Monty Python’s 10 Best Fourth Wall Breaks | ScreenRant – Screen Rant
Posted: September 28, 2020 at 11:56 pm
Monty Python were famous for their groundbreaking comedy and unique twists on the sketch format, which included breaking the fourth wall.
The six members of Monty Pythons troupe came together from various facets of the British comedy industry of the 1960s with a shared desire to break down all of televisions rules with a no-holds-barred comic sensibility. In most of the teams projects, from Monty Pythons Flying Circus to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the fourth wall got regularly broken.
RELATED:Monty Python: 5 Reasons Why Holy Grail Is Their Best Film (& 5 Why Life Of Brian is A Close Second)
As a result, some of the funniest sketches and moments from the Pythons storied history involve a certain element of self-awareness. But theres a difference between a subtle nod to the audience and an all-out attack on the artifice of film and television.
Almost every episode of Monty Pythons Flying Circus began with a fourth wall-breaking moment in which the Its man, played by Michael Palin, would rush up to the camera from afar and tell the camera, Its... before the theme tune kicked in and the opening titles began.
This was a brilliant way to keep each episode fresh right off the bat and made an iconic character out of just one word. Any time Python fans see the Its man, it puts a smile on their face.
The Colonel, played by Graham Chapman, would barge into a sketch whenever he felt it was getting too silly in order to put a stop to it.
Since the Pythons humor was specifically built on silliness, he found plenty of opportunities to step in and police the absurdity.
During the Castle Anthrax scene in which 150 young women tempt Sir Galahad the Pure, Dingo looks at the camera and asks, Do you think this scene should have been cut? and compares it to the others.
The characters from previous scenes defend their own moments, then the characters whose scenes havent appeared yet tell them to get on with it. Its next-level meta.
In the Architects Sketch, the Pythons lampooned the Freemasons with one architect launching into a tirade against the fabled organization and a second architect doing a weird Masonic handshake. The first architect breaks the fourth wall by reappearing and saying to the camera, It opens doors, Im telling you.
RELATED:The 10 Best Monty Python's Flying Circus Skits & Sketches, Ranked
The sketch also breaks the fourth wall during the small-scale recreation of the then-recent Ronan Point fire when a large on-screen disclaimer reads: SATIRE.
Due to its loose structure and unusually dark tone, The Meaning of Life is considered to be the lesser cousin of Holy Grail and Life of Brian, but its wildly unpredictable and features some of the Pythons most beloved sketches, like Every Sperm is Sacred.
At the movies midpoint, the Zulu sketch is interrupted by a character welcoming the audience to The Middle of the Film. This deviates into a surreal segment entitled Find the Fish.
When King Arthur and his party are escorted into a cave by Brother Maynard, they find an inscription by Joseph of Arimathea that sends them to Castle Aarrgh.
Suddenly, Brother Maynard is eaten by a cave monster that chases the knights. Fortunately, the knights are saved when the animator controlling the cave monster has a heart attack and dies.
The ending of Life of Brian is perfect, with all the story threads being tied up while Brian is nailed to a cross and about to be wrongfully crucified. Then, Eric Idle starts singing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and all the prisoners awaiting execution join in.
When the song is in full swing, Idle takes a second to break the fourth wall, singing, Its the end of the film / Incidentally, this records available in the foyer!
Throughout the whole of The Meaning of Life, the Pythons promise that they will reveal the actual meaning of life. However, it isnt revealed until the very end and, in true Python fashion, it comically fails to live up to the hype.
RELATED:Monty Python: 10 Reasons The Meaning Of Life Is An Underrated Gem
In the movies epilogue, the host from The Middle of the Film sketch anticlimactically reveals the meaning of life, saying its nothing very special.
When they decided to give their first narrative film the loose structure of King Arthurs quest to find the Holy Grail, the Pythons thought it would be funny to end the movie on an anticlimactic note with Arthur never actually finding the Grail.
Just as Arthur and his soldiers prepare to storm the castle and seize the Grail, the police investigating the completely unrelated murder of the historian who got killed early in the movie pull up in anachronistic vehicles. They arrest the king and shut off the camera, ending the movie on a hilariously absurd note.
The biggest revolution in Monty Pythons Flying Circus was its lack of punchlines. Punchlines for sketches rarely land, because the whole sketch has to be summed up in a single joke and thats tough to do in a satisfying way, so the Pythons didnt use them. Instead, whenever a sketch ran out of steam, they simply segued into the next one.
One of these segues involved John Cleese as a BBC announcer, wearing a suit and sitting behind a desk (whether he was in a broadcasting station or on a beach), who uttered the immortal catchphrase, And now for something completely different.
NEXT:Monty Python's 10 Funniest Movie Parodies, Ranked
Next 5 Ways The Usual Suspects Has Aged Well (& 5 Ways It Hasn't)
Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, and independent filmmaker, and he's good at at least two of those things. In addition to writing for Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources, covering everything from Scorsese to Spider-Man, Ben directs independent films and does standup comedy. He's currently in pre-production on his first feature film, Hunting Trip, and has been for a while because filmmaking is expensive. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema and BabbleTop.
More:
Monty Python's 10 Best Fourth Wall Breaks | ScreenRant - Screen Rant
- Leo Gura - The Collective Ego - January 15th, 2021
- News of the World Review: Quiet Ballad of the Lost and Found - The Wall Street Journal - December 22nd, 2020
- Star Trek: Every Hologram That Gained Sentience (& Their Fate) - Screen Rant - December 22nd, 2020
- Taking Charge Of Your Life: Could Your Questions Be The Answer? - Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain News - Daily Host News - December 22nd, 2020
- Most Organizations Still Miss the Mark on Diversity & Inclusion - GlobeNewswire - December 22nd, 2020
- Has The Mandalorian Succumbed to the Dark Side? - Vulture - December 22nd, 2020
- Can Animals Recognize Their Own Reflection? : Short Wave - NPR - December 22nd, 2020
- Self-Delusion on the Russia Hack - The Dispatch - December 22nd, 2020
- Best albums of all time by Black artists - Grand Island Independent - December 22nd, 2020
- The SolarWinds Hack Is Just The Same Sort Of Espionage The US Government Engages In Every Day - Techdirt - December 22nd, 2020
- Geltzeiler: Knicks have 'least-talented' roster in the NBA - RADIO.COM - December 22nd, 2020
- 3 practices every strong leader should embrace to build trust with their employees - Business Insider - Business Insider - December 22nd, 2020
- From Community Cousin to Canada's Highest Court: Rebecca Olivia Watmough - Vancouver Island University News - December 22nd, 2020
- Business communication during the pandemic grew in three key areas - Financial Post - December 22nd, 2020
- Vaccine effective against the new strain of COVID-19, says UAE - Gulf Today - December 22nd, 2020
- Tower Of God: 10 Differences Between The Anime & The Manhwa, Season 1 - CBR - Comic Book Resources - December 22nd, 2020
- How do men who have sex with men develop resilience in response to HIV? - aidsmap - December 22nd, 2020
- If you say any of these 6 things during the job interview, don't expect to get an offer: Career expert - CNBC - December 16th, 2020
- Niemi: CASEL Is Updating the Most Widely Recognized Definition of Social-Emotional Learning. Here's Why - The 74 - December 16th, 2020
- OKC musician Chase Kerby's new band Hotel Nights' wintry video for 'Pains of the Weekenders' is a mood on an Oklahoma snow day - Oklahoman.com - December 16th, 2020
- Why Carat is putting emotional intelligence at the core of media buying - Campaign US - December 16th, 2020
- Give it some brainvita - The New Indian Express - December 16th, 2020
- Kyrie Irving is once again reminding us who he is, and the Nets need to take notice - CBS Sports - December 16th, 2020
- What Therapy for Narcissism Involves: Steps and What to Expect - Healthline - December 16th, 2020
- An open letter to Lions fans everywhere: I'm always on your side - The Pioneer - December 16th, 2020
- Using art to help kids tap into their creative side - Joplin Globe - December 16th, 2020
- What 2020 has taught us - The Daily Wildcat - Arizona Daily Wildcat - December 16th, 2020
- $15 million in funding to support health and medical research - University News: The University of Western Australia - December 16th, 2020
- Dean Spade: 'Mutual Aid Always Pops Up Where Disasters Are' - Progressive.org - December 16th, 2020
- I Never Thought I'd Say This, but Offset's Defense of Cardi B Was Absolutely Right - POPSUGAR - December 16th, 2020
- The Thing You Need To Know About Letting Go - Forbes - December 16th, 2020
- Cast headed by Meryl Streep makes Let Them All Talk a winner - Detroit Free Press - December 16th, 2020
- If You're Too Busy for These 3 Things, Your Leadership Skills May Need a Tune-Up - Inc. - December 16th, 2020
- Rick And Morty: 5 Ways It's Similar To Community (& 5 Things It Does Differently) - Screen Rant - December 16th, 2020
- Using Meditation to Achieve Mindfulness - Chicago Health - December 16th, 2020
- 7 skills you need to stand out at work - Yahoo Finance Australia - December 11th, 2020
- One Way to Stop Whitewashing: It's Got to Be Taught - American Theatre - December 11th, 2020
- Coach K not the first with concerns about basketball in a pandemic, but he's the loudest - Union Democrat - December 11th, 2020
- Pondering the Question 'Who Am I?' - Shepherd Express - December 11th, 2020
- Review: The Saved by the Bell reboot gave me an existential crisis - Vox.com - December 11th, 2020
- Overcoming workplace bias - The Miami Times - December 11th, 2020
- Manners are important to teach our children | Health | The Daily News - Galveston County Daily News - December 11th, 2020
- How to recognize and stop self-sabotage at work - Fast Company - December 11th, 2020
- 2021 Will Be The Year Of Mind Gyms, Tele-Therapy & The Rise Of Mental Fitness - mindbodygreen.com - December 11th, 2020
- Mank: A Writerly Life of Words, Alcohol and Inner Conflicts in 1930s Hollywood - The Wire - December 11th, 2020
- A Thinking Environment | theHRD - The HR Director Magazine - December 11th, 2020
- What to do when there's 'nothing' to do... - Boulder Weekly - December 11th, 2020
- Parenting through the pandemic - Fast Company - December 11th, 2020
- White clicktivism: why are some Americans woke online but not in real life? - The Guardian - December 11th, 2020
- The Bachelorette episode 9 recap: Just when you thought he was out, one guy (tries to) pull himself back in - Gold Derby - December 11th, 2020
- GTFOH Trump Watch: Hes Taking This Breakup Really Hard - The Root - December 11th, 2020
- This Is How to Make a Reboot in 2020 - The Ringer - December 11th, 2020
- We Weigh In: Is B&B's Liam Spencer The Worst Man On Daytime TV? - Fame10 - December 11th, 2020
- Making therapy accessible - Gainesville Sun - October 28th, 2020
- The 10 Best Ways To Make The Rest Of 2020 Suck Less - Forbes - October 28th, 2020
- Creative Arts Therapy Club Reaches Out to Campus - West Liberty University News & Media Relations - October 28th, 2020
- 'The Craft: Legacy' is the sparkly savior your Halloween needs: Review - Mashable - October 28th, 2020
- Following up with UO's progress on combating racism and systemic oppression - Oregon Daily Emerald - October 28th, 2020
- What it takes to become a collaborative leader - Chief Learning Officer - October 28th, 2020
- The Unspoken Social and Emotional Benefits of a College Education - The Apopka Voice - October 28th, 2020
- 6 soft skills you'll need for the post-Covid working world - Siliconrepublic.com - October 28th, 2020
- My parents gave my brothers and me $8 million in bonds, stocks and ETFs. Id like to use my profit to travel. My parents refuse - MarketWatch - October 28th, 2020
- 'They Look Like People' and the Horror of Schizophrenia [Unveiling The Mind] - Bloody Disgusting - October 28th, 2020
- My journey from being a young-earth Creationist, Dispensationalist Republican to seeing my neighbor as worthy of my vote - Baptist News Global - October 28th, 2020
- Cam Newton says he wont change the way he dresses - NBC Sports - NFL - October 28th, 2020
- Manhood on the ballot: Trump's self-absorbed bullying vs. Biden's compassion and humility - USA TODAY - October 28th, 2020
- Banyan Tree leads by example and rolls out three new staff mental health initiatives - Spa Business - October 28th, 2020
- It doesn't matter what month it is, the work to raise awareness on disabilities continues for this local school division - WYDaily - October 28th, 2020
- What's on TV: Friday, October 30 to Thursday, November 5 - Sydney Morning Herald - October 28th, 2020
- Effective Hybrid Team Leadership: The New Performance Factor For Successful Companies - Forbes - October 28th, 2020
- How masks are helping these Saskatoon residents beyond stopping COVID-19 - CTV Toronto - October 28th, 2020
- 3 Ways to restore Self-Worth in Your Kids after an Uncertain Year - Crosswalk.com - October 28th, 2020
- Breast oncologist breaks down myths, prevention and tell-tale signs - FOX40 - October 21st, 2020
- Why embracing diversity, equity and inclusion matters to financial advisor firms - CNBC - October 21st, 2020
- New Research Shows Why Crows Are So Intelligent and Even Self-AwareJust Like Us - Good News Network - October 21st, 2020
- How Leaders Can Learn To Be Humble And More Effective - Forbes - October 21st, 2020
- 5 Strategies You Can Use to Build an Emotionally Intelligent Team - Entrepreneur - October 21st, 2020
- How music therapy benefits the autistic brain - Big Think - October 21st, 2020
- UW studies investigate need for and impact of culturally aware mentorship training - University of Wisconsin-Madison - October 21st, 2020
- A guide to male height - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily - October 21st, 2020