Links

Monty Python Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/montypython?blend=1&ob=4

Monty Python Related Sites:
http://pythonline.com/
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/

Autobiography:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3Q-XD02f4oQC&dq=monty+python&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=tAVTJ46Jx2&sig=24hbhsXNWrr_GmTt4h3Y3FtQ8yw&hl=ko&ei=ds4mS7H4F4XZlAeCp72LCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=15&ved=0CFYQ6AEwDg#v=onepage&q=monty%20python&f=false

Gallery:
http://orothon.com/FunnyStuff/Monty_Python/Gallery_01.htm

Heres a Site with pretty much the script for all the sketches:
http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/index.htm

You can watch most of the Monty Python sketches on the Youtube channel in above part of this post. The movies can still be found I believe or you can find the link on the channel and buy it for yourself.

After The Movies and The Flying Circus...

After:
After the movies and the end of the Flying circus came to a close. The Pythons went onto do Live stage shows of their own most popular sketches. After the release of their last movie (the Meaning of Life), the final reunion of all six members occured during "The Parrot Sketch not Included- Monty Python's 20th anniversary" special. The death of Graham Chapman who died on the eve of the anniversary stopped any speculation of any future reunions.

In 1998, the crew was to be reunited again along with what was to be Chapman's "ashes" to recieve an award from the American Film Institute. They were reunited for the first time in 18 years. in 1999, to commemorate 30 years after the Flying circus, BBC2 devoted a whole evening filled with programs for Monty Python only. There wer also sketches done by the crew especially for the event.
In 2003 there was an autobiography for the Pythons that has interviews of each member compiled into it.


(A recent Photo of the Monty Python Crew. From left to right: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin)

In films that were directed by Jones. There are appearnces of the Python members in non-Python productions. Films such as "Yellowbeard", "A Fish Called Wanda", and "fierce creatures" featured surviving members of Monty Python. Jones' film "The Wind in the Willows" featured four of the surviving members of the crew except for Gilliam since he could not find time in his schedule to do so. In Dreamwork's Popular film "Shrek the Third" Cleese and Idle do voices for some of the characters in the movie.

Other Pythons:
There were other members of the Pythons that appeared in the show as well. Since the crew was an all male cast, they would need a woman to play roles that required one. Especially in ones where the character had to be physically attractive. The name of this actor was Carol Cleveland, who appears in some of the episodes in Flying Circus. She is considered to be the unofficial seventh Python in the cast. Many other Associate Pythons also helped out the cast as well such as Neil Innes.


(Carol Cleveland as the "blod Bombshell" in one of the Flying Circus Sketches)

Monty Python Filmography

Movies made by the Monty Python Cast

1. And Now For Something Completely Different(1971):
This was the first Monty Python movie that was created by the members. The movie was basically composed of the sketches from the first two seasons of Flying Circus which were reshot and edited for film release. The crew intended the movie to help them become known in America but they were unsuccessful at the attempt. The movie did well in the UK although the Monty Python crew did not consider the movie to be a success.

2. Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail(1974):
This is Monty Python's ext attempt at another movie. This was in production between the 3rd and 4th series of Flying circus when they decided to make their first "proper" movie. The quest for the Holy Grail i based on the arthurian legend of King Arthur and his quest to find the Holy Grail but with added hilarity by the Monty Python Cast. Chapman played the lead role as King Arthur. the movie was Directed by Monty Python's Gilliam and Jones.

The movie was a great success and to this day it holds anniversaries of the success of the movie and the crew at locations of the movie such as the castles that were used as the locations.



(The infamous Black Night scene from the movie. It is the most popular scene in the movie and also the most quoted scene by cult followers.)

3.The Life of Brian(1979):

This was another movie made by Monty Python that also had an enormous success and widely popular. They decided to pick a plot that would take place during the time of the New Testament Era. They also did not want to mock Jesus or his teachings directly so instead they made a story about a man by the name of brian who is believed to be the messiah. It starts ot from his birth towards his adulthood. In some parts of the movie there are scenes that do involve Jesus Christ where a man mishears what he is saying by "Blessed are the cheesemakers!" This is pretty much where the hilarty begins for the movie.


(A still from the movie where Brian is taken by Roman soldiers in front of Pontius Pilate)

The lead role was once again given to Chapman. The directing was given solely to Jones. There was controversy over the movie but it was still an enormous success.

4. The Meaning of Life:

This movie was more on a take with sketches like the Flying Circus seies where it follows a man from birth to death. it was not widely successful but there are quite a lot of cleverly written sketches within the movie. The movie was directed by Jones solo. It was released around 1984.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Preparation:
The Monty Python crew already had an idea on exactly what they wanted to do for the show. Like most comedy sketch shows back then, the comedians would end the show with a punchline. The Flying Circus instead would not. They decided that they wouldn't end the sketches in a traditional manner. They also decided that every sketch wuld be completely different from each other. And Gilliam's animations would help transition from one sketch to another by having his animations put in between each sketch. Jones, Palin and Gilliam were pretty much responsible for the overall presentation of the show.

When the Crew began writing, they would separate and it would start from 9AM and ended at 5PM. Cleese and Chapman wrote together as well as Jones and Palin. Idle wrote alone. After the writing the crew would come together with Gilliam to exchange their ideas on what to put on the show. If the majority of the group liked it, then they would put it in the show. The crew also regarded themselves more as writers rather than actors wanting screentime. They were more into the quality of what they wrote rather than the fame that each member would achieve later on in their life.

The Flying Circus:
The show had a lot of tradtional stuff of their own going on. Such as Palin's "it's" man where he dressed up in a Robinson Crusoe garb in the opening sequence rather than the title starting like every show did. He would make a long and torturous journey to only end up saying "It's..." only to be cut off by the Flying Circus title sequence.


(Michael Palin as the "It's" man)

The show also would tend to have characters walk in that had nothing to do with the show. One character is Chapman's "colonel" character, who would wal into the sketch to stop it because it was getting "far to silly" or Jones' "armored knight with a rubber chicken" who would come into the sketch and hit the character with a rubber chicken if the sketch was getting to silly.

Gilliam's animations were totally new and very surreal. The collage stop motion style animations would usually have cut outs from famous works of art, most of which are from the victorian era. Gilliam's artwork and style are a trademark of the series.

The Monty Python show would also build on and extend on the great tradition of british cross dressing comedy. They would write funny roles for women in the sketches and then wear women's cloting and do the sketch themselves speaking in falsetto.

Some of the more famous sketches are:
"Dead Parrot" "The Lumberjack Song" "Spam" "Nudge Nudge" "Mosquito Hunter" "The Spanish Inquisition" "Upper Class Twit of the Year" or "The Ministry of Silly Walks" These are just a few examples of good sketches from the show.

After The Flying Circus:
Cleese left after the end of the third series of the show saying that he did not have anything fresh to offer for the show. Clesse claimed that only two of the sketches from the third series were totally original and the others were bits and pieces from the other episodes. He also said the Chapman was hard to work with since he was an alcohlic. The group carried on after the third series and made a "half-series" for the show and ended it on 1974.

The show became widely popular afterwards with sketches for the Flying Circus showimg up on other stations and also being broadcasted on American channels as well.

The Cast

Graham Chapman:


Graham Chapman was a British comedian, actor, writer and physician. He was originally learning to become a doctor but later turned to acting when he joined a theatre group. He did finish his education in the medical field and became a full licensed doctor. Chapman graduated from Cambridge University

Monty Python Career:
Chapman is well known for playing the lead roles in the two popular Monty Python movies called Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian. He was also a co writer with John Cleese, another Member of the Pythons and coming up with one of their most famous sketches, The "dead Parrot" sketch.

Chapman's character is usually a very serious sophisticate or of some authoritative figure. He also plays characters such as police constable-

Death:
Chapman is he only member of the Pythons who is currently deceased. His passing has ceased any further reunions of the group. Like Idle has said "Monty Python is like the Beatles, if John Lennon were to come back from the dead there isn't any hope for another reunion."
Chapman was pronounced dead in 1992 because of a rare spinal cancer condition. He died at the age of 47.



John Cleese:


John Cleese is an Cambridge graduate like Chapman and also was his co-writer when producing the screen plays for the Flying Circus. He grew up with his parents wanting to give him a good education so he was sent to private schools and eventually ending up at Cambridge University. As he grew up he was ridiculed for his height, growing to be six feet when reaching the age of twelve. But realizing that humor could deflect aggressive behavior he began to create an interest in comedy. He began to enjoy humor in itself, collected jokes and dreamed to aspire like the legendary comedians every Briton knew when they were young on "The Goon Show".

Monty Python Career:
John Cleese and his character on the show would usually be either a sophisticate or just a crazy person. Rarely as a normal person. Played roles such as being a TV show host, announcers, or government officials. When playing as a crazy individual it would be people who were ordinary looking people but with suppressed rage that would burst out between sketches. Cleese was very well known for the vary vulgar and loud argument-like parts that he played.



Terry Gilliam:


Terry Gilliam is very well know for his iconic animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus. He is also a director and screenplay writer as well, having produced a series of films in the past.

Monty Python:
Terry Gilliam is the one responsible for the collage like animations for the show Flying Circus. They are also the trademark for the show and it also what Gilliam is known for today. Other than making animations, he also did appear on some sketches for the show such as the "Spanish Inquisition Sketch". He would normally play parts that no one else would really want to play such as wearing lots of make up or donning knight's armor.

After Monty Python:
After the movies with the Monty Python crew, Gilliam went on to make and produce films. A few of his films required a very high budget and they also didn't do to well with ticket sales. One movie that Gilliam intends to revive is "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" with star Johnny Depp. Successful movies by Gilliam are "The Brothers Grimm", "12 Monkeys", "The Fisher King", and "Time Bandits". Most of the movies have been nominated and also won academy awards.


(a still from one of Gilliam's Animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus)







Eric Idle:


Monty Python Career:
Eric Idle was also a writer for the Monty Python Flying Circus crew. He would write alone and Cleese stated that this seemed unfair since the crew would vote on it and he would have one vote where the others would have paired up and have normally two votes instead. But Idle worked alone at his own pace despite the one less vote.

Many of Idle's character usually involve him having verbal peculiarities. Such as the man who speaks only in anagrams or the man who only speaks ends of words. Idle was also one of the younger members of the team also having graduated from Cambridge (a year behind Chapman and Cleese). He was also the one who was closest to the people who made up the fan base for the Monty Python shows.










Terry Jones:


Monty Python Career:
Jones was known for playing as a middle aged woman or a bowler hated man in the street. He was also Palin's co-writer when it came to writing up bits for the Monty Python Flying Circus show. He was also very memorable for his very gifted Chaplinesque style of comedy portrayed in a sketch like the "Undressing in Public" sketch.












Michael Palin:


Monty Python Career:
Palin was the youngest member to ever join the Monty Python cast. He worked with Terry Jones when writing up sketches for the show. His character tended to be the "straight man" or someone who was social inept. he is also known for playing as the It's" man int eh opening sequences of the show and is ranked among the list of "top 50 Comedians" along with Cleese and Idle.

Who Is Monty Python?

Monty Python isn't really a person. It's actually a group of British comedians who all came togaether to come up with countless skits/sketches that really revolutionized the comedy media. Monty Python was a group of very witty and smart British comedy television group that started out in 1969 and the group soon became a huge phenomenon.

They are well known for having sketches that are all completely different, original, and of course hilarious. The Monty Pythion cast were the first to actually have sketches with no punchlines, along with breaking down the "fourth wall". The fourth wall was the audience and the camera men and crew. Breaking down the wall was when they would stray comletely away from character and story and say such things like "this skit is getting too silly".

The Monty Python Crew:


Back Row: Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Front Row: Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin

The majority of the men that make up the Monty Python crew are actually very well educated. John Cleese and Graham Chapman having graduated from Cambridge University. Other members from Oxford. So some of their sketches are oriented with things from the era of philosophers, explorers, comanders, and ther iconic people in history and very knowledge driven.

The crew first started in 1969 on Monty Python's Flying circus. This was their fiorst show that aired on UK's BBC Channel and it was their initial ticket to fame. It spanned over four seasons and made up of 45 episodes. After the Flying Circus, the Pythons went into filmography. They made a series of films, two of which that are now ranked in the best movie in the comedy genre. The movies are called Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail and The Life Of Brian.

After the movies they would later go on to make live shows for devoted fans and hold reunions and such until the unfortunate death of one of the members, Graham Chapman before the celebrations and premiere of Monty Python's 20th anniversary. From then on, ideas of reunions ceased to exist.