The genius of Monty Python

Of late I have been wading through the documentary Monty Python: Almost The Truth: The Lawyers Cut. It is a blockbuster- three DVD's and 7.5 hours worth of the the history of the Pythons, from their comedic origins through to the present day. It is a reminder of the comic brilliance of the Python crew.

For me Life of Brian is their cinematic masterpiece and the Piranha Brothers, about the fictional gangland brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha, one of their funniest sketches.

Who can forget the exchange between the Interviewer and Stig O'Tracey.

Presenter	Another man who had his head nailed to the floor was Stig O' Tracey.
	Cut to another younger more cheerful man on sofa.
Interviewer	Stig, I've been told Dinsdale Piranha nailed your head to the floor.
Stig	No, no. Never, never. He was a smashing bloke. He used to give his mother flowers and that. He was like a brother to me.
Interviewer	But the police have film of Dinsdale actually nailing your head to the floor.
Stig	Oh yeah, well - he did that, yeah.
Interviewer	Why?
Stig	Well he had to, didn't he? I mean, be fair, there was nothing else he could do. I mean, I had transgressed the unwritten law.
Interviewer	What had you done?
Stig	Er... Well he never told me that. But he gave me his word that it was the case, and that's good enough for me with old Dinsy. I mean, he didn't want to nail my head to the floor. I had to insist. He wanted to let me off. There's nothing Dinsdale wouldn't do for you.
Interviewer	And you don't bear him any grudge?
Stig	A grudge! Old Dinsy? He was a real darling.
Interviewer	I understand he also nailed your wife's head to a coffee table. Isn't that right Mrs O' Tracey?
	Camera pans to show woman with coffee table nailed to head.
Mrs O' Tracey	Oh, no. No. No.
Stig	Yeah, well, he did do that. Yeah, yeah. He was a cruel man, but fair
	Cut back to Vince.
Interviewer	Vince, after he nailed your head to the floor, did you ever see him again
Vince	Yeah.....after that I used to go round his flat every Sunday lunchtime to apologize and we'd shake hands and then he'd nail my head to the floor
Interviewer	Every Sunday?
Vince	Yeah but he was very reasonable about it. I mean one Sunday when my parents were coming round for tea, I asked him if he'd mind very much not nailing my head to the floor that week and he agreed and just screwed my pelvis to a cake stand.
	Cut to man affixed to a coffee table and a standard lamp.
Man	He was the only friend I ever had.