John Cleese & Michael Palin - 'The Parrot Sketch'

[MultiEvule]

PINNING FOR THE FJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORS?!

[bogratful]

are u one of them

[TheZiggirawk]

Corpsing

[ojiisanhikui]

Love how the Norwegian Blue parrot is red.  Typical Python. :)

[AlexisCapri]

This video was disliked by 11 members of the Parrot Liberation Front.

[WDW0012]

Oh to have seen these live. I've been cheated I tell thee. 

[fanstooik]

what's with John's shirt opening and closing continuously?

[NinkasiDelight]

in doo bi da blee

[OJSlaughter93]

Cleese made me piss myself: Palin too :p

[1969ChargerRTSE]

Masters at work

To see it live, my gods.

[pwner347]

British comedy ftw

[peperonyandchease]

idgi

[HomeGrownGoodness]

I met michael palin once walking through Bath, he was such a jammy bastard. Favourite Python of ALL TIME!

[INCC74656I]

MP not being able to keep a straight face added sooo much to this sketch. omg i love this

[sniggity]

I agree with sausagenmuff, I don't find this funny at all. I only smiled at the part where Palin laughed a bit. I do appreciate the genius of these guys, though.

[sausagenmuff]

maybe it's a generational thing, but I just don't find this funny at all. i do enjoy cleese though

[mikepalomino]

@sausagenmuff Not necessarily generational, comedy is just the most subjective of all forms of expression. I know people from my age group who don't like / "get" Monty Python. I'll go so far as to say it's an acquired taste; it's not your typical structured comedy but instead deconstructs it, blending high/low brow humor and satire with over-the-top absurdity. It's just not everyone's cup of tea.

[AlexisCapri]

The Olympic Sport of Parrot Bashing.

[whodhavethoughtit1]

this one go to harry morriss and spike milligan without those two the parrot would be still alive, 

[CaiWinMan]

what- kind- of- talk- is thaaat?

[mentalguitarisist]

"In a 2002 interview with Michael Parkinson, John Cleese said that when he and Palin were performing the sketch on Drury Lane, Palin made him laugh by saying, when asked if his slug could talk, "It mutters a bit" instead of "Not really." When Cleese eventually stopped laughing, he couldn't remember where they were in the sketch. He turned to the audience and asked them what the next line was, and people shouted it at him, causing him to wonder, "What is the point of this?"

[Tube11ize]

haha,when cleese says it a second time even he Breaks down as well,as much as palin but he does laugh xD

[Tube11ize]

all i can say is,if it was resting when cleese reported it dead,it was 100% dead when he`d done bashing it about

[biggles1111]

I love Michael looking at his watch as people walks in x)

[SheepasaurusRex]

If that's a Norwegian blue parrot, why is it red?

[goofygoobe92]

@SheepasaurusRex No it isn't it, it's blue.

[SheepasaurusRex]

@goofygoobe92 Fine, so be it.

[HeseQ]

@SheepasaurusRex Welcome to Monty Python

[Zimnyification]

@SheepasaurusRex Part of the joke on the lovely plumage, I imagine.

[AlexisCapri]

@SheepasaurusRex lol good point!

[VolumedMusicMan]

4 people are brift of life.

[xoxoMEEPoxox]

If Michael Palin laughs, it's because he's just freaking adorable.

If John Cleese laughs, something is FREAKING HYSTERICAL!!!

[NickInfante92]

michael palin is corsping? SEND FOR THE MAN!

[threenorns3]

"this parrot wouldn't 'voom!' if you put four million volts through it!!!" - i just have this mental image of a parrot rocketing skyward with flames shooting out its butt, LMDAO!!!!

[HarrisnFordStar]

I would die to see Cleese's laugh at 3:08

[kraziekatt2000]

THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!!!!!!!!!!

lol :)

[BartelDoo]

Michael Palin was the sexiest.

[thejordanconnellshow]

i mean the ratio of 627:4 is pretty good, but how can ANYONE dislike this. I mean how can someone sit through this sketch deadpan then take the effort to dislike it. They must be the most in need of some comic relief. Even bloody Margaret Thatcher found it funny and she disenfranchised a generation!

[TilleyFedora]

@thejordanconnellshow

'how can someone sit through this sketch deadpan then take the effort to dislike it.'

They were aiming for the like button and missed because they were laughing too hard.

[pearlearring17]

hahah john is so evil

[Tristanthejawsfan]

This is an ex-parrot!

Lol

[alforje]

i wish i could see cleese's face when he's pining for the fjords

[howaboutschy]

@alforje WHAT KIND OF TALK IS THAT?

[ninacat88]

THIS IS NOTHING TO LAUGH AT!

[Deel2506]

Indubitably extinct! That's new :)

[MissLondon84]

I would absolutely love to see the Olympic sport of parrot-bashing.

[jgrisso07]

4 people are dead from the neck up

[thesecretbet]

I would literally give my left testicle to be in the audience when this was filmed! Comedy history par excellance!

[InfnityXAquos]

@thesecretbet Woah mate, calm down!

[jowzica]

I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching this. Absolutely brilliant. And Michael is just ridiculously cute!

[theocean1973]

@PokerPlum THIS IS NOTHING TO LAUGH AT!!!

[smegweevil]

What a delight. Palin breaking up and Cleese clearly enjoying the situation. What an immortal sketch by two comedic geniuses.

[rockingKitten]

Why, oh why, is there no shot of Cleese as he says "What kind of talk is tha-a-at?" clearly trying hard not to burst out laughing himself?

[airgeerful]

@specialfx34 Thanks! To answer my own question, they did the show for four nights, so I bet they just cut the best shots together. This is the most cutest version I've seen regardless of the continuity of it :)

[airgeerful]

Did they do the sketch twice? It's most noticeable on Palin; his lumberjack shirt goes from buttoned to unbuttoned several times. Cleese's jacket does as well at least once. Anyone know what happened there?

[JanineRobin]

The Olympic sport of parrot-bashing

[Gazzar]

Good recovery Michael!

[theonlyarrinyatsenko]

yet another reason michael and john are my favorite pythons :)

[dharmaseed]

Even John's accent is different on this sketch.

[BlackSheepMPFC]

Hilarious!

[LadyoftheTheLake]

i love micheal's look to the audience after he cracks up! makes me laugh every time!

[LilySMiles13]

This is great! Love how JC says 'Pining for the fjoooooooords' twice, just to get MP to laugh. Mike is my fave Python :)

[simpsonman956]

Indeed this parrot is no more It has ceased to be It's expired and gone to meet it's maker it's a stiff beriffed of life, it rests in peace if it weren't nailed to the perch it'd be pushing up dasies It's metobalic processes are now history he's off the twig he's kicked the bucket and bought the farm he's shuffled out the monal coil run down the curtain to join the choir invisible THIS.....IS AN EX......PARROT!!!

[8BlueSkies]

God I love both of them! John really goes for it when he's banging the parrot off the table lol! :D

[henrycrumm]

LMFAO john's high pitched voice

[therookpiece]

The best performance caught on film.

[SirTimothyMarton]

lol wow he laughed almost the whole time I was in quite a lot plays and wow I can laugh so hard in some things I always did comedies which were hysterical but for the night I was prepared and didnt crack up once

[minza1980]

Michael Palin was so handsome!

[saqib09]

What pyning for the field means? Any native English speaker to the rescue?

[sassnsoccer]

@saqib09 It's actually "pining for the fjords". Fjords being a pun on a Norwegian Blue parrot.

[dharmaseed]

@saqib09 I believe it's 'pining for the fjords'. Being a Norweigian Blue parrot, and fjords being native to Norway one could conclude the parrot is 'omesick.

[ooori21]

@saqib09 It's pining for the fjords. It means to greatly miss or mourn somebody or something...

[tOFFjEPP]

@ooori21 Well, not really. Fjords are a part of the Norwegian environment. And since the Bird is a Norwegian Blue (although not blue in this version) it is pining (which as you say means to greatly miss) for Norway, and the Fjords of Norway

[ooori21]

@tOFFjEPP I was correcting saqib09 because he wrote "Pyning for the fields" instead of "pining for the fjords"

[sandprof]

I wish you could see Cleese's face at 3.09 - they are both laughing. Vic and Bob do this quite a lot - very funny

[xXxteddy2shoesxXx]

i find palin breaking out of character funnier than the sketch for some reason

[DougiesStarGirl93]

@xXxteddy2shoesxXx one of the great things about Python was that they didn't take themselves too seriously and so they took things like breaking out of character as funny and didn't beat themselves up about it. they didn't care about making it perfect so long as they found it funny, and that was refreshing. it wasn't immaculate.

you can see them almost cracking up in a lot of Flying Circus and in the movies. it enlightens you, and is encouraging to see that they enjoy their art so much (:

[zioband]

great videopls visit my ""low cost video""

[Knoh]

"Pining for the FJOOOOOOORDS!?"

[GreatQueenFan]

oh and i like it very much at 3.05... and voom!

[GreatQueenFan]

yeah! when mike is laughing it's funnier that the whole consept of the skech. lol x-D

[Luv2tickt]

Anyone who doesn't find this one of the funniest things EVER is as dead as that parrot!

[BellaLennon9]

@Luv2tickt it's not dead, it's stunned!!

[JanineRobin]

oh lord, I must have watched this 50 times and it still cracks me up when Mike can't control his laughing

[Mymloch]

This is the best version of the bit.

[1REACH1]

no wonder he couldnt stop laughing....cleese is louder and funnier here than any of the TV parrott sketches

[NTownJung]

@klopek007 i think the description is getting at the fact that this was the first act to go on at the very first Secret Policeman's Ball, not the first time the sketch had been done

[klopek007]

This is very clearly NOT the first time it was performed, otherwise the audience wouldn't have cheered so loud when Cleese walked onstage with the cage. They knew what was coming. It was first performed on their TV show.

[notraep]

you can tell by the wobbly cameras at parts that the camera men find it funny lol

[Charmolution]

What the fuck does that even mean, 'Pining for the fjords'?

[jsty3105]

Probably a reference to the parrot missing Norway. ;p

[klopek007]

@Charmolution It's a Norwegian Blume.

[Gertilish]

Such legends.

[DoctorWhovian1993]

They are so good together!!!!

This is so gooooooood!

[jennyx2k8x]

aww i love this vertion! palin is so cute when he laughs lol

[volker001]

this is the best version!

[marcvanholden]

LOOL ...palin desperately tries to hold his laugh, then cleese delivers another - "pining for the fjords? what kind of talk is that?"....fucking great.

T!his is nothing to laugh at!!

[Jiraiyeah]

both laughing... this version is GREAT :DDD

[xxKJ127xx]

i love this version a ton more than the original

[xemily91]

comedy gold. Palin breaking up just tops it. XD and i love what he did in the beginnning.

[khatholic]

PININ FOR THE FJoooOOOOOOOOOORDS?!?!1111

[painlessissuicide]

just my humble opinion, but I think Michael Palin was the best of them all

[JohnLennonLover9]

@painlessissuicide - He does the best voices XD

[cookmoore]

@painlessissuicide YES

[Zimnyification]

@painlessissuicide I like John Cleese the best

[figwitfjords]

palin + cleese, best comedy paring ever<3

[jonny616]

I wish you could see John Cleese when you hear him laughing. :D

[badhorsiee]

Michael is sooo cute!! god i love these guys

[callpolice999]

should i report about animal abuse when i see john cleese hits the parrot's head on the table, on his palm and his ankle?

oh wait. i just remembered. the parrot is already dead.

[ratherbdrunk]

How do you top Michael Palin cracking up...it's the best. Reminds me of Foster Brooks cracking Dean Martin up in the Airline Pilot sketch. Check that one out when you need a chuckle.

[saturnagirl]

Hahaha I love that John Cleese keeps hitting the high notes trying to make Michael Palin laugh again :P... Genius

[davehasmates]

there is nothing, absolutely nothing, as funny as corpsing to me

[Percivaldurham]

Looks like The Lumberjack Sketch is next. I can see Michael Palin is wearing a flannel shirt underneath and has a hat tucked away in his pocket.

[HorseCrazyGrl167]

Hahaha! So cute! And John is meaaan for doing it again right as Michael recovered XDD <33 Love them both

[Sharloinify]

I'm so in love with Michael, he's just the cutest.

[HeatherRawriee]

Oh, Michael - he was doing so well too! He does look unbelievably gorgeous when he's trying (and failing) not to crack up.

"PINING FOR THE FJOOOOOOORDS?!"

[kruele]

i was just thinking the same thing - he's hottttttt!!!!

[shashwati]

completely agree...he's SO CUTE!!!....

but JC, i mean, he was on fire, man...and cause of MP you barely notice that he laughed too...frickin hilarious...it's too bad JC's voice is all gruff now, he can't go from deep and dignified to the sonic blast of a high pitched screaming or squawking (depending on whether he was playing a man or a woman, of course)

[HeatherRawriee]

He really was - John is simply the definition of 'Comic Genius' :D

[deaconredwhiteandblu]

of course! so hilarious and so so gorgeous!

[dharmaseed]

Yeaaaah! You stunned 'im just as 'e was wakin' up! Look at Michael's face!!!

[Anargie]

Michael totally lost it and the only thing John says: 'This is nothing to laugh at!'

Brilliant guys.

[quizmaster85]

PINING FOR THE FJORDS!!!???

[Blessed2393]

Apparently John Cleese hated doing this sketch, so every time he did it, he tried to make Palin crack up. This is the best live version of it!! LOL!!

[borednerd74]

Lol the best version of that scetch!

[leapoffaith20]

Poor Palin, he's pissing himself!

[madlipsvol2]

These two are priceless

[AMBON911]

Some sketches remain fun no matter how often you look at it .. this is one of ...

indeed with a great John Cleese...

[gitarmats]

This is so awesome

John Cleese is amazing, haha!

'ello polly!!

[AMBON911]

Yes indeed.....so was the ex-parrot... :(

[rileyronco]

michael palin was VERY handsome!! :)

[Syniqal]

@rileyronco Yes, yes he was. ;)

[karrochan83]

@rileyronco Yep!

[xXdappledcitiesXx]

wow this is the best version of this sketch!! michael is a crack up. this just gets funnier everytime i watch it.

michael palin is my fave :D

[SirRobin126]

Around 2:29 Michael cracks and again at the pining for the Fjords.

Very funny but Michael didn't say beautiful plumage enough!

John is sooooooo funny!!

[ILYIAB]

"It's an ex-parrot!" So fracking funny!

[missingsydbarrett]

wow michael was very sexy

[Crowsfan55]

Pining for the Fjords?....Pining for the Fjords?....the Norwegian Blue!!!

[aparker22418]

OMG, this makes me cry laughing every time!

[Shadow07Warrior1989]

"Look!... This is nothing to laugh at!"

Hahaha. Too good. Adding that part in just made me laugh harder. John Cleese's high pitched voice later in the sketch is just perfect for the impact of his lines. Awesome!

[jimmyg141]

i love how you even hear cleese cracking up at around 3.08-3.10 as he says "what kind of talk is that?!" cleese cracks up palin, then cleese cracks up at watching palin lose it. brilliant!!

[olstar18]

Wish I could see a live show like this. The best part is when they screwup.

[Crowsfan55]

was fortunate to see them in Montreal...and I had not idea who they were...the roomie across the hall gave me a ticket if I would drive him into Montreal...it was the funniest show I've seen to this day....

[Crowsfan55]

they were friggin hilarious...I never saw anyone like them.....and they did the stupid graphics while setting up the next sketch.....they were playing and selling out the Montreal Forum when I saw them!

[MissT681]

At 2:05 I expected the table to break! :-)))

[tich302001]

Brilliant Michael Palin cracking up makes me laugh everytime I see this

[vnano]

Palin <3

[DominatorXWF]

'ELLOOOO POLLYYYYYY!!!

[fiona9800]

Pining for the FFFJJJOOORRRDDDSSS!!!

[Crowsfan55]

he's pining!!!...damn so am I!

[anetchi]

hahaha!! so so funny =)

[Shadow07Warrior1989]

Just proof of how funny John Cleese can be. Cracks up his own partner.

[Myrmelie]

Seen it about hundred times, I know it already by head and this sketch still makes me crack. Esp the parrot bashing, that's hysterical!

[Crowsfan55]

THIS IS AN EX-PARROT....agree

[goosebagman]

I love how John cracked himself up

[ituyok]

I CANNOT blame Palin for cracking up!! XD

[Hubbugoof]

so awesome! they have been my favorite comedians since forever, they are the masters and nothing will ever be as funny :)

[Titaniacy]

Mike: The most adorable person EVER!!

[MedusaGreen]

Michael & John are two geniuses! Great actors! I LOVE them!!))

[angeliquelief]

the day john cleese was born,???????????glad he got born

[dancefloorcrusade]

Two legends.

Love Palin he was sooooo cute when he was younger :D

[EnnaSilme]

Aww now don't be unkind, he is still very cute. :D

But rofl, he definitly DOES "crack up" at2:55 though he's fighting heroicly... XD Jesus, I love them so!!! :D

[otakudude0851]

Poor Michael always had a hard time keeping a straight face when John was speaking. lol

[HeathLedgerisalegend]

Michael Palin was without a doubt the most adorable thing on TV.

Not to mention, he was a part of the funniest comedy act ever.

Monty Python♥

John Cleese never ever fails to make me laugh, either.

None of them do actually.

This is a BRILLIANT sketch!