Monty+Python

Monty Python
==== Monty Python (also known as The Pythons) was a British surreal comedy group. The group consisted of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group created the influential //Monty Python's flying circus//, a comedy sketch show that was first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. It was made forty-five episodes over four series. A self-contained comedy team that was responsible for both writing and perfoming their work, changed the way performers entertained audiences. The Pythons' creative control allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. In a 2005 UK poll, a poll called //The Comedian's Comedian//, three of six Pythons members were among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Michael Palin at 30. place, Eric Idle at 21. place and John Cleese at 2. place. The Python phenomenon were developed from the television series into something larger in scop and impact, touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music. The theme music is //The Liberty Bell//, is a march by John Philip Sousa. The march was chosen, among other reasons, because of the recording was in a public domain. Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. Some examples are: //"Dead Parrot//", //"The Lumberjack Song", "Spam", "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop"// and //"The Minister of Silly Walks".// When the sketches ended they experimented with ending segments by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera(breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "Colonel" character, who as a member of the "Anti-Silliness Patrol" walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly." 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 announced: "And now for something completely different." Want to watch some sketches? Click on the links below: Dead Parrot sketch: [] Spam sketch: [] The Lumberjack Song: [] Upper Class Twit of the Year sketch: [] Sources: - [] ====