I just got the opportunity to watch the Sundance Channel 6 part documentary on Monty Python the other day and it inspired this list. I've decided to just stick to the Flying Circus television show and not include any of the Python movies, other then "And Now For Something Completely Different" which was just a best of Flying Circus movie anyway...
5.Frontiers Of Medicine-Penguins www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZmx0jml1jk
This isn't one of the more known Python sketches but it has me in stitches every time I see it. They send up the science community and the absurdity of some of the studies conducted by trying to prove that Penguins are smarter then humans. When asked a series of questions Penguins and Non-English speaking humans score the same! They also get a few shots in on BBC programmers (just substitute ABC, NBC or CBS programmer and you should get the jokes). The sketch also shows how ahead of the curve Python was, doing a Penguin centered sketch 30 some odd years before "The March Of The Penguins"
4.Rival Documentaries www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TOTQW0-DxM
The premise is simple enough, a bunch of documentarians fighting over one microphone. There's not much intellectual substance here but a ton of laughs. The best moment was when John Cleese tackles Michael Palin. I fell off my couch!
3. Nudge Nudge www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXpKKnffEmk
Eric Idle is my favorite Python and this was probably his best performance. Totally silly, but I couldn't count all the times I've been able to bring nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean, know what I mean, into a conversation. One of my favorite Python sketches to quote.
2. Argument Sketch www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y
This sketch encapsulates everything Python was. It was totally silly yet extremely witty at the same time. The writing is so tight and on point. If one phrase or word was off, it probably wouldn't work, but it is total genius the way they performed it. No comedy troupe since has been as good with word play as Monty Python and this is the best example.
1. Dead Parrot www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjOSLCR2hE
I didn't want to put this sketch on the list. Saying this is your favorite Python sketch doesn't say much about you and how much of a fan you may be. Everyone knows the Dead Parrot sketch. Its like saying your favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet, the one play we all read in school. When someone says their favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet, I assume they haven't read anything else by him. I assume the same thing about Python and the Parrot sketch. But at the same time, there has to be something that made it that famous in the first place. Dead Parrot may be the greatest sketch ever written. Its so absurd, yet we can all relate to Cleese's frustration. Palin does such a great job playing dumb. As much as I may want to, I can't deny it as the best of Python's work.
Honorable mentions: Philosopher Football www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8, Olympic Hide and Seek Final www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycb9_Y_gJ-g&feature=fvsr, Spanish Inquisition www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI&feature=related
I think the Spanish Inquisition deserves more then an honorable mention, but totally with you on the dead Parrot sketch that's my favorite of all time as well. "This parrot is no more, it has ceased to be! it has expired and gone to meet it's maker."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKgzLm4DqAM
ReplyDeletewould be there if you ever been through a down sizing. I thought it was funny when I saw it the first time(in a movie theater) and now find it prophetic and funny after being in corporate live for a long time.