Before I watched Monty Python's Flying Circus, I listened to their records & I looked at their books. Since their records & their books often were recreated (for their particular medium) from sketches that had appeared on the show, I often felt a weird familiarity when I saw the shows the first few times. It's like I had listened to an audiobook or something of an episode of Star Trek, & finally saw the show. Especially if Shatner & Nimoy did the voices in the audio book.
The reason I read the books & heard the records before seeing the shows is that my older brothers had them, & they were around, & I was a kid who loved to read & play records. I didn't understand a lot of it - probably most of it - the Travel Agent sketch was a real mystery to me - but it was compelling enough that I would return to it again & again. The books were even better - they were like Mad Magazine translated from a foreign language & delighted in being inscrutable & incomprehensible. I love that.
There is a sketch I believe on Monty Python's Previous Record - imagine an album with that as a title! - called "Happy Valley" & it never appeared on any episode of the show I ever saw. I loved it so. A long form fairy tale with weird singing & a completely nonsensical story. What a delight.
The reason I am bringing this up is I thought about playing it tomorrow night on the show, but it's really about a king & princess, & not necessarily about lords & ladies. I guess I am trying to describe how stupidly rigid I can be when deciding content for the show. That's not worth four paragraphs & minutes of your time, & I'm sorry, but wait, there's more!
The Pythons did film the "Happy Valley" sketch (it's much more like their long-form work in their last season) & but strangely enough for German TV & it never aired. But of course there's Youtube. & I just watched it for the very first time. Imagine. & you can watch it now too!
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You're welcome.
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