Monty Python Live was a special reunion show from the comedy group Monty Python, consisting of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman (who died a while back and therefore was only there in spirit) and Eric Idle, plus for a lot of sketches Carol Cleveland. They performed it a few times, one of which was streamed to a cinema in Vienna, which made me very happy.
The show basically was a Best of – of The Flying Circus and of their films. There were sketches and songs and general hilarity, mostly performed live, but some things also on video. It was a great evening full of nostalgia and fun.
I have not seen everything Monty Python has ever done, but a lot of it and there were only a couple of things I didn’t know or couldn’t quite remember in the show. Which was kind of the point of the entire thing anyway. And they did feature most of my favorites (just not Hell’s Grannies, which was a pity as by now they’d have the proper age for that sketch). I don’t like all of their stuff, but most of it is great.
It was obvious, too, that the guys had a lot of fun. I don’t think that they worked all together on something in decades and they obviously enjoyed the opportunity. And it was nice to see that they did include Graham Chapman and Carol Cleveland in the show as well. (They also had a different special guest every evening – for us it was Eddie Izzard.)
Not all the sketches went off without a hitch. Sometimes they would break character and start laughing themselves. But honestly that just made the entire thing even more charming, I thought. And it was nice to see how they recovered from those lapses – it just added another layer of entertainment.
In any case I really enjoyed myself, I laughed until I cried and I got out of the theater and just thought that I have to rewatch everything they ever did. What a wonderful evening!
Summarizing: Nostalgia and hilarity. What more could you ask for in such a show?
kalafudra's Stuff 
Jealous! I really wanted to go see this but I was nowhere near a cinema on the night of the showing. But I imagine it was amazing. Hoping it’ll be released on DVD (I assume so, considering they released a 6 hour documentary on themselves haha).
I’m pretty sure that they’ll squeeze every penny and every drop of fame out of this they can, so a DVD will certainly be released. Also because it will benefit humanity greatly. ;)
But I can totally understand your jealousy – I was really happy when I heard they’d show it in Vienna!
You can already preorder it on DVD or Blu-Ray on the official site: http://www.montypythononlinestore.com/
I’m a little confused. Did you watch the live feed of the very last show? Because I remember a different guest star. And while I’m aware that they had showings a couple of days later, I assumed they would show the same last show (god, what a terrible sentence) again.
Otherwise, I totally agree, it was a blast :-).
I watched the one on Sunday, July 20. And it was Eddie Izzard wearing that stupid hat with the corks on it.
Who did you see? Maybe there were two guest stars and I missed the other one? I mean, at the end of the show, there were a bunch of people on stage, but none of them had an actual role in the show, so I wouldn’t count them…
Yeah, me too, but I think I’ve found the solution: There were two guest stars, and we both – for whatever reason – only remembered the other one. With you, it was Eddie Izzard (who for whatever reason didn’t leave an impression with me), while I recall Mike Myers short appearance. Weird how the mind works sometimes, isn’t it?
Ah, right, Mike Myers! Of course, now I remember his appearance…
I probably forgot because I don’t care much about him (and I love Eddie Izzard). Also his bowing down and being so completely honored was a little weird…