Michael Palin: Self

The Meaning of Monty Python

Self

Michael Palin: I remember sitting out at the table, do you remember, outside the place in Jamaica. All these guys walking up on the beach, offering to sell us weed. "No, no, we're writing copy, writing comedy, please." We should have just taken it and the film would probably be made much, much better.

John Cleese: I remember that there were British troops who were caught at some point. And I remember they were all going to be tortured to death. And I remember the Regimental sergeant major came out of the offices, saluting, and they said, "Yes, Regimental sergeant major," they said, "Permission to panic, sir."
Michael Palin: A very good memory.
John Cleese: No, but, we all remember different things. I think it's extraordinary.

John Cleese: Am I right in thinking that the word 'homosexual' is now thought of as being vaguely unpleasant?
Michael Palin: It's rather serious. It's scientific, isn't it, really.
Eric Idle: I think it's just the act, John.
[everyone burst out laughing]
Eric Idle: I think the word itself is perfectly innocuous.

John Cleese: So, do you think we should do another film together?
Eric Idle: I think we should sit on the beach in St. Ann's Bay.
Michael Palin: I think we agree with that.
John Cleese: We'll ask for a studio that will give us a month on the beach somewhere nice next February and if movie comes out of it, the studio can have it.
Terry Jones: I need to pay off my mortgage, so I'd love to do another film.
Michael Palin: I think we should get Graham, some how or another. This should be the challenge for the scientific community - to recreate Graham.
John Cleese: We could get someone to channel him.
Michael Palin: That would be wonderful.
John Cleese: Take a medium with us.
Terry Gilliam: The Holy Grail with the holy relics of Graham. It's a great idea. There's enough recorded material of Graham's that he could always be there speaking.
Michael Palin: I like the idea of having a medium, who just has no sense of comic timing. He's got Graham's voice: "Oh-oh, hellooo. But not able to do anything funny." Poor Graham.
Eric Idle: If it's Graham's sense of timing, he won't show up.
[everyone bursts out laughing]

Michael Palin: Someone said to me the other day about Silly Walks and how we could write something like that. And their point was that now it would seem very offensive to people with disabilities. But, my point was the way you did it, was just it was a wonderfully - it wasn't, it wasn't sort of awkward. It was incredibly smooth. It was actually rather athletic. Wonderful. The bottom half of the body only moving. When other people came in, like the lady who served the tea and the tray all shook, then it did look like you were sort of making a joke about it.

Michael Palin: I think that Python was - I mean, at the time we didn't think it was a groundbreaker. We didn't even know if it was going to last another year. I mean, shows weren't repeated much. And that was it. We'd go on to the next thing. But, it just was. And you look back at it now and we were dealing with things and, you know, churning out material that people wouldn't be able to do nowadays with the kind of exuberance that lasted for two and a half series.