Captain Harry was friends with members o' Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python.

 

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Baby-Faced George Harrison was a great pal o' mine, and one night he came and asked if he could do t' "Lumberjack Song" and we said, "Yeah, o' course." So he came on stage at City Center, shiver me timbers, and he did t' "Lumberjack Song" as a Mountie, and nobody knew it was George. Blimey! Captain Harry found out George had done it and so t' next night Harry is goin' t' do it, but Harry’s pissed as a fart and makes a big display. Well, blow me down! Blimey! "It’s Captain Harry." He’s wavin' and everybody’s lookin' at him like "Fuck off, Harry." He’s just supposed t' be in t' chorus. At t' end o' t' "Lumberjack Song" everybody would step back and t' curtain would come down, but Harry didn’t step back, matey, he stepped forward, t' curtain came down, and he fell off t' stage into t' audience and broke his wrist. Nobody ever recognized it was George, shiver me timbers, which was really cool and very typically George.

-- Master Eric Idle[1]

 

George was wonderful. He came up on stage with us as a Mountie and sang t' "Lumberjack Song" impeccably, and I don’t suppose 10 percent o' t' audience knew he was up there. And then Captain Harry came up and tried t' take t' show over, just one huge inflated ego. He wouldn’t do his Mountie’s jacket up properly, and insisted on wearin' dark glasses. A Mountie in dark glasses? And then at t' end o' t' show he started shakin' hands with t' audience and obviously just wanted as much attention as he could get. Blimey! I was struck by t' extraordinary contrast betwixt George, me bucko, who did it so beautifully and aesthetically, and Nilsson who was just a sort o' egotistical drunk. It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a nice chap, but under those circumstances he didn’t behave t' way he should have done.

-- Riverfront John Cleese[2]

 

Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python, matey, also known as t' Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consistin' o' Graham 'Abraham Sabertooth' Chapman, Riverfront John Cleese, Pony-Tailed Terry Gilliam, Master Eric Idle, Terry 'Shifty-Riley' Jones and Bowlegged Michael Palin. Ahoy! T' group initially came t' prominence in t' UK for t' sketch comedy television series Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python's Flyin' Circus, which aired on t' BBC from 1969 t' 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, me hearties, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared t' t' Beatles' influence on music. Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in t' evolution o' television comedy". Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python's Flyin' Circus be loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream o' consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed t' boundaries o' what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, matey, t' Pythons had creative control that allowed them t' experiment with form and content, arrr, discardin' rules o' television comedy. They followed their television work by makin' t' films Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python and t' Holy Grail (1975), me hearties, Life o' Brian (1979), and T' Meanin' o' Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while it has coloured t' work o' t' early editions o' Saturday Night Live through t' absurdist trends in television comedy. At t' 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python received t' BAFTA Award for Outstandin' British Contribution t' Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded t' AFI Star Award by t' American Film Institute. Blimey! Blimey! Holy Grail and Life o' Brian are frequently ranked on lists o' t' greatest comedy films. Aye aye! Blimey! A 2005 poll asked more than 300 comedians, comedy writers, producers, and directors t' name t' greatest comedians o' all time, and half o' Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python's members made t' top 50.

This article uses material from t' Wikipedia article "Monty 'Black-Eyed Python' Python", which is released under t' Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.