Monty Python!
The Lumberjack song. Silly Walks. The Naughty Bits of a man. The Meaning of Life. Poking fun at the Son of God. It’s…Monty Python’s Flying Circus.The very name of the comedy is pure hilarity. Monty Python is one of the greatest comedy acts of all time for many reasons, the range of their act, the multiple styles of comedy they have, and the unrivaled influence they have had on the comedy world. Even people, who weren’t even alive when the comedy troupe had its weekly show playing on the BBC, are still aware of and love Monty Python for its extreme satirical antics. Even if the satire isn’t understood it is enjoyable to watch. For a group that focused on satirical comedy, the range of which they covered was huge, be it political mis-spending, socio-economic structures, religion or life itself. they managed to cover it all with a comedic spin unrivaled by anyone. Not only did they attack current affairs, they went after history by telling their own version of the search for the Holy Grail. Even the style in which they did their comedy routine was very impressive and has yet to really be recreated without seeming cheesy. Terry Gilliam’s collages the group used as a segway and even as part of the actual act were devilishly cheeky, classically done, and the use of collage has never been the same since. Classic images such as the foot of God, that made a farting sound as it stomped on something, after descending from heaven is one of those iconic images created through a different medium for comic value. Cinematography even played an important role in the show and their movies by creating images emblazoned in the public’s mind for generations whether it is Brian (the satirical character representing Jesus) flying with aliens through outer space, or Death coming to a party for eating the salmon mousse. Not only that, the music and over the top dance numbers were always entertaining because of their inane topics such as Lumberjacks, Camelot, the proper uses of semen, Finland, and the many names for the male genetalia, and, of course, always looking on the bright side of life. One of the biggest parts of why Monty Python is one the greatest comedy groups of all time are the influence they have. Many members of the group have become comedy celebrities of massive proportion, like John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin. Other members have become very talented directors and producers like Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. Monty Python’s style and ideas transcend the 3,000-mile distance of the Atlantic Ocean and find themselves nestled quite comfortably in United States comedy as well as British humor. Only until recently in Britain did Monty Python become surpassed as one of the best comedy shows of all time, being passed up by the show Little Britain, which is almost a current version of Monty Python down to the last cross-dressing man, speaking in a high pitched voice. The influence is so great, that Broadway created a musical based on the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Spamalot, which won the Tony Award for best musical of the 2004-2005 season. The influence even extends into Mel Brooks’ own career and is most prevalent in the movie, The History of the World Part One, where much of the movie is similar to all three of Monty Python’s feature films. Monty Python is always a pleasure to watch and the comic joy it brings to all of its fans old and young will be prevalent for the rest of mankind. ; a shining example of good humor and creativity gelling into one cohesive art form.
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks or Monty Python? That is the question. Which of them is funnier: the dry British boys from the other side of the pond, or that wacky boy from Brooklyn New York? In my humble opinion I must side with the boy from Brooklyn because of the fact that he is a comedic god. Monty Python boys are funny, but in that tea and crumpet kind of way, but I am just a bagel and a cup of coffee kind of girl.Mel Brooks is a master of musical and satirical comedy with movies like Space Balls, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles Everyone at some point has seen and laughed at a Mel Brooks movie. His films have a wide range of topics from The History of the World Part I where people get a lesson in history from a Mel Brooks perspective including jokes about the Spanish Inquisition, the plague, and Christianity. One really good joke in History of the World Part I is between Comicus and Swiftus: “The Christians are so poor… How poor are they? Thank you… They are so poor they only have one God. But we Romans are rich. We’ve got a lot of gods. We’ve got a god for everything. The only thing we don’t have a god for is premature ejaculation…but I hear that’s coming quickly.” Man, isn’t that a zinger! He just keeps them coming throughout the whole movie. Orson Welles delivers one of the most memorable lines as the narrator of this movie with “And, of course, with the birth of the artist came the inevitable afterbirth-the critic.” Mel Brooks has a running gag in all of his films known as the Walk this way bit where a character says walk this way and the others copy his movements. This repeated gag inspired a classic rock song Walk This Way by Aerosmith. Now, can Monty Python say that they inspired a major rock group to write a hit song? No they can not. Which is another reason why Mel Brooks pawns Monty Python. One of my favorite things about Mel Brooks is the fantastic musical numbers in his movies. Gene Wilder, known for roles such as Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, was nominated for an Oscar, due to his role as Leo Bloom in the 1968 hit The Producers which has one of Mel Brooks’s greatest musical works. Spring Time for Hitler. It is a hilarious song about Hitler’s rise to power and the rebirth of Germany. It is a very quotable song with such gems as Mel Brooks playing a Storm Trooper singing “Don’t be stupid be a smarty come and join the Nazi party” and “Springtime for Hitler and Germany, Deutschland is happy and gay! We’re marching to a faster pace look out, Here comes the master race!” One of my favorite Mel Brook’s films is Blazing Saddles. It is hard to talk about why Mel Brooks is better than any other comedic group of writers without bringing up Blazing Saddles, starring Cleavon Little co-starring Gene Wilder and Madeline Khan. It is not only a fantastic movie filled with laughs, but makes a mockery of raciest beliefs, practices of the old west, the corruption of railroad companies and is also a farce of the classic westerns. Blazing Saddles even has a major star of westerns: Slim Pickens. One classic scene in the movie is where Bart (Cleavon Little) and Jim (Gene Wilder) are trying to sneak into the gang of bad guys and need disguises. Jim peeks out from behind a rock and draws the attention of two Klansmens, then Bart peeks out and says “Where are all the white women at?” A fight ensues and Bart and Jim steal their Klansmen outfits and try to sneak into the gang but they notice that Bart is dressed as a Klansmen, but yet he is black and a chase ensues. So Monty Python may have jokes about dead birds and Jesus’ pot smoking brother, but Mel Brooks has singing Hitlers, tap dancing Frankensteins, and manly men in tights singing in the woods. Mel Brooks, I salute you for you are a very funny, funny man.