You might recall that I became a Monty Python fan by accident back in the third grade. Here at the Academy, Monty Python resurfaced. It had been years since I had seen or heard anything regarding Monty Python. I don’t even know how it came up.
Somehow, a guy named Mark and I figured out the we both liked Monty Python. I had watched the TV show, he had some of their records on 8-Track. When he let me borrow them, it changed my appreciation of Monty Python and British humor in general. As we discussed earlier, it was the animation sequences that caught my attention early of an set the tone for a more visual appreciation of their work. Here on record, there wasn’t anything visual at all, just crazy dialogue, sound effects and songs. It was still completely brilliant.
In the fall Vermont Academy would put on this variety show type pf thing were students couls sign up and go perform something. Usually it was a song or dramatic reading. Mark and I would go on to do some Monty Python skits like The Undertaker.
The round of Monty Python came from my friend Tom who for some reason I feel compelled to mention that he is Canadian. Tom had the album Life Of Brian. It was full of the usual witty, nutty Monty Python stuff so of course I loved it. If you’ve never heard this album, it is basically the audio version of the movie. They take the best dialogue bits then string them together with some studio narration. There are of course some bits that don’t translate and some sound effects that are unexplained. Years later when I actually saw the film for the first time, I knew all the dialogue by heart and was fascinated by discovering finally what all those noises were about.
Rest assured, this won’t be the last of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Spam
Ethel The Prog
The People’s Front
Romanes Eunt Domus
Stoning
Although I didn’t include any songs in these samples, there were plenty of Monty Python songs on thse recordings. So I include Monty Python in My Musical Evolution just to be complete.