excerpt from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is held dear to the heart of many fans for its ludicrous language and fantastic use of Python’s ‘thesaurus writing’ style. Having launched a tirade including the cutting insult 'Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries', the abusive guard tries to shake off Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, telling them his master probably won't be interested in their quest for the Holy Grail as 'he's already got one, you see'.
Again, a sketch of total unrelenting silliness, but genius nonetheless. And all the better for the fact that the idea was borne out of necessity – the Pythons had to make do with impressions of horse-riding and coconut sound effects as their budget for Holy Grail film didn’t stretch to real horses themselves (in hindsight, thank goodness), as a hefty proportion of it was spent on the large wooden ‘Trojan rabbit’.
WHAT HAVE THE ROMANS EVER DONE FOR US
The revolutionary speech given by the leader of the the People's Liberation Front of Judea is a hilarious illustration of Python’s attempts to poke fun at revolutionary groups and British left-wing politics, placing modern stereotypes in an ancient setting and satirising the futility of debate betweens factions of separatist groups.
Turning social stereotypes on their head with charmingly funny results, Hell’s Grannies sees a news documentary-style piece about grannies on motorbikes roaming the streets, vandalising the neighbourhood and terrorising local youths. Worth watching if only to enjoy the Python’s clear love of cross-dressing and their remarkably bad impressions of women.
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