I mentioned Monty Python’s skit last class and Prof Goffe asked me to post about it, so here it goes:
I learned about Monty Python from a young age from my Dad, who loves them. They were a British sketch comedy troupe and their distinctive style has had a huge impact on comedy today, seen in shows like SNL.
The skit in question is called SPAM. The list of the restaurant’s offerings that all curiously include SPAM devolves into a Viking song. It’s a commentary on the British post-WW2 food rationing that lasted into the 60s. Rationing meant that SPAM was a staple, and used in many foods. Please watch, it’s pretty short and very funny.
Monty Python actually has a many food-based skits. Aside from one of my favorite insults of all time (“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”) from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, they did the cheese shop sketch. This is one of my favorites!
In this sketch, a customer visits a cheese shop shockingly lacking in cheese:
Another Monty Python sketch that’s in an exercise in repetition and back and forth is Mr Creosote (mostly known as the “Wafa Thin” sketch), in which a gluttonous man visits a restaurant. WARNING: this one is extremely gross, and I still remember the shock of seeing it for the first time as a kid. If you’re squeamish, just skip it.