Spamalot,” playing in St. Paul this week, reminds us just how much Eric Idle and his British partners altered the way we laugh.

The 1960s satire boom opened up the way for a fresh, inventive generation of young comedy writer-performers to flourish on TV and to take comedy in a new and exciting direction. Among them were five ...

Cue trumpeters! Cue fireworks! Cue dry ice! Cue dancing Beefeaters! A spectacular opening ceremony sees Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy at the BBC, don his traditional garb to welcome everyone to this ...

In the early ’70s, I’d worked with the Pythons on a few spoof commercials. From that association,. Terry Jones came to me with a script for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which he would be directing ...

What makes a TV show cool? Well, the parameters for this coolest TV shows of all time list were fairly simple: Did the show excite us? Did it get the world talking? Did it kickstart a spate of similar ...

“What’s in a name?” William Shakespeare once wrote. To which comedy legend Mel Brooks might sagely reply, “It’s one of the best jokes in ‘History of the World, Part 1.'” There is no Part 2, and no ...

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Terry Jones in a script conference for Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1974. Photo: Radio Times/Radio Times via Getty Images Terry Jones in a script conference for Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1974 ...