Monty Python

"Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...lovely Spam, wonderful Spam!" "Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..." "It's..." "He's Pinin' for the Fjords??!!" "Now then, some cheese please, my good man!" "And now, for something completely different..." If any of these snippets of dialog bring a smile to your face, you probably number yourself among the millions of Monty Python fans in the world. If so, this two-volume set, The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, is right up your alley. This is show more a collection of the complete scripts to all of the episodes of the classic Monty Python's Flying Circus series, including stage directions and character names (which often didn't make it onto the screen!). This is entertaining reading for both the casual viewer, and for the hard-core Python fan who wants to test their memory for Python trivia. Just remember... "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec09-07.htm show less

Includes lots of the most hysterical skits we can all agree on, such as the Upper Class Twit of the Year competition, but also only shows excerpts of some skits, and not all are so funny. Each member of Python, with the obvious exception of Graham Chapman, comes up with his own fictionalized conception of his role. Terry Gilliam, in an impressive bit of acting for an animator, says it was all supposed to be an animated show and the other members were supposed to be minor players, but the show more live skits got out of hand. Terry Jones credits himself with creating Python and taking the other members on as a form of charity, since they couldn't get any work on their own. John Cleese plays a hard of hearing 96 (or 97, I forget) version of himself being interviewed and expressing anger over not being "Sir John" because of the Upper Class Twit of the Year skit. His episode also includes a long, seldom funny fairy tale at the beginning, which certainly doesn't represent the best of Monty Python. The members must have agreed to use the fish slapping dance as some sort of link between episodes, since it appears over and over. For sure humor, Palin's and Idol's episodes are probably the best. The Chapman episode highlights his ability to play everything from military figures to screeching women, and the other members' remembrances of him (and his alcoholism) are heartfelt. One interesting thing is seeing Idol sing the Lumberjack Song in his episode rather than Palin. Recommended for Python fans, but not a good point of entry for anyone new to their work. "And Now for Something Completely Different" would be my recommendation. show less

Although I have almost memorized the entire length of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I was never that conversant with the original series. Hark! Look here. What’s this? All the Words: The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Pantheon, 1989). Danger, danger, Will Robinson. Now I can be insufferable at parties, as I quickly memorize pertinent sections of this compendium. Now I too can say “Your Majesty is like a big jam doughnut with cream on the top,” and know that the follow-up show more is “like a doughnut, your arrival gives us pleasure, and your departure only makes us hungry for more.” Unfortunately, All the Words is only the TV series. You have to (and can, fortunately) buy the scripts for the movies separately. If that doesn’t satisfy your need for the python of fun, check out Kim “Howard” Johnson’s The First 20 Years of Monty Python (St. Martin’s, 1989), which supplies a wonderful biography of the group as a whole, and compliments George Perry’s earlier Life of Python (Little Brown, 1983). show less

An ordinary man in Judea in 33 AD joins the anti-Roman resistance.

Most of the humor doesn't stand up to repeated watching the way the other Python movies do, and there's too much focus on a plot (decidedly a bad direction for Monty Python), but even so it's still fun to watch.