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Shortly after the communists’ empire had collapsed I was in Prague teaching ( and preaching, I’m afraid) the fine art of democracy to Czech civil servants. It was a great and funny time characterized by an abundance of mutual misunderstandings. Real life absurdity occurred all the time, which at one moment made me refer to Monty Python. It was another misunderstanding on my part: no one of my “pupils” had the slightest idea who or what I was talking about.
So, to be on the safe side, for youngsters: Monty Python’s Flying Circus was the revolutionary group of very smart British TV-humorists ( Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones en Michael Palin) specialized in absurdity, who became legends in their time ( late sixties/early seventies) and never have been beaten ( in my opinion). They have stayed part of my generation’s nostalgia.
Now last Thursday Monty Python won a honorary Bafta. And very rightly so.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts every year awards Bafta’s for best movie, best TV program, best actor, best actress etc. So it’s more or less the English counterpart of the American Oscars. With one difference: the winners usually are a little bit more interesting (indeed, you’re right, I’m strictly partisan). And to top this there is more good news: at long last the ultimate documentary on Monty Python is about to be released: “Monty Python: Almost the Truth – the Lawyers Cut“.
Just to keep in mind the touch of their genius, here is one of these guys’ highlights, the Dead Parrot scene:
Monty Python transcends the generation boundaries
I love them dearly and surfing for videos on youtube still makes me happy. So yay for a fellow fan! ^^
@ mousey: I knew, I knew. We are united in a virtual sisterhood/brotherhood of good taste… This sounds like arrogant? Well, it is – and quite justified.
that is one hell one funny video. Too bad it’s not subbed, my english is not as good as atri who’s british by nature D:
@ calvin: Four of them are still going strong. John Cleese ( 70 y/o now, just one year my junior but my senior in every other aspect of life) is one of them. He had a recent divorce ‘settlement’ with his third ex-wife. He is bound to pay $ 20 million to her ( 2/3 of all his assets), leaving him relatively “penniless”. It forced him to hit the stage again ( he started in Norway the other day). He is still in good shape; part of the show is this quote on his ex wife:
“I’m being forced to hit the road again to rack up a few grand here and a few hundred there,†he said. “To comfort me my lawyer told me to imagine how much I would have had to pay if Alyce had contributed anything to the relationship – such as children, or a conversation.â€
Ahaha.. Yeah, I read that quote from a news article on the Chortle website (http://www.chortle.co.uk/).. Incidentally, it’s a good place to discover new comedians and see what the old ones are up to..