Monty python

Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) were a British group of six comedians who humorously synthesized the British idiosyncrasies of the 1960s and 1970, composed by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Of the group only Terry Gilliam was not British but American.

They achieved fame thanks to their television show Monty Python's Flying Circus (El Circo Ambulante de Monty Python), which premiered on October 5, 1969 on the BBC and made up of 45 episodes spread over four seasons. The Python phenomenon developed beyond the television show to great impact: plays, movies, records, books, a musical, and even programming languages. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to that of the Beatles. in music.

Broadcast on the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Flying Circus was created, written and performed by all six members of the group. It was structured like a sketch show, but with an innovative storytelling technique (aided by Gilliam's animations) that went beyond what was acceptable in style and content. Being responsible for both the scripts and the acting, the Pythons they had a creative control that allowed them to experiment with forms and contents, breaking away from the rules of television comedy. The group's influence on British comedy has been strong for years, and in North America they have influenced everything from the performers of the first editions of Saturday Night Live to the most recent trends of absurd humor in television comedy. The word "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a synonym for "absurd" or "surreal".

In a 2005 UK poll to find the Comician of Comics, three of the six members of Monty Python were voted by other comics and fans as three of the 50 Greatest Comedians of All Time. the story: Cleese ranked 2, Idle 21, and Palin 30.

In 2009 the group received an honorary BAFTA award for their contribution to the world of comedy. The award was given to him at the preview of the documentary dedicated to the late Graham Chapman, Monty Python: Almost the Truth.

The origins

Michael Palin and Terry Jones met at Oxford University, where they were both performing in the student drama group The Oxford Revue. John Cleese and Graham Chapman met at Cambridge University. Eric Idle was also at Cambridge but started a year later. Cleese met Terry Gilliam in New York while on tour with his student theater group, Cambridge University Footlights. Chapman, Cleese and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at the time also included Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden (later to form the Goodies group).), and actor/director Jonathan Lynn, co-writer of the series Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister. While Idle was chairman of the Footlights, feminist writer Germaine Greer and journalist Clive James were also members of the group. Recordings of some performances by this theater group at Pembroke College in Cambridge are still preserved.

Prior to Monty Python's Flying Circus, the Pythons wrote or performed in various plays and shows:

• I'm sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973), Cleese as actor and screenwriter and Idle and Chapman as screenwriter
• The Frost Report (1966–1967; was the first work in which most members agreed, 5 of 6), Cleese as an actor and screenwriter, Idle as a screenwriter for the monologues of David Frost, and Chapman, Palin and Jones as screenwriters
• At Last the 1948 Show (1967) Chapman and Cleese as actors and screenwriters and Idle as a screenwriter
• Twice to Fortnight (1967) Palin and Jones as actors and screenwriters
• Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-1969) Palin, Jones and Idle as actors and screenwriter and Gilliam as animator
• We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968) Idle as an actor and writer and Gilliam as an animator
• How to Irritate People (1968) Cleese and Chapman as actors and screenwriters and Palin as an actor
• The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969) Palin and Jones as actors and screenwriters
• Doctor in the House (1969) Cleese and Chapman as writers

In many of these performances they met other leading British comedians and writers of the future: Marty Feldman, Jonathan Lynn, David Jason and David Frost, as well as members of other comedy troupes: Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker (The Two Ronnies)., and Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie (The Goodies).

The success of Do Not Adjust Your Set prompted ITV to offer Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam their own show together. At the same time Cleese and Chapman were offered a show of their own by the BBC, impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last The 1948 Show. Cleese was averse to a comedic duo for various reasons, including Chapman's allegedly difficult personality. Cleese had fond memories of his work with Palin and invited him to join the team. With the ITV series still in pre-production, Palin agreed, suggesting that Idle and Jones join the group; who proposed that Gilliam be in charge of providing animations to the series. The Monty Python group is largely a result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the circumstances that added the other four members to the group.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Program development

The Pythons were clear about what they wanted to do with the program. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore on the satirical stage show Beyond the Fringe, and had worked on the similarly styled The Frost Report. They were also fans of the Cook and Moore show Not Only... But Also. One problem that the Pythons observed in these shows was that even though the skit was powerful, the writers would often try to find a funny enough sentence to end it, and this diminished the quality of the skit. They decided then that they would not bother ending their skits in the traditional way, and some of the early episodes of Flying Circus flaunted this abandonment of the closing line. In Cleese he addresses Idle and says, "This is the most absurd skit we've ever done", and the characters end the skit by simply walking offstage. However, when they started gathering material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their idols, Spike Milligan, record his groundbreaking show Q5 (1969). Not only was the show more irreverent and anarchic than any other, but Milligan would often abandon the sketch midway and walk offstage (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that his program would now be less original, and Jones particularly decided that the Pythons needed to innovate.

After much discussion, Jones recalled an animation Gilliam created in Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him because of its quirky style. Jones thought it was a good concept to apply to the show: allow skits to blend into each other. Palin had also been struck by another of Gilliam's works, titled "Christmas Cards," and agreed that it represented "a different way of doing things." As Cleese, Chapman and Idle were less aware of the overall development of the show, it was Jones, Palin and Gilliam who were primarily responsible for the Flying Circus style of presentation, in which the various skits were tied together to give each episode a particular style (often using a Gilliam animation to transition from the final image of one skit to the opening image of the next).

Script writing began at nine in the morning and ended at five in the afternoon. Normally, Cleese and Chapman formed a couple isolated from the rest, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. A few days later, they would meet with Gilliam, critique the scripts, and exchange ideas and opinions. The way of writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea funny, it was included in the show. Casting for skits was also democratic, as each member saw themselves primarily as a writer rather than an actor eager to appear on screen. When the themes for the skits were chosen, Gilliam was free to match them with his own animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.

Because the show was a collaborative process, different factions within the group were responsible for the group's humorous elements. In general, the work of the Oxford students (Jones and Palin) was more conceptually visual and imaginative, like the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition at a house in a suburban neighborhood (Watch video) while the sketches of the Cambridge students were more verbal and aggressive (such as Cleese and Chapman's 'confrontation' skits, where one character intimidates or verbally abuses another, or the characters in Idle with strange verbal quirks, like the man who speaks in anagrams). Cleese confirmed that "most of the aggressive skits were Graham and me, anything that started with a field view and punchy music was Mike and Terry, and anything involving words entirely was Eric". Meanwhile, Gilliam's animations ranged from the wacky to the wild, as the animated format allowed him to create incredibly violent scenes without fear of censorship.

Various names were thought of for the show before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled on. Some were Owl Stretching Time; The Toad Elevating Moment; A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket; Vaseline Review; and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus appeared when the BBC said it had printed that name in its programming and was not prepared to change it. Variations on this name were then suggested (it is said that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus a ridiculous name, and the group decided to change their name every week until the network gave up). The name Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus came about after a woman Palin had read about in the paper, thinking it would be funny if she found out she had her own TV show about she. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was hailed as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was then suggested and later dropped. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was reminiscent of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Jasta 11 Flying Circus, which rose to fame in World War I, and the group formed at a time when song Snoopy vs. the Red Baron was all the rage. The term flying circus was another name for a popular show in the 1920s called barnstorming, in which various pilots performed stunts leading to a show.

There are different and somewhat confusing origins for the name Python, although members of the group agree that its only "meaning" it was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live At Aspen, in which the group received the American Film Institute Award, they explained that "Monty" was chosen at the suggestion of Eric Idle as a humorous nod to Field Marshal Montgomery, a legendary British World War II general; and then adding a soft-spoken word, they opted for "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" I was a regular at his local pub; and people would often come in asking the waiter, "Is Monty here yet?", making the name stick in his head. The name "Monty Python" was described by the BBC as "conceived by the group as the perfect name for a corrupt talent agent".

Feature films

The Monty Python phenomenon transcended the world of television, its protagonists also being responsible for the production of several feature films:

• The fat one (1971), 84 minutes
• The knights of the square table and their mad followers (Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975)
• Brian's life (Monty Python's Life of Brian(1979)
• The meaning of life (Monty Python's The Meaning of Life(1983)

Concert movies:

• Monty Python in Hollywood Bowl (Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl(1982), 77 minutes
• Concert for George (2002)
• Not the Messiah (2010)

Other films where part of the members of the group coincided, without being productions of the same (although they inherit a good part of the humor and surrealism that characterized them), were:

• The Beast of the Kingdom (1977) with Terry Gilliam: director and screenwriter and Michael Palin and Terry Jones: actors.
• The Rutles (1977) with Eric Idle: actor and screenwriter and Michael Palin: actor.
• The Heroes of Time (1981) with Terry Gilliam: director and screenwriter, Michael Palin: actor and screenwriter and John Cleese: actor.
• The disarmed pirates of Barba Amarilla (1983) with Graham Chapman: actor and screenwriter and Eric Idle and John Cleese: actors.
• Brazil (1985) with Terry Gilliam: director and screenwriter and Michael Palin: actor.
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) with Terry Gilliam: director and screenwriter and Eric idle: actor.
• A fish called Wanda (1988) with John Cleese: actor and screenwriter and Michael Palin: actor.
• Erik the Viking (1989) with Terry Jones: director, screenwriter and actor and John Cleese: actor.
• Newborn and already crowned (1993) with Eric Idle: actor and screenwriter and John Cleese: actor.
• The wind in the willows (1996) with Terry Jones: director, screenwriter and actor and Eric Idle, Michael Palin and John Cleese: actors.
• Ferocious creatures (1997) with John Cleese: actor and screenwriter and Michael Palin: actor.
• Shrek third (2007) with John Cleese and Eric Idle: bent actors.
• A Liar's Autobiography (2013) with Graham Chapman: writer and actor and John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin: actors.
• Absolutely Anything (2015) with Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin: voices of aliens.

Theater

• Monty Python's Spamalot, written by Eric Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and letters by John Du Prez and Idle, with a cast headed by Hank Azaria, Tim Curry and David Hyde Pierce. Spamalot is the musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He was represented in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and was subsequently released on Broadway on 17 March 2005. He won three Tonys.

• On the fortieth anniversary of the Monty Python (2009), the comic book oratory "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)" written by Eric Idle and John du Prez, with a single function, was presented at the Royal Albert Hall in London. At this British premiere and as an anniversary celebration, they made a presence in various secondary roles, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. Eric Idle acted as a baritone accompanied by a vocal quartet and the symphonic orchestra and choir of the BBC. This performance was collected in a blu-ray and DVD and went for sale in 2010. This work is a musical adaptation of your film Brian's life and has a more "operistic" style than Spamalot.

Documentaries

In 2009, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Monty Python, the documentary Monty Python, Almost the truth (The lawyer's cut) was put on sale or in its translation into Spanish, Monty Python, almost the truth (The lawyers' version). This documentary series is made up of 6 episodes, sketches, extended interviews with the five Monty Python alive that year (all except Graham Chapman) and unpublished material not broadcast on television, with a duration of almost eight hours.

Members

Eric Idle

She was born in South Shields, Co. Durham. His father died in an accident when he was little, so his mother took him to the Royal Wolverhampton School to be educated there. He completed his studies in English literature at the University of Cambridge.

Idle, the band's musician, is not the author of the song from the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which is a popular march called "The Liberty Bell" as well as most of the songs from the group's films. In The Life of Brian he sings the Python's most recognizable song, "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life." Idle is known for wearing ridiculous wigs (one of the rare times he doesn't wear a wig is in the final scene of Life of Brian), and for his infuriating roles, such as the invisible man, the man in the photos, the man who wanted an ant, and others. Idle also played the "brave" Sir Robin in The Knights of the Square Table.

Michael Palin

The "Nice Python," is, following John Cleese and Eric Idle, the Python best known for his acting work and the most popular of the bunch among female fans. He participated with John Cleese in many of the best skits of Monty Python's Flying Circus : the Frenchmen with the Flying Sheep, or Discussion Center . He played Bevis, the cross-dressing half-psycho barber who wanted to be a woodcutter in the sketch "The Woodcutter's Song" and Sir Galahad in The Knights of the Square Table. He appeared at the beginning of every episode of & # 34; Monty Python & # 39; s Flying Circus & # 34; like the castaway who said "It's..."

John Cleese

Her father, an insurance salesman, changed the family name from "Cheese" to "Cleese" because of the meaning of the word cheese. Cleese studied law at Cambridge University. He became famous as the BBC presenter who would appear sitting at a desk in such strange places as a street, a beach or a truck, saying the phrase "And now for something completely different". different"), which he turned into a catchphrase for Monty Python. He was, along with Graham Chapman, one of the germs of the group. Since the end of the Pythons he has gotten used to working in hit Hollywood comedies.

Terry Gilliam

Gilliam was born in Medicine Lake, Minnesota, in the United States, and studied Political Science at Western California College. He always attracted more attention to directing than acting, so his roles in the series were very sporadic and secondary. He is known for animations in which he would cut up photos and make them surreal. After the dissolution of the group, he has gained fame as a director of serious and fantastic films, being, along with John Cleese, the Python that has achieved the most recognition.

Terry Jones

He was born on February 1, 1942 in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. Along with Gilliam, Jones is the other non-English Python. Remembered mainly for his female roles accompanied by the shrill voice that he did. She was Brian's hilarious mother in The Life of Brian, a film he directed himself. She also carried out The Knights of the Square Table, the latter working in cooperation with Terry Gilliam and the last film with all the Pythons, The Meaning of Life. After the dissolution of the group he devoted himself mainly to television, as a scriptwriter and presenter. He also directed Erik the Viking , and wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth . After several years suffering from primary progressive aphasia, he died on January 21, 2020.

Graham Chapman

Known for playing authoritative characters, such as the famous colonel who interrupted skits. He also performed, several times, the roles of a doctor, for which his training will have contributed a lot, among many other roles. He played the leading roles in Life of Brian , starring as Brian Cohen, and in Knights of the Square Table , as King Arthur. Over time, alcoholism affected his performance as an actor. He kept his homosexuality a secret until he came out on a talk show hosted by jazz musician George Melly. After the separation of the group, he would have the odd appearance on film and television.

One of his last appearances was in a video clip by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, specifically the video for the song "Can I Play with Madness", from their album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, published in 1988. In the middle of that same year, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

Graham Chapman died on October 4, 1989. As part of his funeral eulogy, Eric Idle sang an excerpt from "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life," a song he composed, with which The Life of Brian ends and John Cleese performed a monologue where he would have to say "shit" at the request of Chapman himself.

Influence

Monty Pythons have been a major influence on contemporary humor. His absurd and politically incorrect sense of humor was something totally new at the time and his impact is compared to that of the Beatles in music.

The Monty Pythons gave their name, apparently without their knowledge, to the Python programming language. Many of the Python usage examples and component names are based on works in this group.

His influence in the world of computing can also be found in the word spam, derived from one of his sketchs.

The lemur Avahi cleesei, from Madagascar, is a species of primate named after John Cleese, who is fond of lemurs and helps organizations to save endangered lemur species.

Among the artists most influenced by the Python are Mike Myers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Eddie Izzard, Seth MacFarlane, Matt Groening, Douglas Adams and the Argentine comedy-musical ensemble Les Luthiers, among others.

Also in Argentina, the actor and comedian Diego Capusotto, together with the writer Pedro Saborido, have made 12 seasons of sketches with different characters in an unprecedented cycle called Peter Capusotto and his videos. Capusotto has stated on several occasions that one of his great influences was Monty Python.