About Monty Python

STARRING
Graham Chapman

John Cleese

Eric Idle

Terry Jones

Michael Palin

and

Terry Gilliam

   

Monty Python's Flying Circus featured some very well-educated clowns. Most of the group met at Cambridge University where all of them, except for the transplanted American animator Terry Gilliam, were members of The Footlights, a celebrated performing society. Cleese and Gilliam—then a cartoonist for the humor magazine Help!—met during the US tour of "The Footlights Revue." In 1967 Idle, Palin, Jones and Gilliam wrote and starred in the English TV series, "Do Not Adjust Your Set." In 1968 Cleese and Chapman provided additional material for the unruly satire "The Magic Christian." They all came together the following year to form Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Monty Python invaded America with rebroadcasts on PBS, two ABC late-night specials in 1975 and a 1988 video release. They found a relatively small but devoted and appreciative audience stateside. The success of their inspired lunacy has generated five films to date, each featuring the performers in multiple roles before and behind the camera.