The
surviving members of Monty Python have little use for solicitors and lawyers,
no matter how silly their walks might be. They have good reason, measurable in
pounds. After fighting a nuisance suit for years, the Pythons found themselves
holding a mountain of legal debt. Not getting any younger, they wanted to pay
it all off as quickly and cleanly as possible. For Monty Python that meant
returning to live performance. Roger Graef OBE & James Rogan document the
preparation and behind-the-scenes camaraderie of their resulting sold-out
stadium shows in Monty Python—the Meaning
of Live (trailer
here), which screened as part of a Python
celebration at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Meaning of Live should not be
confused with The Meaning of Life or The Life of Brian (which also screened
at Tribeca) and it certainly should not get mixed up with Douglas Adams’ The Meaning of Liff. This is strictly a
fan’s eye view of the Pythons at work and in-performance. Fortunately, they are
all still pretty funny, so you never know when they are going to unleash some
of the old magic.
Yes,
this is all about paying tribute and singing along to “Always Look on the
Brighter Side of Life.” However, there are some interesting tidbits to be
gleaned on the economics of a Monty Python farewell concert. Evidently, it is
so costly to rent London’s massive O2 Arena, you really need to play for about
a week to get into the black and you will not have the luxury of much tech
rehearsing in the actual space. Hence, the Pythons signed on for ten shows.
Frankly, they should have just added three or four shows in order to finally
finance Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote.
Yes,
even though Gilliam was never much of an on-camera guy, he does his part in
classic skits as a full-fledged member. One-for-all, after all. Part of the fun
of Live is watching the fun the
Pythons are having being together again. That is more than a little fannish,
but they’ve earned it. However, there are also a few notable cameos, ranging
from the heart-warming (Carol Cleveland once again performing with the randy lads)
detouring through the lameness (Mike Meyers taking a pointless walk-on) to the
truly surreal (Stephen Hawking singing the “Universe Song” through his computer
voice-box).
Of
course, we also get plenty of bite-sized servings of classic call-backs. The
parrot is still dead as a doornail and the lumberjack still likes to dress up
in women’s clothing and hang around in bars—and it is all still good stuff.
However, perhaps we had better enjoy it while we can. How long will it be
before the professional comedy scolds tell us it is inappropriate to laugh at
the lumberjack sketch or any of the dozens of other politically incorrect gags
in the Python repertoire?