Monty Python

Monty Python, often called the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969. The six members were Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. They first gained fame in the UK with the BBC sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired from 1969 to 1974. The show was loosely structured but used an innovative stream-of-consciousness style and Terry Gilliam’s distinctive animations to push the boundaries of television comedy.

Cultural influence and legacy

The Pythons operated as a self-contained unit with full creative control, allowing them to discard conventional rules of the medium. Their work expanded into live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals, and their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ impact on music. The sketch show itself has been called an important moment in the evolution of television comedy.

Before Flying Circus

The group’s members met through university and earlier television work. Jones and Palin met at Oxford, while Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge; Idle was also at Cambridge but joined later. Cleese met Gilliam in New York while touring with the Cambridge Footlights revue. Before Flying Circus, the six appeared on or wrote for shows such as The Frost Report, At Last the 1948 Show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, and How to Irritate People.

The Frost Report is credited with first uniting the British Pythons and providing a space for their styles to develop. The troupe’s formation involved Cleese wanting to work with Palin, and chance circumstances brought the other four members together. According to their official website, the group was born in a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969.

After the television series, they made the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been lasting, and it also colored early editions of Saturday Night Live and absurdist trends in television comedy.

In 1988, they received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, and in 1998, the American Film Institute gave them the AFI Star Award. Holy Grail and Life of Brian frequently rank among the greatest comedy films. A 2005 poll of over 300 comedians and comedy professionals named half of Monty Python’s members among the top 50 greatest comedians of all time.