Tuesday, 10/8

For several generations of Americans, the word “spam” causes them to instinctively look to their e-mail inbox. For another couple generations of Americans, the word “spam” causes them to think fondly of a can of mystery meat surrounded by a gelatinous goo.

But for a small subset of my generation, the word “spam” makes us thing of two words--

Monty. And Python.

I bring that up because it’s the 50^th anniversary of the debut of “Monty Python's Flying Circus" in England, and to celebrate, BBC America is running a bunch of episodes of the show, plus a documentary or two about the long-running impact the group has had on comedic history. They are also issuing a remastered Blu-ray set of the entire series, which makes me think I now know something that may be topping my birthday/Christmas list this year.

We'll see about that.

I first saw “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” like many kids in the 70s, when WNMU-TV ran the show late on Saturday night. I think I was, like, 12 or 13 when I saw my first episode, and what an episode it was, ending with one of their classic skits, “The Upper Middle Class Twit Of The Year” contest, a sight-gag and physical comedy-filled routine that actually had me laughing so hard there were tears coming out of my eyes.

After that, I was hooked.

Even though I didn’t get half the jokes in the show (my knowledge of British society and history woefully lacking back then) I watched the show every week. Since then, I’ve seen the movies, bought the books, and played the computer games. I still find myself walking around and, as the occasion requires, uttering phrases like “nudge nudge wink wink” or “I’m not dead yet”.

Oh, and I now know who people like Neville Chamberlain are. And what a chartered accountant is. And why sheep, given the opportunity, can actually fly.

While I still hold a very soft spot in my heart for “The Upper Middle Class Twit Of The Year” contest, I think my favorite skit from the show may be “The Spanish Inquisition”, in which, well, the Spanish Inquisition bursts unannounced into various situations throughout an entire episode, with the intent of torturing innocent characters. The only problem is that they’re not a very good Spanish Inquisition, torturing those characters with things like baking racks and comfy pillows.

Yes, I know it’s absurd, but it’s my kind of absurdity. It's one reason I seem to have such a finely tuned sense of the absurd, in fact. I'll be the first to admit—the group warped me, and apparently warped me for life. And it's not just me or my generation—on the episode of “High School Bowl” we taped this past Friday I had a discussion with a young man who wanted to live in the world of “Monty Python & the Holy Grail”. We even traded a few lines from the movie back & forth.

That's how big of an impact the group has had.

Anyway, it's not 87 pieces of e-mail, but instead a dingy diner filled with Vikings and a slightly befuddled customer that first comes to my mind whenever I hear the word “spam”. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go stand in a corner, yell “I don’t like Spam” in a very shrill falsetto, and then spend the rest of the morning singing “spam spam spam spam (etc)” to myself and to anyone who wanders near.

You’re more than welcome to join in!

(jim@wmqt.com)