The modern comedy landscape owes a huge debt to the innovative and groundbreaking work of celebrated British comedy group Monty Python.
It’s hard to imagine that what now has morphed into a huge comedy empire across many different platforms started out as a sketch show on British television in the late 1960s which many critics did not know what to make of.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus ripped up the comedy rulebook in a number of ways. For a start, it was a sketch show in which sketches didn’t always have the formulaic set-up and punchline. It was also noteworthy in that its writers were also its main performers, something not widely practised at the time.
Original Python members Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Eric Idle both attended Cambridge University while Michael Palin and Terry Jones were at Oxford. The fifth member was American Terry Gilliam whose most conspicuous contribution to Flying Circus were his anarchic animations.
Despite initial uncertainty by TV executives, Flying Circus was hugely popular with viewers, but only ran for four seasons, with a total of 45 episodes produced.
The Pythons started to branch out into films and live shows, with movies such as the Life of Brian and The Holy Grail and stage show Live at the Hollywood Bowl among their most famous works.
Despite all branching into individual projects over the years, the Pythons will always be remembered as one the most influential comedians of all time.
As well as TV shows and movies, they have produced a stream of music albums and books and are heavily involved in the hit musical Spamalot.
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