Monty Python Speaks

With a Foreword by John Oliver, host of Last Week TonightIn celebration of the 50th anniversary of its BBC debut, a revised and updated edition of the complete oral history of Monty Pythonan insightful, in-depth portrait of the brilliant and hysterically funny show that transformed modern comedy.Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974,Monty Pythons Flying Circus introduced something completely different: a new brand of surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness comedy that pushed the traditional boundaries of format, style, and content. Blending brilliant satire with slapstick silliness, The PythonsGraham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palinspoke to a generation eager to break free of the conventional. Making their way across the Atlantic and the world, the Pythons zany approach to comedy would have a monumental influence on modern popular culture, paving the way for farcical entertainment from Saturday Night Live to The Simpsons to Austin Powers.In Monty Python Speaks, David Morgan has collected interviews with Monty Pythons founding members, actors, producers, and other collaborators to produce a no-holds-barred look at the Pythons legendary sketches and films, including Monty Pythons Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Spamalot), and The Meaning of Life. Featuring four new chapters that focus on the groups oeuvre since the first editions publication twenty years ago, as well as a new foreword and updated resources, Monty Python Speaks offers a fascinating peek behind the scenes of the Pythons creative processincluding the friendships and feudsthat catapulted a comedy revolution.