Spam (Monty Python sketch)

"Spam"is aMonty Pythonsketch, first televised in 1970 (series 2, episode 12, "Spam") and written byTerry JonesandMichael Palin. In the sketch, two customers are lowered by wires into agreasy spoon caféand try to order abreakfastfrom amenuthat includesSpamin almost every dish, much to the consternation of one of the customers. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a group ofVikingpatrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The excessive amount of Spam was probably a reference to the ubiquity of it and other importedcanned meat productsin theUnited KingdomafterWorld War II(aperiod of rationing in the UK) as the country struggled to rebuild its agricultural base. Thanks to its wartime ubiquity, the British public had grown tired of it.
The televised sketch and several subsequent performances featureTerry Jonesas the waitress,Eric Idleas Mr. Bun andGraham Chapmanas Mrs. Bun, who does not like Spam. The original sketch also featuredJohn CleeseasThe Hungarianand Palin as a historian, but this part was left out of the audio version of the sketch recorded for the team's second albumAnother Monty Python Record(1971). A year later this track was released as the Pythons' first7" single.
The use of the termspamfor unsolicitedelectronic communicationsis derived from this sketch.
The three-and-a-half-minute sketch is set in the fictional Green Midget Cafe inBromley. An argument develops between the waitress, who recites a menu in which nearly every dish contains Spam, and Mrs. Bun, who does not like Spam. She asks for a dish without Spam, much to the amazement of her Spam-loving husband. The waitress responds to this request with disgust. Mr. Bun offers to take her Spam instead, and asks for a dish containing a lot of Spam andbaked beans. The waitress says the beans are not available; when Mr. Bun asks for a substitution of Spam, the waitress begins reading out the new dish's name.
At several points, a group ofVikingsin the restaurant interrupt conversations by loudly singing about Spam. The irate waitress orders them to shut up, but they resume singing more loudly. AHungariantourist comes to the counter, trying to order by using a wholly inaccurateHungarian/Englishphrasebook (a reference to aprevious sketch). He is rapidly escorted away by apolice constable.
The sketch abruptly cuts to a historian in atelevision studiotalking about the origin of the Vikings in the café. As he goes on, he begins to increasingly insert the word "Spam" into every sentence, and the backdrop is raised to reveal the restaurant set behind. The historian joins the Vikings in their song, and Mr. and Mrs. Bun are lifted by wires out of the scene while the singing continues. In the original televised performance, the closing credits (which also have "Spam" inserted in various points among others) begin to scroll with the singing still audible in the background.
The sketch premiered on 15 December 1970 as the final sketch of the 25th show ofMonty Python's Flying Circus, and the end credits for the episode were changed so every member of the crew has either Spam or some other food item from the menu added to their names. (Spam Terry Jones,Michael Spam Palin,John Spam John Spam John Spam Cleese,Graham Spam Spam Spam Chapman,Eric Spam Egg and Chips Idle,Terry Spam Sausage Spam Egg Spam Gilliam, etc.) The "Spam" sketch became immensely popular, and was ranked the fifth favourite Python sketch in a poll.The word "Spam" is uttered at least 132 times. The Vikings' Spam song is a parody of "The Viking Song" bySamuel Coleridge-Taylor.
This sketch has also been featured in several Monty Python videos includingParrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python. Alead sheetfor the song appears inMonty Python's Big Red Book. The DVD release of the episode contains a deliberate subtitling error. When the Hungarian tries to order food, his words are "My lower intestine is full of Spam, Egg, Spam, Bacon, Spam, Tomatoes, Spam." Yet the subtitles read "Your intestine is full ofSperm." This is a continuation of the "Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" sketch from the same episode.
The audio version of the sketch excludes the Hungarian and historian, and instead has the Vikings reaching a dramaticcrescendo. The waitress, resigned to these disruptions, mutters "BloodyVikings!" In the 2014 version of the sketch performed inMonty Python Live (Mostly), one of the Vikings replies "Racist bastard!" before leading the group into an operatic chorus that includes a sampling of "Finland" from the team'sContractual Obligation Album.
Spam was a popular food during World War II in the UK.Although rationed, it was generally easily available and not subject tosupply shortages, as were other meats.Thanks to its wartime ubiquity, the British public eventually tired of it.
The phenomenon, some years later, of marketers drowning out discourse by floodingUsenetnewsgroups and individuals'emailwith junk mail advertising messages was namedspamming, due to some early internet users that flooded forums with the wordspamrecounting the repetitive and unwanted presence of spam in the sketch. This phenomenon has been reported in court decisions handed down in lawsuits against spammers – see, for example,CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc., 962 F.Supp. 1015, n. 1 (S.D.Ohio 1997). Furthermore, it has been referenced in anElectronic Frontier Foundationamicus curiaebrief to theSupreme Court of the United Statesin 2014.The term also is used to refer to mass marketing using junk phone calls or text messages, and has since entered video game culture as a term to refer to producing a large quantity of something, such as rocket-spamming or grenade-spamming.
ThePythonprogramming language, named after Monty Python, prefers to use spam, ham, and eggs asmetasyntactic variables, instead of the traditionalfoo, bar and baz.
The JapaneseanimeseriesGirls und Panzerfeatured the special episode "Survival War!", which referenced the "Spam" sketch,but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons. This was reversed in the English dub.
SpammakersHormel, while never happy with the use of the wordspamfor junk email, have been supportive of Monty Python and their sketch. Hormel issued a special tin of Spam for theBroadwaypremiere ofEric Idle's musicalSpamalotbased onMonty Python and the Holy Grail. The sketch is part of the company'sSpam MuseuminAustin, Minnesota, United States, and also mentioned in Spam's on-can advertisements for the product's 70th anniversary in 2007 – although the date of the Python sketch was incorrectly stated to be 1971 instead of 1970.
In 2007 the company decided that such publicity was part of their corporate image, and sponsored a game where their product is strongly associated with Monty Python,featuring a product with "Stinky French Garlic" as part of the promotion ofSpamalot. For the company's 75th anniversary in 2012, they introduced Sir Can-A-Lot, a knight character, appearing on the product's packaging with the phrase "Glorious SPAM®!".