What is Monty Python?
Monty Python was a British comedy group whose members created the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Their surreal humor influenced comedy around the world.
The group's members were Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Gilliam, an American, created the show's animated sequences.
Flying Circus ran from 1969 to 1974 and featured absurd sketches, such as the Dead Parrot sketch, the Ministry of Silly Walks and the Spanish Inquisition.
Films
The group made several films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975, Life of Brian in 1979 and The Meaning of Life in 1983.
Life of Brian was controversial and was banned in some places for its satire of religion.
The word Pythonesque entered the Oxford English Dictionary to describe surreal humor. The programming language Python was named after the group.
Graham Chapman died in 1989 and Terry Jones in 2020. The surviving members reunited for stage shows in London in 2014.
Many of their sketches are still quoted by fans today.