Monty Python finds the Holy Grail of comedy in quotable classic romp
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, 1975)
Videology Bar & Cinema
308 Bedford Ave.
Saturday, November 28, 9:30
718-782-3468
videologybarandcinema.com
www.pythonline.com
In 1975, a comedy troupe consisting of five Oxford and Cambridge grads and an American animator, the six best known for their absurdist sketches, teamed up to make the most quotable, and perhaps all-time-funniest, film to ever come from across the pond, and you can join in the fun on November 28 as Videology in Williamsburg hosts the Monty Python and the Holy Grail Quote-a-Long. In the relentlessly hysterical film, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) leads his ne’er-do-well Knights of the Round Table — Sir Lancelot the Brave (John Cleese), Sir Robin-the-Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot (Eric Idle), Sir Bedevere the Wise (Terry Jones), and Sir Galahad the Pure (Michael Palin) — on a quest to find the Holy Grail, as ordered by God himself (voice of Chapman, cartoon of cricket legend W. G. Grace). So off they go, visiting strange castles with even stranger knights, answering silly questions to get across a bridge, seeking advice from a mad wizard, battling a cute little killer rabbit, and searching for shrubbery. The wild romp, in which the Pythons never meet a joke too high-brow or low-brow, helped warp the minds of several generations and continues to result in much rejoicing in living rooms and movie theaters around the world.
The Pythons play multiple roles throughout the hysterical romp, with such particularly riotous turns as Cleese as the Black Knight (“It’s just a flesh wound.”), Tim the Enchanter (“So! Brave knights! If you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.”), and a French taunter (“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”), Gilliam as Patsy (“Camelot!” “It’s only a model.”), the Bridgekeeper (“What . . . is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”), and the animator (“Ughck!”), Idle as the Dead Collector (“Who’s that then?” “I dunno, must be a king.” “Why?” “He hasn’t go shit all over him.”) and Roger the Shrubber (“Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say ‘Ni’ at will to old ladies.”), Palin as Dennis (“Oh, king, eh? Very nice. And how’d you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.”) the chief Knight Who Says “Ni” (“One that looks nice. And not too expensive.”) and Jones as Prince Herbert (“One day, lad, all this will be yours.” “What, the curtains?”). Python regulars Connie Booth and Carol Cleveland appear as well, the former as a witch who is facing being burned at the stake (“She turned me into a newt.” “A newt?” “I got better.”), the latter as twins Zoot and Dingo (“Oh, wicked, bad, naughty, evil Zoot! Oh, she is a bad person, and she must pay the penalty!”). Study up, because you won’t want to be embarrassed while surrounded by Pythonians at Videology who know every single word of this outrageously entertaining classic.