RIP Monty Python: 1969 - 2014

Seek out the original sketch from the TV series - much better.

 

my Monty Python DVD Box set is a treasure! I use to watch them with my son when he was a youngster...he loved the show!

 

S P O I L E R S

Honestly, they both looked a bit misty eyed, as I think a bunch of us were. I did not expect the show to pack an emotional wallop, but there you have it, it most certainly did. I have no idea what I would have said up on that stage - would have just been very touched to be there.

Idle is a machine and still as sharp as a tack, although I don't think he handles disorder as well as Palin and Cleese - some of the highlights of the show for me were their flubs and ad libs. They may be (much) older, but they can still think on their feet. Jones has never been a dynamo on stage - he's always been a better writer and (scripted) performer, and Cleese ribbed him mercilessly for reading off the prop card during the Trade Description Act sketch.

I figured the bitterly sarcastic Cleese was only in it for the money and he seemed a bit disinterested at first, but he brought it on toward the end.

Oh, on the contrary, I thought it was the very best timing and a very Monty Python thing to do, indeed. Was also delighted to see Vladimir Putin's cameo, right where he belongs.

 

Idle was clearly in charge. He was certainly the sharpest of the bunch. Of course, the fact that he didn't do the Travel Agent sketch seems to indicate that he didn't want to do anything too taxing.

Given that Gilliam was so vocally negative about the project a few months ago, it was surprising how good he was. He was only second to Idle performance-wise. He really turned it on.

The other three were very much older and slower. There were times when it seemed a bit sad when they couldn't deliver lines as quick as they used to, but just hearing them punctuate them as only they can made it worthwhile.

Sure, it was Spamalotted up. Sure, it was more Contractual Obligation and less Drury Lane. Still, we all wanted to see them do it just one more time. That is why we were misty-eyed at the end.

 

Gilliam filled in a lot for Chapman, didn't he? I agree that he owned the stage in a way he never really has in the past - probably the biggest surprise of the night. He upstaged Palin in the Spanish Inquisition skit, although Jones and Cleese got in a scathing zinger toward Palin near the end, perfectly delivered.

 

Yeah, I was surprised by how game Gilliam was. It looked like he was having a lot of fun. Honestly, I thought the performances were pretty good considering their age and how long it's been since most of them have been on a stage.

 

During the show, I didn't think too much about switched parts - except where Eric sang "Every Sperm Is Sacred." But I realized last night that the Protestant part after was Graham and Eric in the movie but Palin and Jones in this show.

I was definitely misty at the end. I showed up alone, but it was kind of magical to be in a room with about 250 other people who obviously loved Python and wanted to applaud and cheer as if they were at the real show.

 

And I agree, Idle came off the sharpest, performance wise. I love to watch him work, but I have a hugely negative opinion about him as a person. He always seemed to be the dissenter among the group which held up or derailed projects and then how he handled things with Neil Innes over the Rutles made me furious.

 

I saw them in the mid 70's in nyc. a show i'll never forget.

 

I never got into Monty Python. As a child, when "Monty Python's Flying Circus" came on TV, it would make me real depressed. I guess I was keenly aware that it was British and more of an adult nature. Maybe I should give it another look?

 

I had thought about going to the simulcast, but it slipped my mind...

Just curious, as I've never been to one of these type things at a theatre: what's the ticket price? Is it standard movie theatre price in your area? Or do they jack up the admission because it's a "special live event"?

 

I was there for the 5th night at the O2 Arena and saw the show again at last night's simulcast at a Dutch cinema. Two unforgettable evenings. Yes, the performance could have been better, but I got so much joy out of seeing them together on a stage for one final time and everyone having fun doing it. A nice end to their career, an unexpected encore I didn't even dare to hope for.

 

The Grateful Dead Meetup At The Movies (also done by Fathom Events) are usually slightly more than a standard movie ticket - $11 or so. The Python show, at least by me, was $18.

 

Yeah, my tickets were $18 each. Rifftrax events are usually a few bucks cheaper.

 

I watched it on GOLD last night. Funny in parts. Censored before the watershed, but overall I thought it was a bit flat.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see Palin sing the "Lumberjack Song" again. Didn't Idle sing it during most of the old live shows?

 

I went and saw it a theater in Houston yesterday.

The glitches were present in my theater - and I just chalked them off to the difficulty of presenting a live event.
It did seem like it got better after a while. I'm curious if the same glitches will be present in an encore presentation - or if they eliminate the "intermission" countdown.

I went to a rifftrax event a few days earlier - and there were no glitches - but that was an "encore" presentation.

I suspect these feeds are delivered primarily via a high speed internet connection - at least in part... I did notice a credit during the closing credits for a satellite tech...

It felt a little like I was watching a youtube video on a big screen.

I was kind of expecting a raspberry sound and a big foot to be the final conclusion to the broadcast but it just eventually faded away.

I saw Graham Chapman back in 1983 when he came and spoke at my university. That was a very fun event.

I did wonder about some of the bits... did the song about Idle's manhood also have additional verses about female parts and backsides (?) Probably on an album somewhere - but not in the "Meaning of Life" film.

My theater was crowded. Not a terribly big theater - but it was full.


Spoiler alert..........................................





I think the biggest laugh of the day for me was "100,000 watching in England... 60,000 watching in the US... zero watching in Brazil"

I thought the timing for the philosopher football sketch was very good - it didn't seem too far different (in my mind) than the recent world cup broadcasts...

Anyone else look to see if Tom Hanks was in a red Canadian Mounted Police uniform ????
(for the record, I don't think he was - just Pythons and some of the young dancers)

Neil Innes was missed - but that's because of the feud with Idle.

I liked when Cleese referred to "Dr Chapman"... also liked when the one magistrate said to the other "Did you work the Cleese divorce?" and the response was "Which one???"

 

Mine was $18 here. I didn't check in advance to see what the price would be, and I was surprised, but not deterred (I really wanted to see the show). Thought it might be more like $12-$15.

 

Since there's no way for me to attend this in person, I truly hope they recorded this for posterity...would love to own a blu-ray of this final bunch of shows to watch at home....

 

A few pictures I took during the 5th night at the O2 Arena.

Lumberjack Song


The Spanish Inquisition


Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

 

I remember when the Pythons did both "Sit On My Face" & "The Lumberjack Song" at George Harrison's memorial concert in 2002 with guest Python Tom Hanks...I was rolling on the floor by the end of their little segment!!!

 

Mine were $18, as well, but Fandango charged me a $2 convenience fee, so I ended up paying $20.

 

Actually, they all took their turns filling in for Chapman (even Carol Cleveland). In the case of "Crunchy Frog", Cleese simply reclaimed the role that he ceded to Chapman for live shows. I'm just glad that they cut to the video footage for The Colonel.

But, yes, Gilliam was quite animated (pun intended). I think it is quite telling that Idle and Gilliam had more to do with the production of the show than the other guys. The combination of the "use it or lose it" principle of mental acuity coupled with the pride of doing a good show since they put so much work into it may have had a lot to do with their performances. There was a sense that John Cleese needed to be warmed up.

 

Cleese I thought got much better toward the end. And man that guy can do witheringly livid better than anybody else on earth. If he's ever like that in real life, I can see why he's been divorced so many times...

 

I'm not sure the others have lost much mental acuity, though. Jones was always more a writer than a live performer - he shone on film, when he could rehearse and choose from different takes - and Palin was always somewhat low-key and droll. His banter with Cleese was certainly sharp enough.

How did they work as writers back in the day? I know Cleese and Chapman wrote together, and I think Jones and Idle wrote together as well, with Palin writing stuff by himself. Or maybe it was Jones and Palin with Idle writing on his own...

Perhaps my mental acuity ain't what it used to be.