Graham Chapman's Memorial Service (Longer version)
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- čas přidán 19. 02. 2009
- The version I uploaded on my previous account that got deleted. It's longer than the other versions, since this one has Palin speaking in it as well. Enjoy this vid and enjoy your life every minute you have.
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"Good riddance to him the freeloading bastard"
This is how you say goodbye to a close friend.
Random Gentleman also "I hope he fries"
Exactly. Nothing but love.
"Good riddance, the freeloading bastard ..."
That moment of sad tension suddenly vanished with those words. Perfectly timed, perfectly suitable. You can imagine Chapman laughing his ass off.
A strange yet poignant salute.
As Cleese said, Chapman would never have forgiven him if he hadn't said something like that.
There's also the magic of post production editing.
@@gravypatron but there wasn’t any
That was the point where the distancing provided by "mindless good taste" was thrown out the window and the proper processing began.
I see it a little different. Chapman would have looked at him in horror. Absolute horror. "How could you" Cleese, "You most certainly wanted me to!" "I did not, you're the freeloading bastard!"
This is how a funeral should look like.
It's about a celebration of life, not about death!
The close family and friends need to decide that though, as losing someone you really love is often very hard to face under certain circumstances such as a tragic accident. I tend to learn this direction though.
+Marilyn Crosbie You are right. Though this was actually a memorial service, a couple of months after Graham Chapman's death. . His family held a private funeral service and the Pythons stayed away, so that the media would do so as well.
+Jennifer Henson I find that Right and Proper.
Gert Brink Nielsen Oh I completely agree. (I hope my comment didn't seem to indicate that I thought otherwise.)
Jennifer Henson Not at all, my comment was intended as a reinforcement of your own :)
You've got to admit that anyone would be absolutely blessed to have Eric Idle sing at their funeral.
+Tristyn Rohlfing ive just been listening to an eric idle song from a discworld game, 'Thats Death'
and decided if i can im having that played, so in a way i will have him singing at mine, whenever that will be.
I think that if anyone cried at his funeral graham would be sad himself, he always wanted to put a smile on people s faces
Agreed.
heck, if Idle showed up and sang that at my funeral I would die again from sheer happiness.
A shame, however, that he felt the need to show how cool he was by pretending not to know the words, needing instead to have them on a sheet of paper so that he could read them.
Millions of Python fans could recite the song word perfect but the man who sang it - and who wrote it - needed to have it written down?
A sad attempt to show that it wasn't important to him - that he was above such things.
I've returned to this video after hearing about Terry Jones
same for me... "Two down, four to go"
always look at the bright side of life
Note when he listed the four remaining, Jones name was first on the list. Now he is gone...
me too. It's oddly sad and hilarious at the same time. Truth. death. Humor. Python. Life. It sort of sums it up doesn't it? I wish my funeral will be this wholesome and leave people with all of that which was my life by the people who knew me best.
RIP Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson.
@@raymondluxuryyacht3050 Thanks for that. I just found the sketch.😁
A fitting tribute to the Pythoners' "straight man". I was half expecting Mr. Chapman to appear from stage left in his Colonel's uniform with riding crop in hand proclaiming 'Alright, it just got silly! That's quite enough of that!"
This made me chuckle :')))
Eric Beer "Get on with it!"
Yes, Get on with it!
The fact that he played the straight man always made me chuckle sensibly.
*_YEAH, GET ON WITH IT!_*
The full text to John Cleese's eulogy of Graham Chapman:
Graham Chapman, co-author of the ‘Parrot Sketch,’ is no more.
He has ceased to be, bereft of life, he rests in peace, he has kicked the bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed his last, and gone to meet the Great Head of Light Entertainment in the sky, and I guess that we’re all thinking how sad it is that a man of such talent, such capability and kindness, of such intelligence should now be so suddenly spirited away at the age of only forty-eight, before he’d achieved many of the things of which he was capable, and before he’d had enough fun.
Well, I feel that I should say, “Nonsense. Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard! I hope he fries. ”
And the reason I think I should say this is, he would never forgive me if I didn’t, if I threw away this opportunity to shock you all on his behalf. Anything for him but mindless good taste. I could hear him whispering in my ear last night as I was writing this:
“Alright, Cleese, you’re very proud of being the first person to ever say ‘sh**’ on television. If this service is really for me, just for starters, I want you to be the first person ever at a British memorial service to say ‘f***’!”
You see, the trouble is, I can’t. If he were here with me now I would probably have the courage, because he always emboldened me. But the truth is, I lack his balls, his splendid defiance. And so I’ll have to content myself instead with saying ‘Betty Mardsen…’
But bolder and less inhibited spirits than me follow today. Jones and Idle, Gilliam and Palin. Heaven knows what the next hour will bring in Graham’s name. Trousers dropping, blasphemers on pogo sticks, spectacular displays of high-speed farting, synchronized incest. One of the four is planning to stuff a dead ocelot and a 1922 Remington typewriter up his own arse to the sound of the second movement of Elgar’s cello concerto. And that’s in the first half.
Because you see, Gray would have wanted it this way. Really. Anything for him but mindless good taste. And that’s what I’ll always remember about him-apart, of course, from his Olympian extravagance. He was the prince of bad taste. He loved to shock. In fact, Gray, more than anyone I knew, embodied and symbolised all that was most offensive and juvenile in Monty Python. And his delight in shocking people led him on to greater and greater feats. I like to think of him as the pioneering beacon that beat the path along which fainter spirits could follow.
Some memories. I remember writing the undertaker speech with him, and him suggesting the punch line, ‘All right, we’ll eat her, but if you feel bad about it afterwards, we’ll dig a grave and you can throw up into it.’ I remember discovering in 1969, when we wrote every day at the flat where Connie Booth and I lived, that he’d recently discovered the game of printing four-letter words on neat little squares of paper, and then quietly placing them at strategic points around our flat, forcing Connie and me into frantic last minute paper chases whenever we were expecting important guests.
I remember him at BBC parties crawling around on all fours, rubbing himself affectionately against the legs of gray-suited executives, and delicately nibbling the more appetizing female calves. Mrs. Eric Morecambe remembers that too.
I remember his being invited to speak at the Oxford union, and entering the chamber dressed as a carrot-a full length orange tapering costume with a large, bright green sprig as a hat--and then, when his turn came to speak, refusing to do so. He just stood there, literally speechless, for twenty minutes, smiling beatifically. The only time in world history that a totally silent man has succeeded in inciting a riot.
I remember Graham receiving a Sun newspaper TV award from Reggie Maudling. Who else! And taking the trophy falling to the ground and crawling all the way back to his table, screaming loudly, as loudly as he could. And if you remember Gray, that was very loud indeed.
It is magnificent, isn’t it? You see, the thing about shock… is not that it upsets some people, I think; I think that it gives others a momentary joy of liberation, as we realised in that instant that the social rules that constrict our lives so terribly are not actually very important.
Well, Gray can’t do that for us anymore. He’s gone. He is an ex-Chapman. All we have of him now is our memories. But it will be some time before they fade.
www.newstalk.com/Infamous-last-words:-How-a-Monty-Python-eulogy-became-the-worlds-most-memorable-send-off
I never even knew about the extended text - thanks for sharing!
Thank you I’m sobbing
Thank you for the full text, website no longer has the page.
That would be awesome if that carrot footage existed anywhere.
@@Sirenhunter5 here's the updated link: www.newstalk.com/news/infamous-last-words-how-a-monty-python-eulogy-became-the-worlds-most-memorable-send-off-656869
the tears in john cleese's eyes at 4:05...
+jack bassindale Very perceptive! Best eulogy ever!
The truth is that nobody would have appreciated this eulogy more than Graham Chapman himself.
This is just the perfect example of how special these individuals are and how their bond, even with all the artistic differences, is a form of truest friendship possible. Death is one of the simplest facts of one's life cycle, so anything else but dealing with it straight and with humor is pointless and plain stupid. Monty Python started a movement of forward and free thinking. The West would not be as secular today without the social evolution we have seen over the last 50 years and which started with them (and Benny Hill before them, but in a milder, less outrageous form --- and he was also far ahead of his time for UK). They may have lived in roles of 'mere' writers and performers, and may see themselves as 'just' that, but history will remember them as pioneers of human spirit and intellect, as that is what they were. Media and modern entertainment have changed the world in ways that previously had not been envisioned or thought possible, and they were thinkers and brave authors who with every single episode pushed the limits of what a stuffed up society of that time regarded as acceptable further and beyond a point of no return. I am sincerely grateful for everything they have done and don't see their work as 'mere' comedy, but, as Ricky Gervais says, as work of intellectuals who promulgated critical thinking and individuality and fought against the overwhelmingly powerful machines of religions which even today try to survive with their ridiculous notions and rigidity of thought. Liking Monty Python is not just a reflex to a need we all have which is to have a good laugh now and again, it's, in a way, a modern philosophy, if you will. And remember, they were true fighters for the freedom of speech and continue to be promoters of freedom.
Wise words my friend, you couldn't have said it better ;)
Absolutely spot on.....
One of the saddest, and most beautiful moments of all time.
Saddest?! Bullshit! Talk about going out with a bang! Makes me jealous.
@@Hairysteed agree.
Honestly - did you know him ? No, you didn't
It was common knowledge that he caught a dose
"I'd just like to be the last person at this meeting to say fuck"
Haha, what a legend Eric Idle is
How Eric Idle is able to sing Bright Side Of Life in this moment, without breaking down in tears, that takes talent.
Or hes a sociopathic monster.
You can tell that it's hard for him, though. His voice trembles at a few points, bless him.
probably why he had to have the words in hand
You’d better be joking or something.
Idle broke down in tears, inconsolably, later on in the day, taking a shower.
"Anything for him, but mindless good taste." I think this phrase more or less sums up not only the beloved Graham Chapman, but also Monty Python in general. The world is more than just a little bit sillier with Monty Python in it, and I can't thank them enough for that.
We ALL do!!!
STOP THAT! THIS IS GETTING TOO SILLY!
Poor John could barely hold back the tears by the end. His best friend of so many years in his youth gone way before his time. And since this video poor Terry and Tim also gone. Such comedy greats we’ll never see their likes again. What a moving tribute by those who loved him the most. Graham would have loved this service.
And Douglas Adams as well
There will be plenty of other comedians that come along. It is not the end of an era, indeed it is just the starting of a new one.
Tim, the enchanter...
They were not best friends, It's sad but they weren't really that close :(
@@elenayblanco so true
I see Cleese crying, I start crying. Then Eric Idle cracks the joke and suddenly I'm laughing my ass off.
Isn't that Monty Python at it's finest though?.....I'm still whistling @ "The Bright Side of Life"....
I cannot think of a more fitting song for the occasion. :)
So was I when I read that 'The Stuport'...
Sir BookieKillah Cheers Mate....Life indeed goes on and through all my up's and down's I remind my kids to Just Keep Smiling....it's contagious!
No idea how he managed to sing that without a crack in his voice. Kudos to him.
I’ve just watched this being monitored in hospital with a serious heart condition. Very comforting that song. If you’re young, anxious or depressed, I’m only 35 and death has come for me from nowhere, enjoy every day and if biochemically you can’t get on the meds that allow you too, because I can honestly say death is terrifying, ceasing to be , no more thoughts good or bad. Back to the eternal abyss,
But you , you’re alive, get out and do something, anything ☺️
I love you
Really sorry to hear that. Thanks for your message, we love you too
BillytheKid,
I am of the hope that your health has returned.
Sending you some sunshine from Australia.
Tried dying three times. Not impressed.
Seen enough fellow ward inmates who couldn't take the joke.
Now absolutely as blasé as anything the Pythons came up with but I thank them from the bottom of my heart for making that gallows homour socially respectable.
@@warringtonminge4167 I’m still alive - now I’m on my 267th attempt at dying you giant Minge
@@MrKelso85 i really needed this thank you. also thank you for not kicking the bucket yet you tough bastard
Could a memorial service for a Python have been otherwise? Classic.
Cleese timing perfect, as always.
John Cleese is a masterful comedian......
John Cleese's and Micheal Palin's speeches didn't really make me cry, but when Eric Idle started singing, i almost started crying, and i don't know why because Always look on the bright side of life is a happy song.
it's one song that can either cheer me up or make me sob. eric found that performance very hard to do too
because he is about to cry, it is an emotion transmitted through time and space the real magic of monty and these great men, the real sad thing here is that none of them ever really has been rewarded for the way they brought nations races and creeds together in laughter. the flying circus and everything it birthed was for all of us free of charge and ideals. just a good laugh at our own pompus behaviour miss these guys and the time when irony was good and feeling offended the actual aim of the sketch
Has anything ever been so funny and yet so heartbreaking?
You can't spell funeral without FUN.
I think an interesting moment is at 3:50, everyone's singing along but you can see John Cleese doing the whistling part. John was closest to Graham out of the team and you can really tell this hit him hard, especially later at 4:04 where you can see him teary eyed. I feel people point to that moment but the fact that he chooses to take a step back and do the whistling instead of the lyrics shows how difficult this was for him.
04:04.................Very moving watching John Cleese with tears in his eyes, singing the last goodbye to a friend ❤
This how you do a funeral ! Heck the word is FUNeral,
Rob Smith Sad thing is, nowadays when a comedian jokes about a recently deceased celebrity friend (or acquaintance), social media and new outlets would criticize said comedian for trying to brighten up the mood that said celebrity would want when he's dead.
+cesarmanuel51 who gives a shit about social media or news outlets though, there will always be humourless bastards that no one cares about
+Jean-Jacques Rousseau Indeed!
+Greasy Harold I agree, i believe Graham Chapman would have been pissed if his Service had been marred by Political Correctness.
FUN aftER ALl coincidence?
Do you think a day goes by when Eric Idle DOESN'T sing Bright Side of Life?
Not bloody loikley.
I'm sure he spends his days raiding funeral after funeral singing it
Don't get me wrong it's a nice song. But he's bloody obsessed with it.
Rhys Alexander i kinda listen to it everyday....
I doubt he‘s obsessed with it. People are and they want him to sing it.
Credit to Cleese for bringing appropriate tribute to his late friend and colleague whilst clearly being weighed down by such grief.
"It is hard work, and great art, to make life not so serious." -John Irving.
I totally want this song played at my funeral.
I will haunt all my living relatives if it doesn't happen, I swear to god.
It's one of the most popular funeral songs in the UK
Played this at my mum's funeral a few weeks ago
And now Terry Jones has left to join Graham. R.I.P. chaps!
seeing john cleese tearing up as he sings makes ME tear up. :' )
It is exactly what it is, precisely the way Graham would've wanted to be memorialized. In spoof. In skit. In character. The emotions were genuine, as was the obvious fondness for their beloved friend's silliness. If you don't get it, you don't know the humour of Graham Chapman. Move along while we share a tearful smirk. Cheer up Brian. Worse things happen at sea y'know? Always look on the bright side of life...
When spike milligan was burried, he asked them to put "See told you I was ill" on his gravestone.
He also said according to a book I have that he wasn't scared of death... The process of going through it was less appealing though! Cheers.
Apparently the authorities wouldn't allow I Told You I Was Ill to appear on Spike's gravestone. So his daughter had it written in Irish instead.
@@helenhucker346 Very True Helen..
@@helenhucker346 Even better!
Eric was fighting back tears with that song, for sure. Graham isn't alone anymore though, he's got Terry Jones to goof around with now. This group of amazing human beings will never be forgotten.
Knowing what your friend would want you to say at their funeral. Priceless. Well done John
This is the way to go.
I noticed Cleese's eyes watering near the end. As much as he blustered, I think he was crushed. So sorry for Graham's friends & family.
John had to be taken out of Graham's room after he passed because of the grief.
this actually brought me to tears... ive grown up listening and watching these men and this, along with the background that all of these men have achieved, really just breaks my heart. rip graham.
That's the kind of send off that everyone should have. I told my sons that I'll pay for a green burial. I'll have funds set aside for a celebration. I want folks to gather to tell all the funny stories, to tell the inspiring stories, to smile and laugh. I want the memories to be positive. I will allow a few tears, but I'd rather hear laughter. There should be love. This was the most perfect send off.
As a kid growing up in the US and thanks to public broadcasting, I grew up on Monty Python and their amazing skits. I was lucky enough to see him at the University of Florida just before he passed. It was 2 hours of conversation and story telling that was just so
intricately woven together and delivered by a master of the English language. I don't think I'll ever see something like this again. He and the rest of the troupe are truly genius.
How terribly sad he must've been, but laughter through tears is a wonderful emotion.
I grew up in the 1970's compulsively watching Monty Python's Flying Circus on PBS (Channel 13, Sunday nights). I laughed out loud at all of their movies. I reveled in the "reunion" show with Robert Klein and Graham's "ashes" in the urn. I am utterly proud to be a looney Python fan. Rest In Peace Graham, Arthur, Brian, et.al.
Johnny Ev, my experience with Python almost exactly mirrors yours. But where I grew up it was shown on PBS and I "think" that was channel 5. The early 70's, right?
Graham Chapman : the only person that had actual end credit song
Goodbye, Mr. Jones. I hope the rest of the surviving Pythons give you a send-off like this one too.
They sends him off with the idiot song😭😂😂
"My brain hurt!"
What an outstanding bit of comedy John Cleese's eulogy was. The composure, the timing, playing off of the audience. At the funeral of his childhood friend. In front of the departed's friends and family. And it was so simple but so profound. We pass through life seeing our loved ones in different lights, having them wear different faces. They're fathers and mothers, friends and confidants, inspirations and great influences on the next of kin's lives. And Clesse summed it up, all of it. All the words I've heard in person in funerals real or in media by that beautiful sentiment and the brilliant drop of "Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard". From romantic reminiscence to deadpan dunking on. From darkness to light. Smiles and laughter from hearts overflowing with grief. To me, this is what it's all about, comedy. Making life just a little bit lighter.
This is actually so touching. What a way to honour such a great and witty man.
1:58 All the adults are cracking up at cleese saying "fuck" but that kid just has a sly grin ^^
you could see how eric idle was fighting through the tears.
they all were, especially john :(
This is the kind of friends you all should aspire to have.
these generous and kind people have brought years, decades of joy to my family and friends. How wonderful to be part of this human race.
I'm sure glad the Python's watched their language. Imagine the uproar had any of them said "Semprini"!
Out!
@@raymondhamill270 "Here is a list of all the words that are not to be used in this funeral service..."
Thank god they were all performing in my lifetime. I’d have hated to miss it. I remember going to school and not being able to wait to trade the latest farcical utterances of these comic geniuses! We laughed all day until the next episode and it started all over again ! Wonderful times !
This is brilliant, never seen it before. How they managed to emotionally manage this,... respect. Beautiful, funny and sad at the same time. Graham would be so proud.
Love how they put him on a pedestal!! Monty Python ROCKS!
R.I.P Graham Chapman. The world lost a great comedian and man. ❤️
The Terrys’ reaction to “fuck” shows how much they loved their friend.
I watched this and I cried my eyes out, then I watched a clip of the Holy Grail and I was happy again. Mr. Chapman gave us a gift that can never be taken away from us, and for that I thank him from the bottom of my soul. Rest in peace Graham, you are always in our hearts.
Rest in peace Graham, you’ll be missed by us all!! ✌️😇
Wow. What a tribute... You are still sorely missed..
Oh man. Eric busting out the "bright side of life" was predictable...but made me start to tear up. :'(
RIP Graham, you were a damn legend.
WOW!
3:02 Douglas Adams is on stage as well singing with the cast and crew.
42
What a silly,brilliant man.What a comic genius.He was so eccentric..He was unique.He was Graham.Charismatic and..amazing..and hilarious..
Mr John Cleese. You are a Gem.
This could be the only send off to a man who brought so much joy to so many people
THAT is the right spirit for a funeral.....NO DIRGES....NO TEARS, except from laughing!!!
Dunno how Cleese manages to keep a straight deadpan face delivering hilarious stuff like that...
Sir BookieKillah you can hear his voice quiver a few times though
@Gains Bond, John had(s) a talent for being the one who corpsed the least. (Meaning to crack up from your own joke) His delivery is quite good. Moreover, he wanted to do well by his friend and he felt broken, I can see it in his words before and after the line where he roasts Graham to break the tension.
You know what? THIS is how you handle a memorial. Give people something to smile about and uplift them.
Exactly what I have been saying...THIS here is Vintage Monty Python stuff.....hilarity at it's finest moment!! Cheers
Dear God!
Graham Chapman
Terry Jones
Douglas Adams
Tim Brooke-Taylor....
Why are so many of the talented ones gone when the talentless ones remain?
I always come back here to watch John Cleese's speech. Despite the jokes, the pain on his face is evident.
There is a certain beauty in his mourning.
I saw John Cleese in Glendale, CA. some years ago and it was very exceptional. Funny man. As he came out of course we all stood up and gave a standing ovation except for one person and what did Cleese do? He pointed at her and gave her the stand up command with his arm and it was hilarious. Graham Chapman: thank the man who invented the camera that we will forever have him on film. And yes I thought of it also; "We're surrounded by film!"
What a freaking awesome funeral. This song must be played on mine too. xD
***** You must remember a person by what he/she did, and live your life after that. :)
+Jennifer Hart So you put a song on about being happy on your mothers funeral..... And her family hates you for it? Do they think its really a necessity to be sad 100% of the time at a funeral?
I'm planning on having my corpse rigged up on pneumatics so that it will sit up and scare mourners. I'm a ghoulish, macabre, sadistic bastard. 3:)
Thoralmir No, no, what you want to do is have someone else run in, dressed in the same clothes you were wearing when you died, waving a sonic screwdriver, and saying, "Right, everyone, this is where it gets complicated..."
Can't take the credit for that...it was a Facebook meme, but I loved it enough that I just might end up doing that.
The First Person Ever at a British Memorial Service to say "F*CK"!!! How Great Is THAT!!!
Imagine if we all could have such a lovely send off!
I can only hope to have people laughing this hard at my wake. So cool :)
When the camera returns to the 2 Terry’s after John says the word ”F#€K” (1.55) , you can see that they ,squirmingly, was feeling the word coming and already cringed nervously in anticipational agony , knowing that they wouldn’t be able to hold their laughter back. That sums up Monty Python for me in one brief camerashot of a few seconds.
True friends 👍
Yes, always look on the bright side of life...it is all you have.
Thanks for posting this (9 years later). What a touching and perfect tribute to a beloved genius.
In Loving Memory of Sir Graham Chapman
What words can you say. This is the way to "go out".
I will never forget Graham Chapman's contribution to the most wonderful part of comedy. His very favorite friends, like me, will never forget him. We are blessed to know, his such wonderful talent that was made, to make us laugh.
I read the eulogy at my mums funeral and I can say from experience that it is very difficult not to break down or falter. You go into a sort of detached auto pilot mode until finished and after a while it begins to sink in it really happened.
That's what I love about Monty Python: they made fun of death. From the first episodes of "Flying Circus", they broke the ultimate taboo. And they went all the way with it. Even when one of them died. They MEANT it.
Child's smile behind Terry Gilliam at 01:56 after John Cleese's message....priceless!
What better occasion to sing this particular song to Graham Chapman, of all people, at his funeral!
So sad and such a joy. I cried and laughed at the same time.
I want to be the first person to say "fuck" in the comments.
Seeing Douglas Adams there as well just broke me
The wonderful Douglas Adams standing at the back during the song - another one we lost far too soon :(
“So how was the funeral?”...... “Hysterical!”
I love how this was filmed like a Python sketch
Remember the days when you could actually say something funny without somebody (=everybody) being offended! This is absolutely one of those moments that I truly miss. What has happened to British comedy - we used to be funny!
I told my friend that when I die I want my funeral to be just like this. Humorous, ridiculous, yet loving.
This is how I would desire to be remembered! What a great eulogy! Thank you for sharing it!
I want this song played at my funeral in homage to this and Life of Brian.
It's the most often played song at Australian funerals.
He's been waiting for Mr. Jones, scotch in hand, you know.
Neil Innes is there too so our naked piano player will be in good company.
iirc for graham it was usually a gin and tonic with lemon but no ice :)
To continue their RAF silly banter.
What a send off ❤️
I love this a lot. Thank you for posting.
I find this more moving than a sorrowful memorial.
"God bless ya' Graham"
Go Graham,he always had to be first.😍
It would have been epic if Graham Chapman's ghost came dressed as the Colonel saying "Alright, this has gotten too silly!"