A wafer-thin bit more of Python

DEAD parrots, silly walks, an exploding obese diner in a posh restaurant, a fish slapping dance, cross-dressing lumberjacks, Biggus Dickus, the list goes on.

Monty Python were not to everyone’s taste, but there can be little doubt of their legacy – iconic sketches that have inspired generations of comedians and filmmakers ever since they were first aired.

The Pythons were a product of both Oxbridge and the BBC.

Michael Palin and Terry Jones met while students at Oxford, while Graham Chapman and John Cleese formed a comedic double act during their days at Cambridge University.

The two duos came together at the BBC, working on the corporation’s new, somewhat daring, releases such as The Frost Report, At Last the 1948 Show and Do Not Adjust Your Set.

Having been joined by Eric Idle and US artist Terry Gilliam, the six-strong troupe of surrealists embarked on an ambitious project known as Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

The BBC broadcast 45 episodes, featuring sketches, one-liners and animation across four series, between 1969 and 1974.

In 1971, they released And Now For Something Completely Different, a selection of sketches from the first two series re-filmed for the cinema.

Three years later, the King Arthur-inspired spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail hit silver-screens across the globe, featuring a killer rabbit, the Knights Who Say Ni and a highly-violent black knight who wants to carry on the fight even after his limbs have been lopped off.

Their careers were spent breaking new ground, pushing the boundaries of public taste and causing outrage and joy in equal measure.

Nothing did this more than their 1979 film The Life of Brian, which sparked fury around the world by daring to make fun of the Bible.

Chapman played Brian, a man mistaken for Jesus – although, as his mother, played by Jones, is quick to point out to the clamouring worshippers, “He is not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy”.

The film ends with Idle’s famously catchy song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

In 1982, they performed a famous live show at the Hollywood Bowl, and also did numerous live performances for the Secret Policeman’s Ball charity nights.

But, after their final film The Meaning of Life in 1983, where Mr Creosote met his end after succumbing to a final wafer-thin mint, the group all went their separate ways.

Chapman, who some say was the funniest and most eccentric of all the Pythons, died in 1989.

The others, while occasionally working with one or another over the years, pursued acting and filmmaking careers.

Cleese created Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda, Palin became the face of the BBC’s travel documentaries, Gilliam directed Hollywood and independent hits, while Idle wrote the Spamalot musical and Jones carried on writing and performing.

They all consistently ruled out the possibility of reforming, although four of them did perform together at former Beatle George Harrison’s Memorial Concert in 2002.

So last week’s announcement that the five surviving members are to get together for one show at the London O2 Arena on July 1 next year was welcomed by fans across the world.

The show, their first new project together for 30 years, will be directed by Eric Idle and feature top sketches, such as the dead parrot, as well as new bits.

From left, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese

Jones joked that he hopes to pay off his mortgage, while Palin said being in their 70s means they can all be even sillier together than when they first started. Idle said simply, “if we left it too long, it would be too late”.

There is a joke in an episode of the hit US cartoon series Family Guy in which Meg, the much-maligned daughter of the Griffin family, is tortured by another tormented teenager by being forced to watch the “other 178 hours of Monty Python stuff that isn’t funny or memorable”.

And it is true that, while devout followers of the Python cult can recount whole episodes off by heart, for others it just did not make sense – was weird rather than witty.

Monty Python divided opinion. There were those in hysterics over its irreverent eccentricity, while others were basically baffled by the procession of incomprehensible characters, sketches cutting into one another and the nearly hallucinogenic animated segments created by Gilliam.

But, like them or not, the Pythons were revolutionary, doing for TV what the likes of Elvis and The Beatles did to pop music – bringing something totally different to the table.

Thankfully for fans, just like the wafer-thin mint for Mr Creosote, the chance to get together for one big show proved impossible to resist for the remaining Pythons.

Hopefully it won’t be quite so messy.

Tickets go on sale today.