The Pythons

Chapman, Graham; Palin, Michael; Cleese, John; Gilliam, Terry; Idle, Eric; Jones, Terry

4.08

2,284 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 1593974000 ISBN 13: 9781593974008

Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 2003

For the first time all surviving Pythons have agreed to create the definitive, official, "completely-different-than-anything-done-before" audiobook on the Monty Python's Flying Circus and the 'genius' who created it.

Over thirty years ago a group of five Englishmen and one wayward American rewrote the rules of comedy. Monty Python's Flying Circus, an unheralded half-hour of sketches, hilarities, inanities, and animations first appeared on the BBC late one night in 1969. Its impact on the world has been felt ever since. This audio edition is a complilation of unique never-before-heard interviews with the Python team conducted by Bob McCabe while he researched the Python book, plus clips from the famous Monty Python sketches, including "The Parrot Sketch", "Nudge, Nudge, Wink Wink", "Spam" and the "Ministry of Silly Walks." Narration will be by Bob McCabe with Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and featuring, Eric Idle, John Cleese and Terry Jones.

Here is a unique glimpse at arguably the most important comic team of the modern age. Do you want Spam with that?

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Review:

Python fans will need to clear a large space on their bookshelf or coffee table for The Pythons--a big, vital autobiography of the comedy troupe. This is an oral history by the six members (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) from birth to--in the case of Chapman--death. We get reminisces about childhood, university days, early successes, and rich details about the landmark Flying Circus TV series and subsequent films. The voices are fresh (with expectation of Michael Palin's insightful diary entries), not just complied from earlier publications. "Due to his insistence of being inconveniently dead," Chapham's voice is heard through his longtime partner David Sherlock, his brother and sister-in-law (and some archival materials). As a whole, the six impart a refreshing ability to deal honestly with the frustrations that arose over the years and it comes out in the text even when events are recalled differently. The book is not a light read (figuratively and literally), perhaps a smaller size would have been better for the amount of text; a cursory glance at the coffee table is tough. What does fill the book is an abundance of photos (over 1,000), most never published and many from the troupe's private collections. Along with concept sketches, Gilliam's drawings and doodles, and a few correspondences, this is a keepsake memento of the legendary group. --Doug Thomas

About the Author:

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman (estate) are all lifelong (so far) members of Monty Python.

Bob McCabe is a noted film critic and author of over a dozen books on movies.

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