"Dinsdale?"
That's what my brother Ed would say when peering through a doorway to see who was in the room. It's from Monty Python's Flying Circus, this particular skit about the London gangsters Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. The line is spoken by the creature Dinsdale fears the most, an imaginary 12-foot giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman.
I'm guessing you readers fall into two camps: Those who think "Ummm -- pretty weird, Pat", and those who remember the skit (and all the others) with fondness. You either got Monty Python or you didn't, and we certainly did growing up.
Our first exposure was the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which we boys saw in the theater with Dad. It was absurd and hilarious, and we loved it. It was also unlike anything else; what crazy writer would have King Arthur travel the English countryside with his aide using coconut shells to produce a horse's clip-clopping? Or meet up with the fearsome "Knights Who Say Ni" (keepers of the sacred words "Ni", "Peng", and "Neee-Wom")? We quoted from the movie constantly.
A few years later we were living in New Jersey when the public TV station started showing reruns of the original "Flying Circus" almost every night. We got to be big-time Monty Python geeks, along with a few of our friends. I wonder if our buddy Al Freeman still goes by the nickname "Throatwobbler Mangrove"?
I just watched Holy Grail with the kids, and they loved it, too. It was surprisingly kid-friendly, with only one short scene I had to skip over. They've since watched the movie again a couple of times, and already have a few favorite scenes or lines ("You know much that is hidden, O Tim.")
So here's a test -- you, too may be a Monty Python geek if:
- You can recite long sections of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
- Your favorite parrot is the Norwegian Blue
- You like your Camembert cheese a little runny
- You like a good argument
- You've ever had a really weird job interview
- A good breakfast for you is Spam, eggs, sausage, and Spam
- When you meet someone named Tim you add (in your mind) "...the Enchanter"
- You think it's boring to just walk normally
- You know a joke can be too funny
I could go on, thanks to the wonders of YouTube, but I'll stop there. Have fun watching some old favorites, if you're a fellow geek, but beware -- because nobody expects...the Spanish Inquisition!
Pat
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