The Blueprint of Modern Black Comedy

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2000)

Where do you think such hip 90's favorites as "Pulp Fiction", "Clerks" and "South Park" got their inspiration? Just one of the many influences: does the irreverent discussion of European vs. African swallows remind you of John Travolta/Samuel L. Jackson's famous "quarter pounder with cheese" exchange ? To be fair, Monty Python itself hails from an important tradition of subversive humor that, at least in the cinematic world dates back to the days of Buster Keaton. Then of course, came the Marx Brothers, the Golden Age of Warner Bros. Cartoons (1937-1957, arguably THE most influential humor of the century), and "Dr.Strangelove". But Monty Python really set the pace for the kind of absurdist satire we know and love today. The impact of "Holy Grail" reaches far and wide - from Michael Keaton's horseless galloping in Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado about Nothing" to the Columbine High Shootings("It's just a flesh wound" was reputedly a favorite quote of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold).