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Explain the comedic genius of Monty Python.
You can explain the comedy in general, or you can post your favourite clip and explain it's genius. Whichever you decide it should make for an entertaining thread for everybody involved.
Clips can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/user/montypython
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/4083763567/
Clips can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/user/montypython
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comedy
voted interesting: buddawiggi M$0.50, bunnyphuphu M$0.50
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Well, there's a certain totally inexplicable element to great comedy. It works because it just WORKS, and it's sort of magic and mysterious and that's what is so exciting about it.
But I do think that one thing Python does better than any other comedy group ever is mix high and low comedy. Their scenes are simultaneously esoteric and juvenile. They use elevated vocabulary and allusions to play out concepts that are beyond ridiculous.
For example, the All-England Summarize Proust Competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwAOc4g3K-g
Goofy...and yet it relies on at least a basic familiarity with the work of Marcel Proust just to GET the joke. I mean, these guys went to Oxford and Cambridge. Terry Jones is a Chaucer scholar. And yet he's best known for playing a piano naked.
http://urbanfrontiersman.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/terry_jones_portrait.jpg
It's that ability to blend clever, satiric wit with bawdy physical comedy and schtick that really stands out about the best of Pythons work all these years later, to me. My favorite sketch of all time, "Argument Clinic," provides another ideal illustration. The surreal nature of the scene, and the amazing performances of Cleese and Palin, are what draw the immediate laughter, and yet it sticks with you because it is so imaginative. Thoughtful, even. It makes you reconsider the very nature of conversation and argumentation. What IS an argument? Why do we have them? IS it something beyond simple contradiction?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM
But I do think that one thing Python does better than any other comedy group ever is mix high and low comedy. Their scenes are simultaneously esoteric and juvenile. They use elevated vocabulary and allusions to play out concepts that are beyond ridiculous.
For example, the All-England Summarize Proust Competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwAOc4g3K-g
Goofy...and yet it relies on at least a basic familiarity with the work of Marcel Proust just to GET the joke. I mean, these guys went to Oxford and Cambridge. Terry Jones is a Chaucer scholar. And yet he's best known for playing a piano naked.
It's that ability to blend clever, satiric wit with bawdy physical comedy and schtick that really stands out about the best of Pythons work all these years later, to me. My favorite sketch of all time, "Argument Clinic," provides another ideal illustration. The surreal nature of the scene, and the amazing performances of Cleese and Palin, are what draw the immediate laughter, and yet it sticks with you because it is so imaginative. Thoughtful, even. It makes you reconsider the very nature of conversation and argumentation. What IS an argument? Why do we have them? IS it something beyond simple contradiction?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM
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voted helpful: jeffhoard
It's not easy to sum up something as wide ranging as Monthy Python humor. I am a huge fan of their style, mostly because I really enjoy bizarre humor. I think a lot of the appeal of the TV shows and their movies is the unbelievable creativity and originality. It seems like virtually everybody in humor are influenced by what Monthy Python did.
My favorite Python sketch is The Fish Slapping dance. To me this is a perfect example of their outrageous silliness and utterly bizarre style.
My favorite Python sketch is The Fish Slapping dance. To me this is a perfect example of their outrageous silliness and utterly bizarre style.
voted helpful: jeffhoard
I do not think this is humanly possible. Explaining it, that is. Who would have thought they would spit Pepsi through their nose in the theater when the "Knights Who Say Nee!" were discussing shrubbery? Or the ministry of silly walks? Or Mr. Creosote? Is there a common thread here? In scientific terms, they appeal to the right parahippocampal gyrus - the part of our brain that enables us to understand sarcasm. And now, "The Parrot Sketch" - my all-time favorite!
voted helpful: jeffhoard
And now for something completely different... Benny Hillish, but not...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxNyoAMqRXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxNyoAMqRXQ
He used...sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and...satire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhV856sXf3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhV856sXf3w
When you understand how different each member of Monty Python is, and what they bring to the table... only then can you really pick apart the nuances that are the group. Any only then can you even begin to scratch the surface.
Not only did Britain at that time and today have a unique class system, but the members of Monty Python were from different classes, different schools and backgrounds growing up. I personally think that with those different eyes, they were able to bring together some very unique and funny Ideas.
If you're a fan of Monty Python, I highly recommend watching their new documentary "Almost the Truth: The Lawyer's Cut"
http://www.ifc.com/monty-python-almost-truth-lawyers-cut/
Without having a varied background, I don't think they could have pulled off "The Upper Class Twit of the Year".
Not only did Britain at that time and today have a unique class system, but the members of Monty Python were from different classes, different schools and backgrounds growing up. I personally think that with those different eyes, they were able to bring together some very unique and funny Ideas.
If you're a fan of Monty Python, I highly recommend watching their new documentary "Almost the Truth: The Lawyer's Cut"
http://www.ifc.com/monty-python-almost-truth-lawyers-cut/
Without having a varied background, I don't think they could have pulled off "The Upper Class Twit of the Year".
voted helpful: jeffhoard
My favorite Monty Python skit is How to Not Be Seen. It makes fun of those educational films we used to have to watch in school, that were made in the 1950s. They were so serious that they came off as silly. I think that sums up Monty Python humor: It shows us the silliness in everyday things.
voted helpful: jeffhoard, chriswingate
"this demonstrates the value of not being seen" har
Well I would explain monty python in 4 words: crude, sexually intolerent, low brow, and yet still amazing. all together Id say that this is the greatest show that has ever been aired and personally its my favorite show hands down. Put that in a juice box and suck on it
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