Monty Python
| “ | And now for something completely different. | ” |
| Quote from Monty Python's Flying Circus | ||
| “ | ...And now for sometycompentydifferent. BUNG! | ” |
| Chris, trying to quote Monty Python through flapping autistic lips | ||
Monty Python is a British comedy troupe formed in the late 1960s by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. They created the popular comedy sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus which ran for 5 years on BBC1 before moving its last year to BBC2, becoming a phenomenon in the UK and later developing a strong cult following throughout the English-speaking world. The troupe followed up the TV show by producing three feature films, including the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Chris is a fan of the Monty Python comedy productions--he's bought almost $50 worth of Monty Python videos through his PlayStation Network account--and as is the case with every other form of entertainment he enjoys, he views them as an excellent source of material to steal for his own comics and videos. Due to a minor cultural barrier, he probably doesn't even understand more than half the jokes. Chris has said that his favorite skit from the show is the "Dead Parrot" sketch.[1]
Even though Chris is a big fan of the Monty Python franchise, he has on more then one occasion gotten the name of the television series wrong. In both CWCFlyingElephants and his Flipnote animation CWC 3D Voice Check, he refers to the show as Monty Python's Flying Elephants (instead of Monty Python's Flying Circus). This isn't accidental, and Chris believes that "Flying Elephants" is the correct name.
It is currently unknown whether Chris is aware that Graham Chapman (who, ironically enough, excelled at playing the comic "straight man") was openly gay, and, in fact, one of the first openly gay men on television, thus making him something of a hero to modern-day queer and queer-friendly people. If so, this clearly doesn't stop him from enjoying the show; he is, after all, a fan of LittleBigPlanet, despite its narration by Stephen Fry, who is also openly gay. So, as long as they entertain him, Chris is willing to tolerate homosexuals.
The sextet's sense of humor is difficult to categorize. It combines satire, surrealism, cultural references, the deft use of non-sequitur, and liberal doses of vulgarity that often made it controversial back in the day. One way to define the Python style of comedy, though, might be this: imagine if Chris's infamous random-access humor were actually somehow made funny, and not in a so-bad-it's-good way.
Chris's interpretation
Chris seems to have developed the notion that Monty Python involves putting something idiotic in a situation, and thus, it will make the scene funny. The fact that he believes this and makes it the basis of his random-access humor shows that he has little to no understanding of the finer facets of the show.
While not always exactly highbrow or remotely esoteric, the show is quite masterful in its comedic devices. If we look at some of the more famous sketches such as "The Spanish Inquisition", we see how the Monty Python crew start with what seems to be a humorous scene about jargon and a muffling accent is suddenly interrupted by a troupe of medieval clergymen who seek to extract confessions. All this deriving from the use of a language idiom in the beginning of what seemed to be a completely different scene. This is followed by increasingly more absurdist humor based on the Inquisitors.
The formula of a normal situation which has become funny in its own right followed by absurdist humor coming directly out of the use of an idiom is totally lost on Chris. Instead he sees it as "SOMEONE SHOUTED SOMETHING RANDOM, IT MUST BE FUNNY."
Even the phrase "And now for something completely different" that Chris has borrowed ripped off completely mispronounced and massacred was used in the original sketches as a way to lead into new material, but remained meaningful because the segue itself was completely different from the previous sketch. On the other hand, Chris merely uses it just to introduce more of his bullshit.
Attempts to be Pythonesque
If CWCFlyingElephants is to be our guide to how Chris thinks Monty Python humor is constructed, then we are to believe that things can be funny by skipping around to several random clips with no set-up or basis (while naked, no less). To top it off, Chris throws in bits of completely unrelated material from other comedy shows that have humor completely different from Monty Python, such as South Park and Ed, Edd n Eddy. While both shows are highly-regarded in their own rights, the fact remains that these programs are all known for their different, unique varieties of humor, which doesn't stop Chris from mashing them together in a retarded fashion that he thinks represents Monty Python.
In addition to not involving proper set-up, planning and generally anything clever to the comedy process, Chris also fails to realize that only one character having dialogue is confusing. Whereas Monty Python will have either funny monologues related to one topic or derive humor from juxtaposing the absurd with the normal, Chris just carries on a conversation with himself and loses all nuances of setting and context.
Actual ripoffs
Gags Chris has ripped from Python TV sketches and movies include:
- The catchphrase "...And now for something completely different" (or "somecummpentydifferent" as Chris mispronounces it). This was a running gag on the Python TV shows, part punchline and part segue. It would usually signal the end of a short bit of surreal imagery and lead into something new. In Chris's case, it's a sign that he's about to randomly access something "humorous". Case in point, CWCFlyingElephants.
- At the beginning of CWCFlyingElephants, Chris seems to be attempting to channel Monty Python's "Johann Gambolputty" sketch,[2] but all he can muster is "Johann" interspersed with some nonsensical dialog. He then goes on to quote various other sketches, most noticeably a series of "I'd like to see..." lines in which he does an unmistakable impersonation of a "Gumby".
- Darkbind Sonichu's fight with the Merried Seinor Comic in Sonichu #3. This is an almost word-for-word imitation of King Arthur (Graham Chapman)'s battle with the Black Knight (John Cleese) in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The hedgehog that steals Jimmy Hill's teeth in Sonichu #10 originally appeared in the "Piranha Brothers" sketch, where he was named "Spiny Norman," although he never showed any particular interest in false teeth. Chris probably just fixates on anything hedgehog-related. He's obviously failing at both violence and sarcasm.
Gallery of things which are completely different
You can see here how Chris has replicated the incredibly humorous dialogue... by numbering it.
Because Ed, Edd n Eddy is really no different than masters of British non-sequitur comedy. Not in Chris's mind anyway...
Random-access humor and Monty Python are completely interchangeable.
...I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear papa!
See also
References
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