Jones - Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition : cultural contexts in Monty Python

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition

Cultural Contexts in Monty Python

Edited by

Tomasz Dobrogoszcz

Foreword by Terry Jones

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition : cultural contexts in Monty Python / edited by Tomasz Dobrogoszcz ; foreword by Terry Jones.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-3736-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-3737-7 (ebook)

1. Monty Python (Comedy troupe) I. Dobrogoszcz, Tomasz, 1970 editor.

PN2599.5.T54N63 2014

791.45'028'0922dc23

2014014377

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

But remember, if youve enjoyed reading this book just half as much as weve enjoyed writing it, then weve enjoyed it twice as much as you.

The editor of the publication would like to express his most earnest thanks to Terry Jones for honoring the book with his foreword, as well as for his invaluable comments and kind words of encouragement. The editors gratitude also extends to Darl Larsen, a fountain-source of expert Python advice and warmhearted support. The inspiration for the idea of the book came from the Monty Python Conference held in d, in October 2010. The efforts and enthusiasm of all its participants are genuinely appreciated. The editor is also deeply indebted to Andrew Tomlinson, whose most punctilious and ingenious copyediting allowed us to produce a more lucid and elegant text.

Kevin Kern would like to extend sincerest thanks to Terry Jones for being so generous with his time in reading and responding to earlier drafts of this manuscript. Also reading an earlier draft were Dr. Christopher Stowe, Dr. Michael Levin, Dr. Martin Wainwright, and Christopher Garrett-Kern, and Kevin must thank them for their helpful suggestions. Kristie Kern, Kenton Kern, and J-C Jones-Kern also deserve credit for their patience and support in the course of this research. Last, Kevin must thank the University of Akron Department of History for generously providing funds to defray the cost of presenting this research in Lodz, Poland.

The chapter by Katarzyna Maecka is a greatly revised and expanded version of the article that originally appeared in Studia Neofilologiczne VII (2011) under the title Oh... and Jenkins... apparently your mother died this morning: Monty Pythons Meaning of Death.

The research for the chapter by Miguel ngel Gonzlez Campos was funded by the Andalusian Regional Government (Proyectos de Excelencia de la Junta de Andaluca): Research Project P07-HUM-02507.

Lastly, Prof. B. S. Gumby would like to express his most spontaneous and frank imbecility.

* * *

All quotations from Monty Pythons Flying Circus are taken from the book The Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus: All the Words, vol. 1 and vol. 2 (London: Methuen 1990). The references in parentheses use volume number, followed by page number (e.g., 1.123 is vol.1, page 123). All italicized parts in quotations are action description and appear in this form in the scripts book.

The DVD version used for reference in this book is: Monty Pythons Flying Circus. The Complete Box Set. Dir. Ian McNaughton. Perf. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. 19691974. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2008.

All quotations from Monty Python feature films are taken from their DVD versions, with further assistance of the Internet site www.montypython.net (perhaps the most reliable and comprehensive site featuring Monty Python scripts).

The DVD versions of feature films used for reference in this book are:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. Perf. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. 1974. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2003.

Monty Pythons Life of Brian. Dir. Terry Jones. Perf. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. 1979. The Criterion Collection, 1999.

Monty Pythons The Meaning of Life. Dir. Terry Jones. Perf. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. 1983. Universal Studios Home Video, 1997.

All quotations from the German television show Monty Python Fliegender Zirkus are taken from the DVD version: Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus. Dir. Ian McNaughton. Perf. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin. 197172. Rainbow Entertainment, 2002.

The preceding sources are not mentioned in references of particular chapters.

I never realized Monty Python was taken so seriously in the academic world, until I learnt of the Monty Python Conference taking place in d (pronounced, I believe, Wodge) in Poland, 2829th October 2010. These chapters are the residue of that conference, and I must say I find them fascinating! Well I would, wouldnt I? Its all about what I, and a few friends, were doing in our late twenties and thirties. And we still remain friends, after all this timedoing nothing together for over thirty years. Maybe thats why were still friends.

I have to confess to having a terrible memory. So its really great to be referred back to some of the things weve done in the pastlike Edyta Lorek-Jeziskas The Corpse and Cannibalism in Monty Pythons Flying Circus SketchesId totally forgotten about the life-boat sketch (Id rather eat Johnson). Or Eric Idle playing with the Bonzo Dog Do Da Band in Do Not Adjust Your Set in Richard Mills Eric Idle and the Counter-Culture. Id also totally forgotten that. And where else can you find Monty Python sketches referenced to Bakhtin, Foucault, Freud, Shakespeare, and Swift?

Katarzyna Maecka, in Death and the Denial of Death in the Works of Monty Python, starts from the premise that psychologists claim that we tend to deny the reality of our own death, but can conceive our neighbors death,... [which] only supports our unconscious belief in our own immortality and allows usin the privacy and secrecy of our unconscious mindto rejoice that it is the next guy, not me. She concludes: Thus, being struck on the head with a large axe while trying to recite the Bible in one second and being able to say only In the... is not as far-fetched as it may seem, reminding us yet again that the beginning and end might be nearer each other than we expect. She obviously has a sense of humor.

There are real insights too in this book. Katarzyna Poloczek, writing about The Representation of the Womans Body in Monty Pythons Meaning of Life, claims: It is argued here that despite the seemingly surreal content, the aforementioned film [