Splunge for me, too!
If my first knowledge of Monty Python came from nerds quoting it all the time, I probably wouldn’t find them funny either. But I watched the movie (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) well before being in classes with the sort who quoted it all the time to death. So, what I’m trying to say, is maybe you don’t find it funny because it’s been too hyped up for you. That’s the reason I don’t find The Princess Bride funny.
It’s just funny, know what I mean, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
It was very original. It took sudden, surreal turns in very unexpected directions.
FWIW, I find MP, FT, BTF and BTF alum’s movies like The Lavender Hill Mob and The Lady Killers busting a gut, laugh till you cry funny and yet Mr. Bugnorton (who is also a child of the 50’s) finds them deathly dull, so it can’t just be context of the times, etc. Maybe Sanja was onto something as to one’s interests affecting what one finds funny. Now, bring me a shrubbery!
When MP first came on PBS, it took me a few episodes to really warm to it. Then I loved it. Now I’ve seen all of it too many times.
When I first saw MPATHG in a theater, it fell rather flat for me. Again, I appreciated it more after seeing it on TV. Something similar happened at the very first preview showing of the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera. It bombed. Nobody laughed, at the stateroom scene or anything else. They immediately gave a second showing at a different theater nearby (same audience) and it killed.
Another example - the Ministry of Silly Walks. You have this outrageous walk being the only unusual thing in a man who is in all other respects the perfect portrayal (not some clumsy or extreme parody) of a buttoned-up British official.
I like Beyond the Fringe, too.
I also liked the Second City of the 60s that arose from the Compass Players in Chicago:[ul][li]Professor Walter von der Vogelweide presents A Short Talk On The Universe. “Now why, you will ask, have I chosen to talk on the universe instead of some other topic.”[/li][li]A Lecture on Free Will and Necessity - What would have happened to Oedipus if he had read the book before going on his journey?[/li]A museum guide explains a piece of art. Woman: “I don’t like it.” Guide: “Well, you’re wrong.”[/ul]These three comedy troupes arose from major universities - Oxford and Cambridge for MP and BTF, U. of Chicago for SC. I think the intellectual background was a vital part of their comedy, not just in the ideas, but the precise portrayals of the intellectuals and professionals they were parodying.
I find Monty Python Funny. One of the things that appeals to me is the ridiculous stuff that happens and is done with absolute conviction and seriousness. I think this fits well with nerdy personalities (of which am one, although probably not in the classic sense).
I think I wouldn’t have liked Monty Python so much if I had known some of the earnest fans before seeing them. Also I was young enough to really like the sex bits (not that I don’t enjoy them now, but at that age naughty stuff was much funnier and exciting).
Oh, and as to the charge that Monty Python is “stupid” humor, I don’t agree. I think it is both stupid and smart at the same time. For example, there’s that line in Holy Grail where the peasant says goes off on King Arthur telling him that he is part of an “anarcho-syndicalist collective” and that executive power rests in the people and so forth.
I, of course, must agree with the people who say that if you don’t get it you don’t get it and that’s OK. I think Monty Python’s appeal is particularly hard to explain because it’s so surreal. I do hope that perhaps some day you figure it out because I’ve had a lot of pleasure laughing at Monty Python, but if you don’t like it now I’m not sure you’ll change later.
I thought The Holy Grail was hilarious. It was my first exposure to Python. Apparently they just got lucky that time. Life of Brian and Meaning of Life sucked (with the exception of the intro bit in Meaning of Life where the old men start a mutiny in the office building). And I don’t even crack a smile when the commercials for Flying Circus come on television.
I didn’t expect some kind of Spanish Inquisition
Nobody ever does.
Apparently your mother was a hamster and your father smelled highly of elderberries.
Now go away or I will be forced to taunt you a second time.
Most of it seems to be the totally obvious denial and disassociation of basic logic.
Why else would someone think a coconut was carried by a migrating swallow.
In Monty Python I found the denial and the absurd connections to be very very funny.
Being sold a dead parrot by a clerk who vehemetly denies its oh-so obvious dead state.
Mr. Smokestoomuch not getting that his name is unusual at all.
A penquin standing on top of a television set.
I like MP very much but it is hit and miss. The first time I saw the Holy Grail movie the only parts I thought were funny were the bit sjc mentioned above, about the peasants talking about being part of a modern collective and questioning the fact that King Arthur derived his authority from a “watery tart” that gave him a sword. I thought “The Life of Brian” was hilarious from beginning to end, and the only bit I liked about “The Meaning of Life” was the part about the accountants taking over the world through piracy (I was in business school studying accounting at the time).
More to the point, I think much of MP’s humor derives from non-sequitors. For example, The Spanish Inquisition sketch, which floors me every time, features an officious priest who keeps having to correct himself, and his assistants who threaten people with “comfy chairs” and spice racks. Very silly/stupid/funny indeed.
And now for something completely different…
A man with 3 buttocks.
Zamboniracer brings up a good point: if you’ve been watching whole episodes of Flying Circus and not laughing much, then I’m with you. The classic skits (collected in “Dead Parrot Sketch Not Included” and “And Now For Something Completely Different”) have me breathless on the floor, as does Holy Grail and Life of Brian (though not Jabberwocky or most of The Meaning Of Life.) I suspect they started out with some very good material, presented it, and then didn’t quite know what to do with themselves (as almost all comedians do). Maybe I’m wrong; perhaps I’m just not subtle enough to think every single Flying Circus skit is funny, but there you go.
BTW: in 1984 a groundbreaking book (well… groundbreaking in humor studies, anyway) called “Semantic Mechanisms of Humor” was published. It posits that humor is produced when two opposing scripts are juxtaposed. Monty Python gets a lot of mileage out of juxtaposing the socially acceptable (stiff upper lips) with the socially unacceptable (silly walks.) There’s a lot more to it than that… that’s just the sound-bite explanation.
I was a student of medieval European history (have a BullShit in the subject). I find “Holy Grail” absolutely hilarious the whole medieval world turned up side down.
I have also studied the ancient middle east and my favorite all time funny movie scene is in “Life of Brian” when the rebels are discussing why they should rebel.
paraphrased
What have the Romans given us?!
umm roads?
Okay other than roads what have the Romans given us?
umm aqueducts?
And so on for about 10 items that the Romans had introduced and maintained in Judea to the betterment of the people. After they had discarded those items they were able to declare that the Romans had given them nothing but taxes! Thus logic and rebellion meet head on.
Ah heck… maybe you just hadda be there.
Splunge!
FA TANG! FA TANG! FA TANG!
unclviny (who just HAD to have all of the MP on dvd)
I had a medieval history professor who described “Life of Brian” as the most historically accurate movie ever made about the Roman Empire. Smart woman. And “NONE SHALL PASS!” is scrawled in the margin of my copy of The Faerie Queene next to a description of a giant who keeps on fighting as more and more limbs are hacked off.
Having a particular academic background definitely enhances your appreciation of such things.
If I’m not mistaken, and I never am, laughter is primarily meant to reduce anxiety. Arguing about the mortal state of a parrot would normally be an uncomfortable situation, but being as it is not us involved, we can see the humor in the situation. It inspires us to be more take our own lives less seriously. This is why dirty jokes are the lifeblood of the army, and every squad is required to have at least one wiseass.
So what I’m saying is, if you don’t find Monty Python funny, you aren’t supporting our troops. Either that or you thrive on pressure or something. What to I know.