# Best Monty Python Sketch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593 "2009-10-12T22:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/21 "2009-10-13T03:50:39Z")
I’ve voted for the Cheese Shop sketch. There are sketches i’ve laughed at more, notably the Four Yorkshiremen, but I think as far as “best” goes, I have to go for Cheese Shop, because it is, for the most part, one man listing cheeses to another man. It’s not easy to make that funny. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/22 "2009-10-13T03:54:11Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > A good list. I went with Argument Clinic. > > But that’s only because these were not listed: > Upperclass Twit of the Year Contest > Ken Cleanairsystem > Scott of the Sahara > Pirahna Brothers Aye, Upperclass Twit of the Year is win. Since it wasn’t there, I had to go with Silly Walks. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/23 "2009-10-13T03:57:14Z")
Always partial to the Golden Age of Ballooning [http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/montgolf.htm](http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/montgolf.htm) “There is also a book called ‘The Golden Age of Ballooning’ published by the BBC to coincide with the series. It’s in an attractive hand-tooled binding, is priced £5 and failure to buy it will make you liable to a £50 fine or three months’ imprisonment.” Spoken by Michael with a Scottish accent: "Louis: All right, Louis XVI!.. listen to me, smart arse, when you’re King of France,… you’ve got better things to do than go around all day remembering your bloody number. " "Butler: Well I’ll look for one more month, sir. " ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/24 "2009-10-13T04:24:00Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I never understood why the Dead Parrot sketch was funny. I’ve always held the Dead Parrot sketch close to my heart because when I was tiny, long before I knew there was any such thing as a Monty Python, my dad used to tell it to me as a sort of demented bedtime story (my mom always yelled at him for doing things like that). It was years before I found out it was from a TV show - I just thought it was an amazingly good joke my dad had come up with. Right behind that would be the Lumberjack Song. Performed it with a friend for a drama class sketch (bonus points because we were girls dressing up as boys dressing up (eventually) as girls. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/25 "2009-10-13T04:35:16Z")
I voted for ‘Dead Parrot’. I also like ‘Cheese Shop’, which is very similar. I might have voted for ‘Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit’, if I wasn’t tired and didn’t miss it. I think the one that I use quotes from the most is ‘Cannibalism’. ‘Ew! With a gammy leg?’ (I have bad knees, y’see…) And ‘How Not To Be Seen’ comes to mind often. So many great ones. It’s hard to choose. But I chose the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/26 "2009-10-13T06:20:42Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > As noted at the gnews link, “Four Yorkshiremen” predates Python. Cleese, Chapman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Marty Feldman wrote and performed it for the 1967 series _At Last the 1948 Show_. I knew this, but I just found out that the Bookshop sketch is also originally from _1948_. I voted for Argument Clinic, but Cheese Shop was close behind. Other favs not listed are Olympic Hid and Seek, Upper Class Twit of the Year, Confuse-a-Cat, Fish License, Blackmail, the full Bruces sketch, and Election Night Special. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/27 "2009-10-13T06:46:50Z")
Fish License needs to be on the list, as it would get my vote as best ever. Also, aren’t “alcohol philosophy song” and “the Bruces” pretty much the same sketch? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/28 "2009-10-13T07:37:17Z")
Two words. Crunchy Frog ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/29 "2009-10-13T08:35:09Z")
I agree with the others that Fish License is my favorite (we are including the song Eric the Half-a-Bee with it, right?). Otherwise, I voted for Argument Clinic. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/30 "2009-10-13T08:47:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > …Also, aren’t “alcohol philosophy song” and “the Bruces” pretty much the same sketch? The song can [stand alone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQycQ8DABvc), but yes. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/31 "2009-10-13T09:50:19Z")
My favourite (and not on the above list) is [Working Class Playwright](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLoVF7vcBtY). A skit on _Sons and Lovers_ by D.H Lawrence. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/32 "2009-10-13T10:59:26Z")
My favorite isn’t on the list. Then again it’s not really a sketch since it actually spans the whole show. I could keep watching “The Cycling Tour” over and over again. At least until I fall off near Ottery St. Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/33 "2009-10-13T12:22:34Z")
I just can’t pick one to stand out above all the others. They are all so good. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/34 "2009-10-13T13:42:12Z")
I always liked [Eric the Half-a-Bee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_-vxAFcQIU). > [@](#): > > Half a bee, philosophically, > Must, ipso facto, half not be. > But half the bee has got to be > Vis a vis, its entity. D’you see? > > But can a bee be said to be > Or not to be an entire bee > When half the bee is not a bee > Due to some ancient injury? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/35 "2009-10-13T14:36:41Z")
I mistakenly voted for Silly Olympics thinking it was the Upper Class Twit of the Year Show. :smack: Also left out were: Crunchy Frog RAF Banter Archeology Today I wouldn’t include it on the list, but I found Flying Lessons (“Up on the table, flap your arms!”) to be rather side-splitting. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/36 "2009-10-13T14:53:58Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I love the play on class distinction in “A Man wth Three Buttocks.” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqosS6DBwhA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqosS6DBwhA) And don’t forget the man with eight legs. (He ran away.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/37 "2009-10-13T15:09:30Z")
It’s a [del]fair cop, but society’s to blame[/del] trite pick, but the Dead Parrot Sketch is a small piece of perfection that does everything you can do with a simple but funny premise. Two lesser favorites that aren’t on the list is: the [Agatha Christie Sketch](http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode11.htm#3) and [Working Class Playwright](http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode02.htm#8). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/38 "2009-10-13T15:14:35Z")
There should be more choices from the movies: the castle taunting scene, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, Mr Creosote, etc. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/39 "2009-10-13T16:00:57Z")
Dead Parrot is still Number One, but just by a feather. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593/40 "2009-10-13T16:18:32Z")
Of those listed, I like The Bruces best, but I must also sign the praises of: The Piranha Brothers: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygg2KlicnOQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygg2KlicnOQ) (part 1); [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-FDW1shmqA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-FDW1shmqA) (part 2) The Election Special: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31FFTx6AKmU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31FFTx6AKmU) Lemming, Lemming, Lemming of the BDA: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMHHWfSe4TE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMHHWfSe4TE) Squad…camp it… UP!: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I\_iH1GhM2j8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_iH1GhM2j8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-monty-python-sketch/513593.md?page=3)