{"id":486,"date":"2013-03-10T23:21:10","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T03:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediafunhouse.com\/blog\/?page_id=486"},"modified":"2020-12-07T03:33:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T08:33:41","slug":"lumberjacks-and-spam-not-included-the-pythons-reunite-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mediafunhouse.com\/?page_id=486","title":{"rendered":"Lumberjacks and spam not included: the Pythons reunite in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>Having given us \u201csomething completely different\u201d in their 20s and 30s, the members of Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus have little left to prove. Thus, their latter-day reunions have come in the form of group interviews that are eagerly awaited by Python fans \u2014 the last one having occurred in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival. <\/span><\/p>\n

The five living members \u2014 plus a cardboard cut-out of the late Graham Chapman and the Pythons\u2019 female foil Carol Cleveland \u2014 reunited for a very unrehearsed Q&A session after the debut American showing at the Ziegfeld theater in NYC of the Eagle Rock documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth<\/em> (premiering this week on IFC). <\/span><\/p>\n

As one of the countless American fans brought up on the groups\u2019 humor, I was delighted to attend the event, but even more interested to see that even in their 60s the former collaborators love to top and rework each others\u2019 lines, as well as slip in a quick insult. The event was un-moderated, and so the five Pythons in turn answered question from the audience, as well as their own contributions \u2014 which ran toward Terry Gilliam\u2019s \u201cWhy isn\u2019t John [Cleese] funny anymore?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rare indeed were the moments when a serious idea was put forth, but John Cleese did define the different types of sketches written by the group, which included the \u201cthesaurus\u201d sketches where someone (usually Cleese) would run through a number of synonyms, as in \u201cthe cheese shop\u201d and the immortal dead parrot sketch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The questions the quintet read off the cards seemed comprised mostly of attempts by Pythons fans to be funny or obvious straight lines. Thus the query, \u201cWhy do the French have so many civil wars?\u201d was quickly answered by Eric \u201cbecause they\u2019re so polite.\u201d Cleese averred: \u201cBecause they\u2019d like to win one now and again!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To close off the event, Eric Idle \u2014 the Python who has seemingly most wanted<\/em> to be identified with the group\u2019s past work \u2014 sang \u201cthe Galaxy Song\u201d from The Meaning of Life<\/em>. For those who are interested in \u201cattending\u201d the event, it can be seen in its entirety for the moment at http:\/\/www.ifc.com\/python-live\/<\/a> <\/span><\/span>—Ed Grant<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having given us \u201csomething completely different\u201d in their 20s and 30s, the members of Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus have little left to prove. Thus, their latter-day reunions have come in the form of group interviews that are eagerly awaited by Python fans \u2014 the last one having occurred in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":217,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-sidebar-none.php","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-486","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"kubio_ai_page_context":{"short_desc":"","purpose":"general"},"yoast_head":"\nLumberjacks and spam not included: the Pythons reunite in NYC - Media Funhouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mediafunhouse.com\/?page_id=486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lumberjacks and spam not included: the Pythons reunite in NYC - Media Funhouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having given us \u201csomething completely different\u201d in their 20s and 30s, the members of Monty Python\u2019s Flying Circus have little left to prove. 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