Monty Python

Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, together with American animator Terry Gilliam, made up the ensemble that rose to international cult status through its distinctive mix of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary across television programs, films, and albums.

The future Pythons first crossed paths while taping the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, and the BBC formally commissioned their own 13-week series in May 1969. Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted that October as a weekly sketch comedy program; after it became a hit across Europe, the group captured 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP by staging fresh versions of television material before a live audience, among them the classic "dead parrot" sketch titled "The Pet Shop." Their first film, the 1971 highlights compilation And Now for Something Completely Different, followed soon after.

Another Monty Python Record surfaced in the U.K. in 1971 and reached American listeners the next year, serving as the initial introduction for many U.S. fans because the BBC series did not air on public television until months later. Following 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, which mixed new routines with broadcast material including "Eric the Half a Bee," "The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the troupe released 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, whose second side incorporated a "trick track" device that placed two entirely separate programs in different grooves, randomly accessed by the needle and thereby functioning as an effective "side three."

A 1973 British tour produced Live at Drury Lane, issued in 1974 at the same time as the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion album, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which revisited screen material and added new skits, did not appear until the following year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, an extended break preceded the group's 1979 reunion for the feature Monty Python's Life of Brian and its soundtrack.

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album arrived in 1980, succeeded by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life marked the final official group project, though members reconvened periodically; notable later pairings included Cleese and Palin in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial works such as Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen regularly included other Python alumni. Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.