Look on the bright side with Monty Python

It shows that this merry band of septuagenarians is still able to generate laughter. But its only on for two more screenings.

It was a joyous occasion getting the five living Python’s together for the first time in 30 years and though they forgot some of their lines and corpsed a lot, they nevertheless, cleverly conveyed the spirit of the original show.

Monty Python Live is a nostalgic celebration and for those who have followed the troupe’s performances (like me) you’ll recognise some of their most famous sketches, from the Dead Parrot to the Lumberjack Song and a whole extravaganza revolving around that lively composition, Every Sperm Is Sacred.

The Pythons perform a generous selection of fan favourite sketches, many updated to include contemporary references. Carol Cleveland, who appeared in many of the original episodes, also joins in the fun. What might have been saucy and risqué in the Seventies, when they sang about various body parts, is tame by today’s standards.

There’s very little that is new or fresh in this stage production, which also makes generous use of the show’s familiar old film clips, but it does provide audiences with a greatest hits spectacular that tops the group’s previous greatest hits show (1980’s Live at the Hollywood Bowl).

The show is given life by a colourful song and dance troupe and some inventive choreography by Arlene Phillips, which enhances Eric Idle’s clever songs. There is also Terry

Gilliam’s animation on a big screen, which pads out time in between a parade of the Pythons’ most beloved sketches.

For fans there’s little deviation from the original scripts; one of the few exceptions is Cheese Shop, in which John Cleese and Michael Palin corpse spectacularly.

Eric Idle maintains his youthful cheeky persona and shows off his verbal dexterity with aplomb, though Terry Jones doesn’t seem to have a great deal of interest in the proceedings. Filmmaker Terry Gilliam is downgraded to some buffoonish-type cameos.

John Cleese and Michael Palin are the most exuberant of the team, with Palin still capable of raising many chuckles along the way as he applies his own interpretation to familiar material.

Fun moments include The Spanish Inquisition, Albatross, Argument Clinic (undiminished in its brilliance), Nudge Nudge, The Blackmail Show (with special guest Mike Myers), and an Always Look on the Bright Side of Life singalong.

Info:

> The remaining screenings are on Saturday 9 and Saturday 16 August at Cinema Nouveau, Rosebank, Brooklyn (Pretoria), Gateway (Durban), V&A Waterfront (Cape Town)