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.
Aye, Upperclass Twit of the Year is win. Since it wasn’t there, I had to go with Silly Walks.
Always partial to the Golden Age of Ballooning
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. "
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.
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.
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.
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?
Two words. Crunchy Frog
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.
The song can stand alone, but yes.
My favourite (and not on the above list) is Working Class Playwright. A skit on Sons and Lovers by D.H Lawrence.
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.
I just can’t pick one to stand out above all the others. They are all so good.
I always liked Eric the Half-a-Bee.
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.
And don’t forget the man with eight legs.
(He ran away.)
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 and Working Class Playwright.
There should be more choices from the movies: the castle taunting scene, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, Mr Creosote, etc.
Dead Parrot is still Number One, but just by a feather.
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 (part 1); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-FDW1shmqA (part 2)
The Election Special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31FFTx6AKmU
Lemming, Lemming, Lemming of the BDA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMHHWfSe4TE
Squad…camp it… UP!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_iH1GhM2j8