John Cleese's Message to the USA

[RICHARD]

makes me wanna dive on a holy hand grenade...

[Randi]

I wish John could have seen this, he was an avid Monty Python fan and read everything they ever did. In his younger days, he was listening to the Goons on the wireless, and just recently, I found old books about the Goons that John had kept all these years.

I'm not familiar with all the shows, like John was, but I know he got some real old tapes from a childhood friend when we visited England.

John Cleese was brilliant in Faulty Towers, but I must admit, there are pieces in the Monty Python shows I don't find that funny, I suppose you have to be British to get it. However, when I first heard this on the radio, I was ROTFL!
http://www.serve.com/bonzai/monty/cl...reSoPoorSketch

Two guys who were part of Monty Python I really like, is Michael Palin and Terry Jones. Terry Jones is/was writing some excellent political articles for Observer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Jones.

[Lizzie]

As someone else pointed out, this piece was more appropriate for the 2000 election which is when I first read it, but I'm very glad to see it's still making the rounds. Who did write it, really? As a Brit who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, I find it funny in many different ways and it does poke fun at both cultures. I still put the full stop (period) in the wrong place when I use brackets (parenthesis) or inverted commas (quotation marks).

Like Randi, I most admire Terry Jones and Michael Palin from the Monty Python group. Did you ever see Terry Jones' series that was based on 1950's boys adventure stories? I loved the Goons also and can hear Spike Milligan's voice in my head every time I think of the Goons and Eccles.

[Killearn Kitties]

Did you ever see Terry Jones' series that was based on 1950's boys adventure stories?

What was that? I remember Michael Palin's Ripping Yarns, but I can't think of a Terry Jones series.

[Lizzie]

Oooops! You are right. Ityped the wrong name (Terry Jones) even while I knew it was Michael Palin. Actually, 1950's is probably wrong also. Aren't they based on an even earlier period?

[kitten645]

In a world where Borat is the number one movie and people actually PAY to see Jackass, I LOVVVE the Pythons. I've been watching them since I was about 9...
"Run away! Runaway faster!"

[Killearn Kitties]

Oooops! You are right. Ityped the wrong name (Terry Jones) even while I knew it was Michael Palin. Actually, 1950's is probably wrong also. Aren't they based on an even earlier period?

OK, I just thought I was missing something there! Yes, you are probably right, I think some were set in the Victorian era. As a matter of fact, I just saw "The Curse of the Claw" again the other night!

[Catty1]

The history of this document is on Snopes....and there are a few 'rebuttal' versions. Worth checking out!


http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/revocation.asp

[Randi]

There's nothing like British humour, simply brilliant!

Have any of you seen a series with Mel Smith? Can't remember the name of it, but where was one where he was going on a holiday to Spain. On the way to the airport he wasn't sure he'd turned the gas off - from that point it just accelerated.

[Lizzie]

British humor is very dry. Sometimes colleagues have come up to me at work and remarked that they didn't realize I'd said something funny in a meeting until they were sitting on the bus hours later, and then it hit them. I'm always happy that they appreciated it because some in the U.S. simply find it annoying.

I checked out Mel Smith on Imdb then recognized his face. Was the series Alas Smith and Jones? I don't have a tv so I miss a lot of the British comedy series, unless they come out on DVD here. Anyway, while looking at his list of films, I found out that he'd starred in a Wilt film. I didn't know one had been made. I've been a fan of Tom Sharpe's novels for many years.

[JenBKR]

British humor is very dry. Sometimes colleagues have come up to me at work and remarked that they didn't realize I'd said something funny in a meeting until they were sitting on the bus hours later, and then it hit them. I'm always happy that they appreciated it because some in the U.S. simply find it annoying.

Oh I know what you mean, I haave been told that I have a British sense of humor before. Lots of people don't really know when I am joking, so I sometimes get looks and whispers of 'was she serious?' Ah well