Monty Python is a British comedy troupe that rose to fame because of their hit BBC television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Monty Python had six members namely, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Monty Python members were responsible for creating and developing the television sketches they performed in their Monty Python’s Flying Circus and also in their film and theatrical projects. The members of Monty Python are considered today, as reflected by results of several polls voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders, as some of the greatest comedians that ever performed.
Monty Python members Palin and Jones met at Oxford University while members Cleese and Chapman met at Cambridge. John Cleese met member Terry Gilliam while on tour. Monty Python member Cleese and Chapman knew Eric Idle as members of the group Footlights. Future Monty Python members worked with each other separately in different occasions before all working together on the show The Frost Report. While working on several shows, Monty Python members began to develop their own comedic style.
After the success of their initial collaborations, Monty Python members worked on their first project, a television show they soon called Monty Python’s Flying circus. The members of Monty Python wanted to veer away from the usual shtick of other shows during that time. Monty Python wanted to do away with punch lines, sometimes awkward, that used to underscore jokes in those shows. Furthermore, Monty Python member Gilliam introduced the idea of adding a visual element to the show through animation. Animations became a staple of each episode. Monty Python’s unique brand of comedy was well received in the UK. Soon, Americans also picked up the taste for Monty Python. Monty Python’s Flying Circus still influences television comedy shows today. This is particularly evident in the American program Saturday Night Live. When Monty Python member John Cleese felt that the show could no longer introduce anything new, he decided to leave the show by the end of its third season.
After the conclusion of their series, Monty Python members began working on films and theatrical productions. The list of successful Monty Python movies consists of And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). In theatre, Monty Python members performed in the stage productions of Monty Python's Flying Circus – between 1974 and 1980.
The success of Monty Python is phenomenal and can be credited to the individual genius of its members. Today, Monty Python members are still known and influential. Monty Python members may no longer be working as a group, but the generation that grew up watching them, will always remember the group with fondness.
