#mpiconic

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incomplete list of iconic things michael palin did

wanted to name monty python after his neighbor because he thought it’d be funny to suddenly find out there’s a whole tv show named after you

is known as the nicest man in the world and i believe it even though i’ve yet to meet him

monty python basically exists because john cleese wanted to work with him

apologized to Carol Cleveland for the fact their roles for her weren’t that well-rounded and went out of his way to include her in sketches during Flying Circus

improvised “Hey, but I didn't eat the mousse” in meaning of Life

he’s the one that wrote the fake Swedish subtitles for Holy Grail (Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?)

is a fan of trains and wrote a whole sketch about them (The train timetables murder sketch)

when he goes to different countries for his travel documentaries, he’s the most respectful motherfucker and is always willing to learn about the places he goes

is going to release a new travel documentary from North Korea soon, Palin is a bamf

ate mud for Holy Grail only to discover he wasn’t on screen and threw a tantrum that’s valid

According to Carol Cleveland, as the group were exiting backstage one night, a 20-something girl ran up to Palin, screamed "Oh, Michael!", and promptly fainted in his arms. Palin had to pass the girl to others to help, as he was literally shocked into speechlessness.

corpses a LOT and i love him for it (Pontius Pilate, travel agent sketch, my brain hurts, you can see him break a lot)

he’s so passionate? honestly just watch him and john in the Life of Brian debates he’s ready to throw hands

after playing someone with a stammer for A Fish Called Wanda he started his own foundation for children with stammers

published his diaries for public edification

is so good at playing a wide array of characters from Gumby to sleazy Blackmail host to a crossdressing lumberjack like you believe him in every role he plays

once drove 60mph (96.5km/h) dressed as a pantomime horse

referred to writing with Cleese instead of his normal partner Jones as “going away from an afternoon and cheating on your wife”

has been married for over 50 years, and his wife appears in Around the World in 80 Days and they just seem so cute

smoked weed with eric at least once during holy grail

others: monty python, graham chapman, john cleese, eric idle, terry jones,

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incomplete list of iconic things graham chapman did

apparently he was completely silent during writing sessions but when he did speak it would totally shift the sketches into hilarity (like it was his idea to make the faulty item a dead parrot instead of an appliance)

was the best straight man (Stop Being Silly Colonel, King Arthur, and Brian) and amplified comedy by not being silly and offering a great contrast

was a qualified doctor, and often served as the set physician when Python was filming to save money and took it 100% seriously

suffered from alcoholism but beat it in order to play Brian and was ten years sober the years before he died

asked to play God in Meaning of Life because he was frustrated at the Church of England for refusing to marry him and his partner David Sherlock

apparently when he was invited to speak at the Oxford Union, he showed up dressed as a carrot, stood in silence for ten minutes and then left.

openly gay since the early 70s, which is super badass 

was in an Iron Maiden music video (“Can I play with madness”)

when the pythons were denied entrance to a concentration camp museum, he shouted “tell them we’re Jewish!” and they were let in

was a mountaineer, and did his own stunts for the sketch where he dangled from a wire

according to Cleese he “just adored bad taste”

even after dying in 1989, the Pythons make sure he’s still a feature in all of their performances

others: monty python, john cleese, eric idle, terry jones,

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incomplete list of iconic things monty python did

said “fuck you” to typical sketch structure and refused to do weak punchlines and instead ended scripts when they stopped being funny

had really cool names for things like Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album and The Monty Python Gift Boks and The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief and Monty Python: Almost the Truth the Lawyer’s Cut.

their vox pops on Flying Circus are hilarious here’s evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Taf5v3M0yr8

are responsible for so much of the general comedy-stock-phrase lexicon: that is an EX-(whatever), are you suggesting coconuts migrate?, what have the romans for me etc etc basically all of comedy is owed to the pythons

were so done after the troubled production of Holy Grail that they just decided to do the “cop out” ending  

made a whole movie about the fallacies of religion in a relatable and hilarious way (“The gourd” “THE SANDAL”) like yeah it got banned in several places but it’s an amazing movie

all have astroids named after them that’s pretty dope

Upper Class Twit of the Year is a goddamn masterpiece

George Harrison mortgaged his house in order to give them the budget for Life of Brian because he wanted to see it

lost a lawsuit and decided to throw a major retirement party {Monty Python Live (Mostly)} to pay for it

and when those tickets when live they sold out in UNDER A MINUTE!!!

according to Michael Palin they “couldn’t wait to get into drag”

won the Grand Prize of the Jury award at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for Meaning of Life

had amazing names for characters, like Mr Praline, Ken Shabby, Dinsdale, Raymond Luxury Yacht

and Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumble-meyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm

they end their live shows with PISS OFF. simple and effective.

if you ask anyone familiar with them what their favorite sketch is, they’ll probably ramble and debilitate for like twenty minutes i know i do

the Custard Pie Lecture is funny on so many levels i don’t have time to go over it watch it for yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSgRkBWNlBo

the meaning of life:  “It's nothing special. Try to be nice to people. Avoid eating fat. Read a good book now and then. Get some walking in. Try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

they hate censorship and always try to fuck with it when they can

when they rewatch or act their own stuff for the billionth time, they still laugh

they picked their theme song for flying circus because it was public domain

nobody expects the spanish inquisition

their comedy has such a wide range to like the intricate and esoteric Philosophy sketches to like the seemingly unintelligent “my brain hurts!!!” gumbys they really do it All™

they brought back so many key people of their history for the 2014 Live show, not only the surviving Pythons but Carol Cleveland (“the Python Girl”), Arlene Phillips (choreographer of Meaning of Life), Hazel Pethig (costume designer), and John Du Prez (composer of Spamalot) like idk that’s just really sweet

when they appeared at Live in Aspen, they had an urn of Graham Chapman’s ashes and like halfway through the interview Terry Gilliam knocked it over 

subverted so many comedy expectations and really just set the standard i love them

feel free to add ur own 

others: graham chapman, john cleese, eric idle, terry jones, michael palin, carol cleveland

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incomplete list of iconic things carol cleveland did

went to RADA she knows her shit

was in 2/3 of the flying circus episodes, and in every single python movie and like all but two live shows she’s a goddamn institution

she was told after graduating that she should get a nose job and refused, damn right!!

very good at playing the “straight man” to the python antics and her reactions to things are so spot on, like her performance in the dirty fork sketch? oscar worthy

held her own in a group of admittedly stubborn and self-focused guys, killing every part she was given

also played male roles on Python, most notably in the Jungle Restaurant sketch

Flying Circus featured a wide array of female performers but Carol as the most iconic, terry jones says it best: “(The sketches) would have all been much better if we'd always just had Carol”

the new director on Flying Circus was going to let her contract expire and not let her do anymore episodes but the Pythons insisted she stay because she’s THAT good

in Life of Brian when she and Michael fought on the ground, they had such a good time that they KEPT tussling and no one told them to cut

“but it’s my only line!”

after Python kind of fizzled out, she moved to the stage (if you read her autobiography PomPoms Up! she has some great stories

improvised the “oh shit” in Holy Grail

when she realized that the audience knew all the words when they did the Hollywood Bowl, she changed her line from “do you want to go upstairs?” to “do you want a blowjob?”

they brought her back for Monty Python Live (Mostly) and she was so good and excited to be back

still acts but also does a lot of art exhibits

others: monty python, graham chapman, john cleese, eric idle, terry jones, michael palin

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incomplete list of iconic things john cleese did

if you think of memorable monty python sketches he’s probably in them, he’s just THAT good

is 6’5 tall, which he can’t control but that’s still cool right

his comedy exudes rage and it’s really just a beautiful spectacle to behold

during Holy Grail when Terry Jones tried to direct him, he would cut him off “I’m SORRY Terry I know you’re trying to direct but it’s very off-putting”

a part of the most iconic british comedies, Monty Python and Fawlty Towers

gave one of the most famous eulogies ever at graham chapman’s funeral watch it if you want to cry

wanted people to go to his belgian live shows so he did this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO2VHtOkrN0

left Flying Circus because he didn’t want it to keep going until it wasn’t funny but came back for the movies and live shows

is an oscar nominated screenwriter

really likes lemurs and has a species of lemur named after him

instead of leaving an awful hotel with a horrendous hotel manager, he instead studied him and used him as the basis for Fawlty Towers like that’s peak pettiness

forgot the excessively long name of the Enchanter in Holy Grail so he improvised Tim

in Monty Python Live 2014 the Pythons had a bet that whoever laughed first would have to donate 10,000 pounds to charity and he corpsed in the first minute

“Some people ask me to do ads and I think, I don't really want to sell potato crisps.”

once hid in michael’s hotel room to scare him

Eric Idle: “John Cleese once told me he'd do anything for money. So I offered him a pound to shut up, and he took it.”

insisted on visiting his cats during an interview

basically created Monty Python because he wanted to work with Michael Palin

his family’s real last name is Cheese, but his grandfather changed it but he kind of wants to bring it back and go by Jack Cheese

he narrates a ton of childrens films and that’s cool (my fave is Mickey’s Mechanical House)

carol cleveland said that john was kind of the “face” of python, and that people would say “oh that monty python he’s SO funny” to her in reference to him

went to school for law but became an actor instead and later incorporated it into his writing

“I never enjoyed The Meaning of Life. I always regarded that entire film as a bit of a cockup.” ABOUT HIS OWN MOVIE nice

has a very sweet interview where he talks about trying to cheer up his dying mother: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f74L2hRZE1Y

every time he mentions michael palin’s travel documentaries he YAWNS really loudly 

reunited with eric idle for a comedy tour back in like 2016 that’s cute

is now touring again at 78 like damn

others: monty python, graham chapman, eric idle, terry jones, michael palin, carol cleveland

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incomplete list of iconic things terry jones did

 directed all the python original movies (Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam) all while also acting in them that’s so impressive

was always ready to strip for comedy’s sake

in fact, watch this video for the best striptease ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJ4C0QdFHo

the best Python at playing women, so genuine yet outlandish all at once

can shriek like no other

is the shortest Python at 5′8 (1.72m) 

he and michael put off a days writing to “get to grips” with the beatles’ white album back in the 60s

according to Cleese, he was just so passionate about every aspect of a film and sketch

“One of the things we tried to do with the show was to try and do something that was so unpredictable that it had no shape and you could never say what the kind of humor was. And I think that the fact that ‘Pythonesque’ is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed.”

is really good at silent and physical comedy, carol cleveland was right when she said “he has a bit of Chaplin in him”

threw a chair at john cleese once so badass

is a history major so a lot of the things in Holy Grail are accurate, and often looks into famous historical portrayals for accuracy AND writes history books

just such a nerd it’s really adorable

if you can, try to find the video where he and Michael look through all the Holy Grail shooting locations, it’s so fucking cool and it’s like twenty years later and he knows all these facts and they’re just so adorable 

writes poetry

according to wikipedia, it “was largely he who developed the stream-of-consciousness style which abandoned punchlines and encouraged the fluid movement of one sketch into another, allowing the troupe's conceptual humour the space to ‘breathe’”

now has dementia (primary progressive aphasia) and is now mostly retired but not letting that get him down i hope he’s doing well

others: monty python, graham chapman, john cleese, eric idle, michael palin, carol cleveland,

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incomplete list of iconic things eric idle did

got so sick of the question “what are you going to do next” after Holy Grail and said “Jesus Christ’s Lust for Glory”

wrote some of the most amazing songs ever “always look on the bright side of life” and “sit on my face”

he’s really good at playing women??? like the others were shrieky and hilarious but he’s so good at playing soft and feminine and was SO believable

wrote a whole fucking musical AND comedic opera based on Holy Grail

im pretty sure it’s the only comedic oratorio ever

is also good at monologues?? like when he runs through the audience during Live at the Hollywood Bowl?? pure art

wrote sketches on his own and often served as the unbiased judge of the others’ sketches

honestly keeps python alive, he organized the 2014 live show and did Camelot, he’s all about keeping them in the public consciousness over forty years later

creator of “nudge nudge” the best phrase to imply sexual connotations

updated “The Galaxy Song” when he realized that some of the science was out of date

in holy grail’s Burn the Witch scene, you can see him bite down on a scythe because he was going to start laughing

created a parody beatles band that actually was good on its own merit (The Rutles)

was also best friends with former Beatle George Harrison (read about their friendship online or in the Greedy Bastard Tour Diary)

also updated the Penis Song to include Vaginas and Butts

has a coding language named after him

is now writing the Spamalot movie script so that’s gonna be rad and has his autobiography coming out in October

he’s really awesome about talking to fans on twitter like he’s the sweetest

“Being an ex-Python is weird. I suppose we are all mistaken for the people we once were, that’s what the fossilization of fame is all about, but we’re not really them, are we? Those young men are long since gone. We have to talk about them as though we still are them, but we’re not, you know. They were smart, young, and terribly clever. We older, wider, and grayer men are their descendants.” this is just a really cool apt quote

others: monty python, graham chapman, john cleese, terry jones, michael palin, carol cleveland