John Cleese and Graham Chapman

I thought the jokes in the sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus in the book were silly, making me smile but not laugh. The characters were more funny than the jokes, because I'm familiar with John Cleese from his work outside of Monty Python. The characters all seemed like outrageous and unique beings. I saw the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail about five years ago, I thought it was pretty funny. I hear people all the time quoting from the movie and sketches and I wondered why they think it is so hysterical. Maybe I'm just not getting that type of humor. It just seems silly to me.

I'm sure for the 1970's this type of dry humor was new and exciting. If I hadn't seen the same bits over and over on other shows like Madtv or Saturday Night Live, I might have found them funny and appreciated them more. I think there was a generational gap between me and the show, because the jokes seems to be dated and old to me.

My favorite sketch was "Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook," because I could relate to the Hungarian Man trying to learn English. I have traveled to Mexico and not knowing Spanish. In the past year, I took all my Spanish credits at Weber and had a difficult time learning the conjugations and phrases. I thought that sketch was most creative and clever because of the phrases they came up with for the confused Hungarian.

After I read all of the sketches, I watched them on YouTube. Reading the words on the page is nothing compared to seeing the actual sketch performed by the actors, in the manner they wanted. It is ten times better seeing how the actors deliver the jokes with their accents, body language, and facial expressions. The actors and the directors make the jokes seem more in depth and clever, rather than just flat on the page. I think these are the types of jokes that are meant to be see in three dimensions, using more sense than my eyes. I though the "Spam" sketch was more annoying with the song in the video than on the page.

There are several pokes at the country and culture of England. Some of the jabs I got and some of them I didn't. The most references were in the "Dead Parrot sketch." Praline says to the audience and the guy at the complaint department, "That's Inner-City Rail for you," and "If you want to get anything done in this country you've got to complain till you're blue in the mouth," which are relatable to American culture.

They poke fun at English language and its sayings in The Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook, which I think would be a difficult language to learn because of its formality and catch phrases. I wondered if Spam is a traditional dish in England, like it is in Hawaii. I also wonder what was with the references to the Vikings, if they are look down upon in England. I would think in order to get the references, I would have to know the history of Britain a bit more.