All of the surviving members of comedy group Monty Python are to
reform for a stage show, one of the Pythons, Terry Jones, has
confirmed.
“We’re getting together and putting on a show – it’s real,” Jones told the BBC.
“I’m quite excited about it. I hope it makes us a lot of money. I hope
to be able to pay off my mortgage!”
The reunion is expected to be announced officially at a press
conference being held in London on Thursday.
John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Jones are all
due to appear at the event, which was first revealed in the Sun.
Eric Idle also tweeted on Monday: “Only three days to go till the
Python press conference. Make sure Python fans are alerted to the big
forthcoming news event.”
He added on Tuesday: “Python meeting this morning. Can’t wait. Press
Conference Thursday will apparently be live on Sky News. I’ll get you
the online URL.”
The last time the five remaining members of the iconic comedy group
appeared together was in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival.
The sixth member of the comedy troupe, Graham Chapman, died in 1989.
The press conference will take place at the theatre where Monty
Python’s Spamalot is running – The Playhouse Theatre in London’s West
End.
Earlier this year, a film producer won a High Court case against the
surviving members of Monty Python over royalty rights to the hit stage
show.
Mark Forstater, who produced the 1975 film Monty Python and The Holy
Grail, claimed he was underpaid royalties since the musical’s launch
in 2005.
He estimated he was entitled to more than £200,000.
The six members of the team got to know each other firstly through
university, and later through their work on television comedy
programmes, including The Frost Report.
The Pythons’ hugely successful, zany BBC TV series, Monty Python’s
Flying Circus, effectively threw away the rulebook of traditional
sketch writing, dispensing with punchlines and allowing sketches to
blend into each other or simply stop abruptly.
The first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus was broadcast on 5
October, 1969.
It ran for four series and spawned spin-off records, books and even
German-language specials.
Gilliam’s unique animation style became a key element of the show,
segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas.
The comedy group made their successful film Monty Python and the Holy
Grail on a small budget in between filming the third and fourth series
of their TV show.
Their next film was the highly controversial Monty Python’s Life Of
Brian, released in 1979.
Telling the story of a man mistaken for Jesus, the film was attacked
by Christian groups and banned in some areas.
Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life was released in 1983 and was
another financial and critical success, winning the jury prize at
Cannes film festival.
The Pythons also went on to forge successful solo careers while
continuing to collaborate with each other.
Cleese famously co-wrote the hugely successful BBC TV comedy series
Fawlty Towers, which first ran in 1975, with Connie Booth, who had
appeared in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He also wrote the hit comedy
film A Fish Called Wanda in 1988, in which he starred with Palin.
Gilliam pursued a film career, and his credits include 1981’s Time
Bandits, which he co-wrote with Palin, who starred in it alongside
Cleese. Gilliam’s futuristic 1981 fantasy film Brazil also featured
Palin, while 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, about the
supposed travels of the baron, featured Idle.
Palin and Jones went on to write together, and Palin starred in their
comic TV series Ripping Yarns, a collection of tales that make
“ripping good” television.
Four Python members – Jones, Idle, Cleese and Palin – also appeared in
Jones’s 1996 adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s novel The Wind in the
Willows.
Cleese has also had a hugely successful acting career including roles
in Clockwise, two James Bond films and two Harry Potter films.
Palin has also starred in films including The Missionary and A Private
Function and has of course made a huge name for himself with his
award-winning travel documentaries.
Idle went on to create spoof Beatles band The Rutles and wrote the hit
Spamalot musical.
He also performed Always Look on the Bright Side of Life at the 2012
Olympics closing ceremony in London.
Jones wrote the screenplay for the movie Labyrinth and he has also
written and presented historical documentaries for TV.
Chapman did a lecture tour in the US and took on various film projects
including The Odd Job and Yellowbeard before his death from cancer 24
years ago. – BBC Entertainment
