And now for something completely different

When the Wardennial Team rejected my suggestion to rename New Hall Cleese Court, I thought all hope was lost and that nobody would love Monty Python ever again. Now, at last, I have been proven wrong.

The rulers of British comedy have announced a come back tour (any ticket donations gratefully received; I’ll bake you cake), but questions and eyebrows are raised: Are they knocking on a bit? Do we still laugh at this sort of thing?

While the rest of the country is watching The Only Way is Essex and some foul soap opera, I’m still replaying my favourite moments from The Flying Circus and imitating the French Taunter any time someone tries to interrupt me. However, I am well aware that, at a guess, 47% of readers probably don’t know what a French Taunter is and will not understand the significance of ‘Bring out your dead’ and coconuts.

Despite the disappointment I feel at the proportion of the population who find joy in nothing more intellectually challenging than Mean Girls, I don’t think all hope is lost. Monty Python has never really stopped being a “thing.” While die hard fans such as I love to watch the repeats of the repeats, more recently we’ve seen the musical Spamalot which has all the hilarity of the original Holy Grail and more. John Cleese was even our rector so St Andrews students are basically obliged to appreciate the Pythons in all their glory.

Since the announcement, fans and critics have been discussing what the aged comedians can bring to 2013/14. Yes, I worry that fifteen year olds who’ve never watched anything which isn’t aired on channel four probably won’t get it, but that’s not my problem. As long as there are people whose final words are ‘it’s just a flesh wound’, we have hope.

Asking if they’re too old for this is absurd. Why get young, foolish, rich kids to remember stuff other people wrote when you can watch real comedy by real comedians. I’d rather laugh at someone being threatened with a banana than see an adolescent make millions for pretending he’s really thick.

I’ve spent most of my life being sure to remember my favourite colour in case I ever need to cross the bridge of death, and that’s not going to change. If you don’t understand what on earth I’m speaking about, you need to get some good quality Python DVDs. There are plenty to choose from. You might cringe every time you hear the word ‘Ni’, but it’s worth it for the years of laughter you’ll get in return.

The return of Monty Python will be a well needed reminder of what comedy’s about. The Ministry of Silly Walks is where it’s at; we don’t need to see fully grown men dressed in school uniform or ten Z listers arguing in a jungle for two weeks. My sincere hope is that Monty Python will take over the Bubble and show us how it’s done.

Images courtesy of ripplejunction.com and pythonline.com