Python Speaks

Python Speaks by David Morgan

How does one actually describe the humor of Monty Python?  It seems as though you cannot find a more diverse set of opinions.  On one side, you have the devout worshipers who seem to relish in the fact that they have every scene from every show and movie memorized.  On the other side, you have multitudes that just never “got it”.  You can’t deny the influence nor their longevity, however.  It’s also a bit odd that even though the group came into existence 47 years ago, they’ve actually only spent a very small amount of that time working together. There was a BBC television show that lasted about 5 years, 3 movies that probably took up a total of about 18 months of the team’s time, and a couple of live “tours” (the most recent was a very successful 2014 reunion featuring the 5 surviving members.  This book was written before that).

All of the Python projects have been well documented.  There’s almost more material out there about the team than there is actual original material.  That’s a bit where this books suffers.  Yes, it’s chocked full of interview snippets from the group, as well as those closely associated with them, but you can’t really help feel that you’ve read most of this stuff before.  The author wisely chooses the chronological approach.  We first read about the pre Python days when all of the members were working on various television projects in Britain. We then read about the successful “Flying Circus” television program.  Then, we transfer to the brief times from 1974-1983 and read a bit about each of the three feature films.  There’s some focus on the individual projects (there were many), but not really that much.  After all, this is supposed to be about the group, not the individuals.

The interview process throughout the book also seemed a bit haphazard.  There were periods in the team’s history, where it seems only one or two people are being interviewed.  Many times this person wasn’t even a Python member.  I seem to recall one stretch of several pages  where the only person interviewed was the author Douglas Adams (“Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”).  So it does seem oddly uneven at times.

There were also parts of the book that I simply didn’t find as interesting as I had hoped.  When we get to the time period featuring “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, for instance, it seems as though 90% of the interviews dealt with the describing the differences between the two directors, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.

You do learn a bit more about the personalities.  John Cleese seemed to be a bit insufferable once he became bored early in the television program, Terry Gilliam seems to now only enjoy comedy about anarchistic tendencies to blow everything up, Graham Chapman seemed to be aloof and lazy, and Michael Palin, fortunately, seemed to be a very likable, amiable fellow.  Speaking of Cleese and Gilliam, it also seems from this book that the two really didn’t get along very well.

This is a good read if you’re a fan, but it is by no means a “must” read.  The history of this comedy troupe has been so well documented in so many formats that you’ll only pick up a few things that you didn’t already know.  For the diehard fan only.