Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Monty Python Reunion


Before there was computer spam, there was Python spam.


If you are a Monty Python fan — and if you happen to be in New York on Oct. 15 — you can witness a reunion of all six members of the comedy troupe in observance of their 40th anniversary.

I think you will agree that a reunion that features all six would be quite an accomplishment, since the New York Times points out that Graham Chapman has been dead since 1989.

The only thing I can compare it to would be having a Beatles reunion around the millennium.

Details, details.

The Python reunion (slated for the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan) also will have promotion as a purpose. A new documentary, "Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)," will be shown, followed by a question–and–answer session (I presume that, unless a "Weekend at Bernie's" kind of arrangement is planned, only five Pythons will be answering questions).

The reunion is being organized by the Independent Film Channel and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. After the documentary, the Pythons will receive an award from the British Academy.

Culture Monster, the arts blog for the Los Angeles Times, has a scoop: "By the way, did you know that you can buy for the kiddies the Monty Python and the Holy Grail Catapult Playset, a miniature version of the catapult that comes complete with not only miniature cows but launchable sheep and ducks? Hours of fun. But we digress..."

If you're a relatively new Python fan, don't worry. I'm sure that will be made clear in the documentary.

Veteran Python fans already know what Diane Haithman was writing about.

By the way, if the organizers need a catch–phrase for the reunion, how's this?

"Yes, we spam."