The Holy Grail of Comedy

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2015)

More than one person has confessed to me that they just don't 'get' Monty Python. Some of them have asked what it is they're overlooking, what the point is. I tell them that they aren't overlooking anything. The whole point of Monty Python is that there is no point. It's nonsensical, over-the-top, and you either get it or you don't. Or you do and you're highly offended. I confess that I don't get all of their routines, Confuse-A-Cat for example, but I find most of their material hilarious. And no-where are they funnier than in Holy Grail.
Even if you've never seen the movie, or don't have any idea who or what Monty Python is, you already know parts of this movie. Things like the killer bunny, the knights who say Ni, and the Black Knight "Tis only a flesh wound!" have become part of popular culture. Who in the English speaking world hasn't heard of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? Many people may not know where it came from, but they've heard of it. Same for the infamous cries of "Bring out your dead!"
Practically all of the film's uproarious routines are widely known, and can be recited word for word by legions of fans. Every scene is just plain funny, and how could they not be, considering the people involved. John Cleese, Erik Idle, and the rest are simply master comedians. Their timing and delivery are perfect, and more importantly, they have some of the most brilliant, deranged imaginations anywhere.
These guys come up with ideas unlike any that have been thought of before, like a three headed giant who argues with himself about tea and scones, or an order of knights dedicated to shrubberies and the saying of a fictional curse, or a giant cartoon beast that nearly kills the heroes before the animator suffers a fatal heart attack. Or they use deliberate anachronisms, like medieval peasants spouting socialist dogma, or King Arthur killing a noted historian who was recapping the last scene. Yeah, Monty Python breaks the fourth wall fairly often.
And they also come up with totally new ways of looking at a well known subject. Take the princess trapped in the castle, who must be rescued by a brave knight. Here they turn the situation on its head by substituting a whiny prince for the beautiful princess, and manage to skewer both sappy song-and-dance numbers and mindless violence while they're at it. Witch hunts are another familiar subject. We've all seen plenty of witch burnings in the movies, but this is the first time that the accused witch is tried using the latest "scientific methods." The logic displayed here is "more tortured than Pavarotti at a Tiny Tim concert" as Scott Adams would say, and it's absolutely side splitting.
Holy Grail was the epitome of randomness long before the term had been coined. It is a total farce, in which even the opening credits and the intermission are a joke. It's silly, it's inane, it's insane, it has plot holes you could drive a truck through, and it's one of my favorite comedies.