Customer Reviews (3)

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa
Sometimes the jokes in »Monty Python's Flying Circus« are fired so fast that you don't catch it all. This is your chance to do so.

Hilarious. The greatest comedians ever. Now on paper. I'm afraid I'll die laughing...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa
Sometimes the jokes in »Monty Python's Flying Circus« are fired so fast that you don't catch it all. This is your chance to do so.

Hilarious. The greatest comedians ever. Now on paper. I'm afraid I'll die laughing...

Brief
Also known as 'All the Words', this is exactly what it says on the tin - the scripts for every single show (minus the two German episodes), plus some amusingly-crude photographs, and an index. There isn't really a way ofreviewing this book without straying from the brief and reviewing the showitself, so I'll stop here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I will leave my husband for Eric Idle!!
Okay, okay, maybe I won't go THAT far, but what a wonderful Idle book!First chapter (Vatican Sex Manual) has all sorts of wonderful pictures from the 70's.The naughty parts are (regrettably or not) covered in all pictures, so, if it was a movie, I would say it's a hard R rather than an X.But a must-have for any Idle fan.

Really funny satire. Period.
Eric Idle is a man to be worshipped. This is not an excuse for him to get naked, this is a great work of comedic satire. Mr. Idle wowed the masses in Monty Python, now he'll wow you again with this very funny book. Not as deep as The Road to Mars of course, but exceptionally enjoyable. Plus, it features some real great pictures of Eric in the nude, that are often nearly artistic and always steamy hot. (If that's your thing.) ... Read more

Amazon.com
Python fans will need to clear a large space on their bookshelf or coffee table for The Pythons--a big, vital autobiography of the comedy troupe. This is an oral history by the six members (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) from birth to--in the case of Chapman--death. We get reminisces about childhood, university days, early successes, and rich details about the landmark Flying Circus TV series and subsequent films. The voices are fresh (with expectation of Michael Palin's insightful diary entries), not just complied from earlier publications. "Due to his insistence of being inconveniently dead," Chapham's voice is heard through his longtime partner David Sherlock, his brother and sister-in-law (and some archival materials). As a whole, the six impart a refreshing ability to deal honestly with the frustrations that arose over the years and it comes out in the text even when events are recalled differently. The book is not a light read (figuratively and literally), perhaps a smaller size would have been better for the amount of text; a cursory glance at the coffee table is tough. What does fill the book is an abundance of photos (over 1,000), most never published and many from the troupe's private collections. Along with concept sketches, Gilliam's drawings and doodles, and a few correspondences, this is a keepsake memento of the legendary group. --Doug ThomasBook Description
ver thirty years ago a group of five Englishmen and one wayward American rewrote the rules of comedy. Monty Python's Flying Circus, an unheralded half-hour of sketches, hilarities, inanities, and animations first appeared on the BBC late one night in 1969. Its impact on the world has been felt ever since. The Pythons is the ultimate word on all things Python-esque. Thirty years of insight, hindsight, and bad sight-now told for the first time. It's full of stuff they're never remembered before alongside stories they'd forgotten to say, coupled with things they couldn't say then and even more things they can't pronounce now (with a healthy dollop of things they would never have said in the first place if any others had been in the room at the time). Here is a unique look at arguably the most important comic team of the modern age. In the style of The Beatles Anthology, it's lavishly illustrated with 1,000 photographs and illustrations, many seen here for the first time. Do you want Spam with that? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Simply Awesome
This giant photo-riffic book is the Python equivalent of the now-standard Beatles Anthology. No fan of Cleese, Palin, Jones, Idle, Chapman and Gilliam should be without it.

The Pythons
After purchasing the complete set of DVD's and laughing so hard I was sick, I just had to find out out they did it.This book answered my question.I enjoyed it, but it was a bit long and somewhat redundant.

depressing
This is probably the most accurate history of the Monty Python television program and films.

It reveals the impressing background of the players and their problems in working together which resulted in their dispersing and ill will with each other.

Intriguing but flawed like most oral histories-for the true fan
THE PYTHONS is a must for fans of the group but for the more casual reader it probably won't serve a purpose. It is an oral history of the group with contributions by the living members and statements culled from the late Graham Chapman's auto-biography. (A very funny book, but one that needs to be taken with a 16 ton grain of salt)If you are looking for specifics of how any of this marvelous group put together their sketches, look elsewhere; this is not a breakdown of how Monty Python's Flying Circus came to be, rather it is a bunch of reminiscences of early life, working together( and who worked with whom) and some still not quite healed wounds. Chapman comes off poorly, his drinking a constantly mentioned problem, Gilliam's story is so separate from the rest that he really doesn't seem to be a member of the group until The Holy Grail, although his animations were a key to the show's success, and Cleese is often seen here as standoffish, a bit out of the mix with the others. Memories often don't jibe for each member, an example being who chose "The Liberty March" as the theme, Palin lays claim to it as does Gilliam (with Idle agreeing with Gilliam.)But it is interesting to see how the group's personalities come forward as time goes on, and it does give some insight into the creative processes behind the scenes even though it does fall short of offering the aforementioned specifics. there are a number of great stories here and well worth the time (and strength!) to read this book. I did enjoy this slightly askew look at one of comedy's most influential and funniest groups ever; I just have difficulty recommending it to anyone but the converted.

This CD audiobook has to have been an afterthought (the hardcover was great!)
For 30 years or so, I've been a major Monty Python fan, and bought this CD audiobook after thoroughly enjoying the hardback. What a disappointment! If I could give it zero stars, I would -and I've never wanted to do that before in a review.

Having read the book, I knew this wasn't a performance CD - I just wanted to hear the stories from the book as told by the Pythons themselves, in their own voices. Unfortunately that was exactly the problem: As has already been pointed out by others here, the audio quality is wretched.

I had to listen hard in most places to be able to make out the words, and that's no way to enjoy listening to a book. I tried it with speakers and with headphones, volume up and volume down, and nothing helped.

Here's my theory: I don't believe this audiobook was initially intended to be. I think that, after the hardback was published, someone thought it might work to release the interviews that went into the making of the hardback. All well and good, except that those interviews were recorded only for content, not for audio quality, and it shows.

So I don't think anyone did a sloppy job of putting together an audiobook. Instead, I think someone tried to push a square peg of recorded interviews through the round hole of retail. Even the art on the CD box seems to be an afterthought.

Unless you're prepared to listen to two CDs of muffled, echoing, low-volume, distant monologues, don't buy the audiobook of "Pythons" - instead, indulge yourself in the hardback. Not only will you "hear" the voices of the Pythons better in your own head, but you'll also get a lot of wonderful photos. ... Read more

Book Description

Last seen flying through the sky in a giant elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket is back for another adventure. When the giant elevator picks up speed, Charlie, Willy Wonka, and the gang are sent hurtling through space and time. Visiting the world's first space hotel, battling the dreaded Vermicious Knids, and saving the world are only a few stops along this remarkable, intergalactic joyride.

Customer Reviews (1)

Great listen!
Continuing where Charlie and the Chocolate factory left off, this book takes you through Charlie and his family's further adventures with Willie Wonka.See how Charlie and Willie Wonka take the Great Glass elevator where no man has gone before (well, almost).See how they even give the U.S. space program a helping hand as they help save some unwitting astronauts and the new Space Hotel U.S.A. staff from certain death from a hitherto unknown menace from space.After this, can Charlie and Mr. Wonka rescue Grandma Georgina from Minusland without getting themselves subtracted in the process?Suspend your disbelief, sit back, relax and find out how it all comes together--or not.

Eric Idle's narration is great.Thanks to him and Harper for recording this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Read by Eric Idle ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Comic Tale Read by a Comic Genius
This audio book is absolutely fabulous! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite books growing up, so I was delighted to find it read by Eric Idle, my favorite Python. Roald Dahl's text is charming, witty, and slightly dark, and Idle brings all of those dimensions to life. I am amazed by how many different voices Idle uses for the characters. Each character has a distinct voice and personality. My personal favorite voice is Veruca Salt. "Daddy, I want a squirrel!" His Wonka voice is hilarious. Idle definitely could have played Willy Wonka. This is a great product. It's so much fun to listen to at any time. You will get many hours of enjoyment listening to the magic of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ... Read more

Book Description
Perhaps the ultimate in TV comedy madness and absurdity, thiscult series, which began in 1969, was conceived, written and performed byGraham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones.Its innovative and ground-breaking comedy inspired many of today's writersand performers. Its sketches, songs, and catchphrases are legendary, andthis "best of" disc features: the dead parrot, the Ministry of Silly Walks,The Lumberjack Song, And Now for Something Completely Different, and manymore.

Presented on 1 CD, starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam,Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

And now for something completely different ..........
This is a very funny collection of material from our friends in the UK. I highly recommend that you play this CD on the way to work in the morning, to give you a non-caffeine "lift". ... Read more

Book Description
Forty-five classic episodes of the most entertaining writing to have gone into television anywhere. The minister of silly walks, the dead parrot, banter in a cheese shop - here is every silly, satirical skit, every snide insult, every saucy aside. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

And now for something completely different
I've seen "Monty Python's Flying Circus" so many times that I can recite long stretches of it. But those guys are always using weird accents and manic deliveries ("My neeples explode with delight!"), and sometimes they're hard to understad.

Fortunately for those times, Python fans have "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words," a series from the second half of the classic comedy skit show. These are only trascripts (a bit lacking in details), but still enormous fun and full of delightfully quotable lines ("And now my lords, my ladies... your LUPINS!").

It opes with the weird "Conquistador Coffee" sketch, in which a boss berates his employee for changing the brand's name to Conquistador Instant Leprosy. ("The tingling fresh coffee that brings you exciting new cholera, mange, dropsy, the clap, hard pad, and athlete's foot." "It was a soft sell, sir.")

And then it contains plenty of others: the cheese shop with no cheese, films with giant teeth, spam spam spam, cannibal undertakers, Njorl's it's-not-that-terrible saga, the BBC's financial troubles, the Money Programme, the pantomime horse, hairdressers climbing Everest, the war against pornography, Gumbys, Dennis Moore, kamikaze highlanders, and the golden age of ballooning ("I am so excited I can hardly wash!").

The dialogue to each one is carefully outlined, with each character identified as being played by one of the guys (like "Interviewer (JOHN)"), although we usually don't get to hear much about Terry Gilliam's mad animations. Most of these episodes are one long continuing sketch that spills from one scenario to the next, but occasionally we'll have different ones patched together.

These guys had a rare, crazy talent -- these sketches are crammed with glorious dialogue ("Drop your panties, Sir William. I cannot wait till lunchtime") and bizarre insults ("you cloth-eared heap of anteater's catarrh"). Not much description of the action in places, although in a few we get plenty of detail when it's called for (such as the weirdness convention).

The problem is that this should only be read after you've seen the series. If you don't, it all seems like a befuddling string of of stream-of-consciousness comedy numbers, full of in-jokes and surreal twists. You have a better chance of finding Ilchester in a cheese shop than understanding this without seeing the skits first.

In case you couldn't understand what Eric Idle was bibbling in one episode, or John Cleese was screaming in another, "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words Volume 2" will tell you what is going on. No time to lose!

Monthy Python
This item was purchased for my daughter and she absolutely loved it. It was received in good order and in a timely manner

The goat's done a bundle
FYI-This is the same as the review of Volume 1. There was no real sense in distinguishing the two.

As a fan of MPFC since it first aired on PBS in 1973, these two volumes sort of put a cap on a 30 year fascination with the team. Maybe like me, you've watched every Python-Marathon or taped every show, but having these scripts really is the icing on the cake.

What's striking to me is the simplicity of the scripts. When you watch the episodes, the gags seem so complicated. Then to see The Dead Parrot sketch reduced to just a few pages, you realize how brilliant those guys were in terms of compression, and in terms of acting. An added plus, for me at least, was to finally see the words and phrases that I never quite "got" because they were unique to British English. From there, I logged on to a few websites on British slang and, boy, I realized what MPFC got away with...some of it was pretty raunchy. Anyway, this is two-volume set is priceless for any fan.

"Ah...it was the middle one."
The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, Volume 2 is the second half of a set containing the scripts of the entire series (45 episodes).This book, volume 2, contains scripts for episode 24: "How not to be seen" through episode 45: "Party Political Broadcast".This book is more fun than an endless supply of "lupins". Both volumes make great companions to the MPFC video/dvd collection ("There you go, can't be bad.") and also unlike the DVDs, there are no edits, these are the original words.So that horrible "m" word that Graham said in episode 31: "The All England Summarize Proust Competition" is in this book.Enjoy!

Yours etc., Brigadier Mainwaring Smith Smith Smith etc., Deceased etc.

The companion volume to Volume I is this, Volume II
"It's satire."
"No, it isn't.This is zany madcap humour."

With that immortal exchange, nearly everything Pythonian is summed up.For those who haven't memorized every single Python skit (or for those who have and who are looking to free up some short-term memory), this book and its companion volume ("All The Words, Volume I") are must-haves.Every single word from every single bit ever done on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is in here.It's a joy and a treasure and a non-stap laff riot.

Every Python nut is familiar with the "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" tale, the dead parrot sketch, the Ministry of Silly Walks and so on.But even beyond these justly famed classics, there is wonderfully silly stuff herein.I never realized until buying this and the companion Volume I how utterly the Python crew had mastered the gorgeously silly non-sequiter.To wit:

"Would Albert Einstein ever have hit upon the theory of relativity if he hadn't been clever?"

"Don't call me señor!I'm not a Spanish person.You must call me Mr. Biggles, or Group Captain Biggles, or Mary Biggles if I'm dressed as my wife, but never señor."

"I'm afraid we are unable to show you any more of that letter.We continue with a man with a stoat through his head."

"Were you worried when his head started to come loose?"

It just doesn't get any better than this, and being able to sit and peruse the scripts without watching the frenetic activity on the screen only goes to strengthen the generally accepted view that these guys were genius writers.As the book back states, these volumes are the winners of "the 1989 PYTHON PRIZE for their own books."ARE there higher honors than this? ... Read more

Book Description

The essential gags, sketches, and songs, handpicked and introduced by the surviving members of the Python team. The book features 320 full-color pages of Monty Python classics in a brilliant paperback format and includes gems such as Spamalot, "The Lumberjack Song," The Ministry of Silly Walks, Nudge nudge wink wink, The Meaning of Life, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," and many more enduring classics of silliness, culled from the films, books, records, and TV series. This is the definitive, authoritative Monty Python selection, made by the Pythons themselves.