Monty+Python

=**Welcome to Monty Python, and the Land of Laughs!**=

What do you think of when you conjure up the image of a nice, plush, comfy chair? Did the Spanish Inquisition come to mind? Most people would never associate these two objects. However, one of the funniest groups of comedians and actors on Earth, named Monty Python, blended the two together into one of their most famous skits, The Spanish Inquisition. Founded in the late 1960's by Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, and Eric Idle, Monty Python makes seemingly normal occurrences so funny that people might suffer from cramps, hard breathing, and an inability to speak properly. “What makes it so funny?” people may ask. Here, some Monty Python fans will try to dissect some of the fine points of Monty Pythonesque humor while explaining some of their sketches and movies, amongst them //Monty Python and the Holy Grail//, //Monty Python and// //the Meaning of Life//, and //Monty Python and// //the Life of Brian//. To make us laugh even more, they have produced a television series called //Monty Python's Flying Circus//. The shows generally start with the phrase, "And now for something completely different."

"And now for something completely different."

Historians describe one of Monty Python’s greatest movies, //Monty Python and the Holy Grail//, as, “Historically inaccurate,” while Joseph of Arimathea gives it a rave review, saying, "Aaarrrgggh!" However, despite being historically inaccurate and causing yelps of pain from Joseph of Arimathea, it causes uproarious laughter and has side-splitting humor. It recounts the story of King Arthur and his band of courageous, not-so courageous and comically funny knights searching for the ultimate holy object, the Holy Grail. Of course, it turns out that… ”Albatross!” ...have it. Despite that, the knights proceed on with their quest, and they almost succeed when their final charge is... "Albatross!" ...by the... "Does anyone want any albatross around here?" The movie makes fun of a wide variety of subjects, ranging from coconuts and African Swallows, to communism. On a completely unrelated note, the second to last sentence highlights one of the many reasons why //not// to have a local albatross vendor in your neighborhood. "I heard that! Albatross!"*

Speaking of bizarre transitions, "And now for something completely different."

The television extension of the Monty Python laughter network consists of one hilarious series: //Monty Python’s Flying Circus//. Each episode has a rather pointless theme and a series of skits that usually don't match up with said theme. So what's the point of a theme? It’s to make us laugh, of course! When the theme only appears occasionally, as with the episode, "The Spanish Inquisition,” it generally makes the episode wackier, more random, and altogether funnier. Consider episode 13, for example. Most people may be surprised to hear that the main theme of this episode is a man coming around saying, "Albatross!" However, Monty Python fans erupt in laughter when he pops up and randomly says it during the middle of a sketch. Somehow, it vaguely links the whole show together. Other methods of linking together sketches can range from bizarre animations to strange scenes which let main characters move from one place to another. For example, in many transition scenes a BBC news caster at a news desk appears in very random locations and pronounces, "And now for something completely different." What follows is, you guessed it, a completely different skit. It actually does a decent job of transitioning between completely different sketches.

Everyone by now has probably figured out that Monty Pythonesque humor is very random. However, quite a few really good Monty Python sketches make fun of real world events, phenomenons, and traditions, while at the same time making the viewer at home laugh. Let's once again take the Spanish Inquisition as an example. Monty Python took a real historical organization that tortured people for heresy, and completely turned it on its head. They portray it as an inquisition that still tortures people for heresy...with pillows, dish racks, and the dreaded comfy chair, along with their inability to count and the occasional tardy arrival. Some sketches are completely random, such as "The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights", but most of their humor has some meaning to it.

On a completely serious note, we hope this article gives you an insight as to why Monty Pythonesque humor makes some people laugh hysterically. Hopefully, you've had a good laugh along the way. So next time you see "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on the television set, try it for a bit. Maybe you'll have a laugh or two, or maybe you'll have a chuckle, or maybe you'll have a sudden revelation as to why some people go around and say, "This is an ex-parrot!" or, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!". However, don't worry; your sides will not under any circumstances split from laughter.

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 * We didn't want to spoil the movie for anybody, so that explains why the albatross seller happened to appear in the

Albatross picture courtesy of: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.monty-pythons.com/album/Episode_13/03-albatross.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sg.hu/listazas.php3%3Fid%3D1134312844&h=254&w=360&sz=18&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=F716fpbXC5TzgM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=121&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMonty%2BPython%2BAlbatross%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN