The Rogue
Th
ere is finally hope for those of us who always look on the bright side of life. Legendary comedy troupe Monty Python has just announced the group’s first live stage show with all five surviving members since the famous 1980 Hollywood Bowl show. The show is scheduled to be performed at London’s 02 Arena on July 1, 2014, no doubt a time of year when shrubberies are at their ripest and birds sport their most ample plumage.
For a lifetime Python fan like myself, this news couldn’t be more exciting. While the five members have crossed paths with one another over the years for various events, most notably, Eric Idle’s Python-related projects, He’s Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) and of course, the hit musical, Spamalot, the quest for more live silliness is the announcement die hard fans have been pining after for thirty-three years.
1998’s Live at Aspen provided a nice little fireside chat moment, but the 2014 show promises some new material, as well as the old hits, which according to the group, will naturally include a bit of cross-dressing, though unfortunately no twerking. It will be interesting to see how the agility of the rather old and graying Pythons will come into play during some of the more physically-demanding sketches, or whether the only real exertion they’ll display will be in once again kicking over deceased Python, Graham Chapman’s urn. Which, honestly, would be just fine by me.
I was able to convince my wife (who’d never watched anything Python in her life) to see Spamalot this past February after my brother-in-law got us all tickets. I wonder what the odds are of her being willing to take a trip to London next year…
Alan Atchison is a Contributing Writer to The Rogue. He is a Senior Publications Editor at the Center for the Advanced Study of India (University of Pennsylvania), where he also earned a Masters of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing. He lives in Philadelphia, PA with his wife and two daughters. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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