It was a show that has progressively attracted more fans as time has gone by than it did during its original syndication. Especially at the very beginning, when the six young men of Monty Python first started putting their brains together in 1969. For five years, and less than 50 shows, they reinvented comedy in a way that the century will never forget.
Evidence of Monty Python is still everywhere in London, from the closing of a pub because of a scare over an explosive device that turned out to be a copy of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch to the long-running Spamalot , the strange case of Monty Python still haunts the city.
Of course, it’s easy to see their influence on the rest of the world, too, but there’s something rather special about touching the roots here. It’s a bit like seeing the Globe and catching another production of a Shakespeare play, this comedy inspires people to seek it out wherever they might be. One can actually take tours of the city based on the show, where all the favorite spots mentioned and featured in the show are highlighted.
It’s really the ambiance of the city, however, that might be particularly appealing to fans. It might be nice to see the great places for all their historic and cultural value, but the magic of the comedy was in the air rather than in the place. Even from the luxury and comfort of a hotel, London has a magic that permeates everything.
Humor is like that. It’s something that one can locate, but only for a moment before it moves and dissolves into something entirely ephemeral. The boys from Monty Python’s Flying Circus often commented on how the humor here is different than across the pond. In the U.S., the comedy is more observational, and here, it’s much more fantastical, depending on the “what if” of everyday life, and then allowing the imagination to take flight. And when it flies, it flies just like a sheep.
