Monty Python Live (Mostly)

Back in the early 1970s, the Monty Python troop made a wonderful film, "And Now For Something Completely Different", and it consisted of the guys remaking their best skits from their TV show for a movie audience. The production values were a bit better and their accents were deliberately softened and the overall effort is, in my opinion, their second best film (after "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"). Now a similar sort of thing has been created--but instead of shooting it in sets like you would for a typical film, it was presented in front of a live audience (like "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl") and it is, apparently, the group's final performance.

As a HUGE fan of the show, I was actually very disappointed in this film even though I did enjoy it. Much of it is due to the old saying 'you can't go back'--and after many decades the performances seemed a bit flat. Additionally, and I think this is a bigger problem, the skits offer no improvements over the originals. In most cases, it's almost a word-for-word recreation and there is nothing new or energetic about the whole affair. At least with "And Now For Something Completely Different" the skits LOOKED a lot better--but here they didn't. And, oddly, many of the team's best skits were not included in this performance. Not terrible...but it just isn't what I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a die-hard fan.

The Pythons are in their 70s, they have been one man down for 25 years and they have got back together one last time to make a lot of dosh and help pay for John Cleese's recent divorce.

The last night at the O2 was simulcast around the world and nearly live on British television, I say nearly live so for the early part of the show broadcast in the early evening, the swearing was bleeped out. The unedited version went out the next day.

So here are the remaining Pythons, older croakier and a few with forgetful memories. Terry Jones is the worse with memory issues but old age and ill health catches with us all. Eric Idle is still energetic and he gets to sing his catchy songs including looking at the brighter side of life.

Terry Gilliam known with the Pythons more for his animation and better known these days as a director and battling to raise money to make films throws himself with gusto at the sketches. As with Idle he is giving 100% commitment, his movements are just more snappier as if to tell the rest of the team that he has still got it and tell Hollywood to give him more money to make the movies that he wants to make.

Eddie Izzard and Mike Myers turn up for a spin as fan-boys and Carol Cleveland helps out with the sketches just like in the old days.

It's been a while since I have since the TV shows and I have never seen videos of their live shows such as Live from The Hollywood Bowl. To be honest I was reluctant to see this. In recent years Cleese seems to be a curmudgeon always complaining about something and even Palin in his recent travel shows has become more croakier.

However after a few minutes you get used to the older troupe and once the famous sketches and songs start to arrive you get into the spirit of the thing. There are a few ad-libs, a few forgotten lines and a little mischief here and there. The dancers make the whole thing a little more professional and although I believe that there were a few new sketches they were omitted from the uncensored repeat (I guess they will turn up as DVD extras.) We want to see the old hits. The dead parrot sketch, Spam song, Lumberjack song, Blackmail, Nudge nudge wink wink say no more.

So what if they did it for the money, it keeps the old fans happy, maybe get a younger audience and a nice pension for them

I found the whole thing to be rather flat and forced. The problem, in my opinion, stems from the Pythons putting on this big, extravagant, over-long show - perhaps to justify the high ticket cost of seeing the show there in London? - with endless dancing and musical numbers, and some celebrity guest stars (on the DVD we only see Mike Meyers and Eddie Izzard on stage with the troupe; Warwick Davis and Stephen Fry, among others, also appeared during the show's run, and can be seen, briefly, in the DVD extras. Brian Cox and Stephen Hawkins appear in a funny taped segment).

The old skits performed here feel tiresome; the clips from Flying Circus are too familiar to be funny. The only genuine laughs occurred when one of the Pythons deviated from the anticipated - either purposely (a new gag scripted into an old skit) or accidentally (because someone has flubbed/forgot a line or ad-libbed an unexpected joke). The longest and best laugh of the entire show came toward the end in the combination Pet Shop/Cheese Shop skit with Michael Palin and John Cleese.

The big thing missing was irreverence, not taking themselves too seriously. Things got off to a good start with a funny piece of animation that revealed Graham Chapman's head - which then got kicked like a football (English football). Unfortunately, this was followed up by the still-unfunny-as-it-was-back-on-MPFC llama skit, with John Cleese and the Pythons addressing the audience in Spanish (not French, as in the original skit, if I recall correctly). There were far too many musical numbers, which I found myself fast-forwarding through. Hey, at least that helped cut down on this DVD's long running time!

Monty Python Live (Mostly) is the troupe taking a victory lap as establishment figures - not the take-no-prisoners comedy radicals that they once were. Besides, "Sit on my Face" seems awfully quaint in comparison to the potty-mouth kids of South Park. The end result here would've been much better if they'd allowed themselves to tweak their known skits and come up with something new and surprising, audience expectations be damned.

(On a side note, the booklet accompanying the DVD gives thanks to Tim Brooke-Taylor for allowing use of The Four Yorkshiremen skit but doesn't credit Marty Feldman as co-writer of the skit. It was originally performed on the At Last The 1948 show by Feldman, Brooke-Taylor, Cleese and Chapman).

Having watched a lot of the Monty Python sketches on TV as a kid, I have always had a particular fondness for the comedy from these English chaps. And the 2014 farewell show definitely is something you have to watch if you enjoy Monty Python.

With 45 years of comedy, the guys certainly have brought a lot of laughs to the audience throughout the years. And what works is the quirkiness of the sketches and their ability to take things a step further out than what you expect and still keep it hilarious and enjoyable.

And the six chaps, being John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman each brought something unique and funny to the troupe, giving the sketches their own personal and memorable touch. And that is what I enjoyed throughout the years.

It was good fun to watch the guy revisit old and classic sketches and songs in this 2014 show, and I will say that they went out with a bang, because "Monty Python Live (Mostly)" was great entertainment.

My rating of "Monty Python Live (Mostly)" lands on a six out of ten stars.

it's very hard to go wrong with these guys. they are the funniest comedy group ever! just got back from the live broadcast at my local theater and my only complaint was the sound. the echo was just awful. couldn't catch the lyrics to any of the songs that included more than one voice. wish the whole thing had been subtitled. the good news is that most of the classics are there. I was laughing out loud and clapping along with the rest of the audience. it was especially funny when the cast members messed up or laughed. I can't wait to own the DVD. I'll watch it again and again. hope they can clean up the sound though. MONTY PYTHON IS THE BEST!