Monty Python Speaks

While this book will not reveal anything earth-shattering to the average Python fan, it is a fun and witty look at one of the most influencial comedy teams ever. As a fan of Python fan, I really enjoyed it.The five surviving members of Python and the partner of the late Graham Chapman were interviewed on a variety of topics including the origins of Python, writing the shows, making the movies, and the disbanding of the Pythons. David Morgan also catches up with the surviving members of Monty Python at their most recent reunion in 1999. The retorts to the questions are the informative yet witty replies you would expect from these comic legends. The book gives a solid history of Monty Python in the words of the men themselves. Readers get an excellent idea of what was going on behind the scenes. Everything is discussed including the parrot sketch.

Monty Python member Michael Palin says, "I think there's a danger in Pythons analyzing their own work. I think we shouldn't do it." Unfortunately for him, he and the other Pythons spend 315 pages doing just that, in a delightful new book titled MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS. For the uninitiated, here's a quick history. Monty Python is the collective name for a group of five Britons--Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin--and a transplanted American, Terry Gilliam. They are responsible for 45 of the funniest half-hours ever broadcast on television (in Britain beginning in 1969, America in 1974) and some equally inventive movies. Chapman died of cancer on the very eve of the group's twentieth anniversary--"Worst case of party-pooping I've ever seen," said Terry Jones.For Python fanatics (I count myself among them), the new book is akin to the Holy Grail that the group sought in their infamous 1975 movie. The surviving group members and many of their associates are interviewed by David Morgan, and as befits their comedic style, the Pythons are quite open and frank about the group's highs and lows. Among the many illuminated topics and tidbits are:* Graham Chapman's alcoholism, about which he was quite open himself. (While filming one of their movies, Michael Palin came across a half-empty bottle of gin belonging to Chapman. Palin had seen the bottle completely full earlier in the day.)* Their first American TV appearance. It was on a 1972 "Tonight Show," where guest host Joey Bishop introduced them with the immortal line, "This is a comedy group from England. I hear they're supposed to be funny."* Python didn't have a chance in America until a PBS station manager in Texas--"Dallas, of all places," says Cleese--took a chance on them. Friends of the station manager were afraid his station would get burned down.* Their then-manager absconded with the funds from their 1980 appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. They made no money from the gig until they released their 1982 movie of the concert.* When ABC-TV brutally edited three of their TV episodes for a 1975 special, the Pythons sued the network, on the grounds that they'd rather make less money than have someone else censoring their work.The ABC incident points up two concrete truths about Python: (1) Like them or not, their particular world view is uncompromised, and their fans appreciate their honesty. (2) Said view shouldn't be left in the hands of people who just plain don't understand them. The people who would "sanitize" it are the same kind of people that Python's comedy satirizes.But maybe I romanticize Python only because I grew up with it. I completely don't get the followings for "South Park" or THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, but I can still recite reams of Python dialogue. For others with similar bents, the new book is must reading.

Normally the python books (or books on Monty Python) are the usual sort: prehistories of the show that include 'The Frost Report,' 'At Last the 1948 Show'; summaries of all the Flying Circus Episodes, and theatrical aspects of their solo movies. Things that any self-respecting python fan would know offhand. And who reads summaries of episodes anyway? It all grows very dull, for the most interesting thing, the quotes from the pythons themselves, are usually quite sparse. This, however, is just one very long interview with all the pythons (except the one that croaked, bless his soul) and some other collaborators. Very, very interesting, infinitely rereadable, and I like the way they agree on things like the movies, even though they are interviewed seperately. Plus the biographies of each of them are not some person reciting their birthdates and schooling - its the other pythons talking about them. And, thankfully, the only summaries of the episodes are at the very end in front of the bibliography section, that highlight the 'best' sketches from each show.

Having read several other accounts of Python's history - "Life of Python," "The First 20 Years of Monty Python," and "Life Before and After Monty Python" - I must disagree with some of the other comments on this site. This tome DOES offer some fresh insights into the inner workings of Python. Specifically, the group dynamic - and especially the dynamic between the two writing teams of Chapman/Cleese and Jones/Palin - is discussed in greater length than in previous books. The contributions of the late Graham Chapman are especially scrutinized, as the others reveal information surpressed until after his death. Plus, several anecdotes regarding on-set occurences pop up. True, Idle's comments are a bit cheekier and less illuminating than those of his cohorts, but Idle - always considered the most cutting and acerbic Python - is probably (and quite understandably) sick to death of talking about Python when he's done so much quality solo work. Again, the main reason to read this book is to learn more about the WRITING PROCESS of Python... and it's fascinating stuff. And, the writing was always what Python was primarily about. As they've said themselves, they were essentially a writer's collective which performed their own material as a defense against other performers mucking it up. A great read!

This book, from the mouths of Monty Python, offers a clear view into how their classic humor came about. All six members are much quoted. If the process of how this classic British group evolved and grew interests you then this is a must. Palin on Gilliam. Cleese on Jones. Idle on Graham. And on and on and on. Insights offered into the actual mechanics of writing a sketch or shooting a scene are as unique as the group itself. Title could easily have been Python on Python. If you are a Python fan - ORDER NOW. If not - order now.Sincerely YoursGeneral Elect - Sophie Gruntswald XXOO