Sometimes, something is just so wonderful, it doesn't matter how it is presented, it is refreshing and wonderful to see. In the case of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," I have been very hesitant to rate the VHS tapes high. After all, the episodes now all appear on DVD and there they have bonus features. It seems pointless, for the most part, to recommend video tapes when there is such a superior medium for the same works. But sometimes, something is so wonderful . . . which is where "Volume 5" of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" falls.
Volume five includes only two episodes, "The Ant, An Introduction" and "Untitled." These episodes are some of the funniest that "Monty Python's Flying Circus" ever did. As a result, it is very easy to recommend these episodes. This VHS set is the one that has the classic "The Lumberjack Song" and it has characters that fans will easily remember, like Rob Obvious. This is a set that has truly timeless comedy.
In "The Ant, An Introduction," the disheveled old man runs through a series of bombings to introduce the show, which then starts with a song about llamas that includes quite a bit of information that is patently false. This moves into a recurring bit "a man with a tape recorder up his nose" before a mountaineer is interviewed by a man for an expedition up Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, the leader of the expedition sees double and interviews the man as if he were a pair of people, despite the interviewees protests. Then comes a barber who has homicidal urges and those urges lead him to reveal to his client his true passion which introduces . . .
"The lumberjack song!" The famous, hilarious song about a man wanting to be a cross-dressing lumberjack is followed by a "song" by Professor R.J. Gumby. A lounge act begins with a sycophantic introduction to an act that does not show. Gilliam then provides an animation of absurd dancing. This is followed by a group of witless hunters and then a sketch wherein a man an a woman begin to get romantic on their couch when a man from a bar stops by because the guy had said "we should have a drink sometime." He brings with him several friends, who make a ruckus and throw a party of their own.
Hanging from a meathook looking terrified, the disheveled old man introduces "Untitled" with his trademark "It's . . ." A sketch with a man in a bank robber costume then waits to begin while in a flat, a man gets a letter indicating he has been selected for a walk-on part on the show. The man finally arrives, walks out of the shop and a robber comes in, holding up a lingerie store as if it were a bank. After talking heads declaring this predictable, there is a sketch involving a talk show for trees and wood, which is followed by a truly great sketch wherein a vocational guidance counselor evaluates a painfully boring man who wants to be a lion tamer as a perfect match for chartered accountancy.
Then comes Ron Obvious, a man being exploited for publicity by his manager. After a terribly short attempt to jump the English channel, Mr. Vercotti - Ron's manager - tries to have Ron eat a cathedral, tunnel to Java and ultimately run to Mercury, each with disastrous results. After that is a sketch where a man goes to a pet shop that is stocked with terriers that the owner claims may be converted into virtually any other animal. After a few more talking heads comes an interview where a gorilla is interviewed to be head librarian at a library, which is punctuated by mock letters to the "Mirror." The episode ends with a wonderful sketch where an ordinary housewife is wooed by several international suitors while her husband sleeps beside her.
On "Volume 5," "Monty Python's Flying Circus" becomes something truly special as the team of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin are running in full comedic stride. Jones establishes himself as a master of physical comedy with sketches like the Rob Obvious sketch and Michael Palin deserves high praise for his ability to deadpan for the same sketch and "The Lumberjack Sketch." John Cleese is wonderful as the vocational guidance counselor and the whole ensemble comes together well at the end of "The Ant, An Introduction" for that chaotic sketch. Even Terry Gilliam does great with his animations.
On VHS, the two episodes do not even occupy the full capacity of the video. As well, they are presented with just the two episodes, no additional bonus features or previews. This is disappointing for fans as the DVD versions have a few games and other featurettes. It is a far better value to get the DVD.
But for those still working the old VCR, "Volume 5" of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is a wonderful addition to your comedy collection!
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