Secret Policeman's Ball: Monty Python 'Parrot Sketch'

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  • čas přidán 26. 01. 2012
  • The Ball is back for 2012!
    Follow us at / secretpoliceman for exclusive comedy, behind the scenes gossip and prizes that money can't buy.
    In this clip: 'I wish to register a complaint!!!' The legendary Dead Parrot Sketch from John Cleese and Michael Palin from the first ever Ball in 1976.
  • Komedie

Komentáře • 159

  • @Quotenwagnerianer
    @Quotenwagnerianer Před 7 lety +320

    The best thing is that he composes himself, John repeats his line and he loses it again.
    I cried tears of laugther.

  • @girlfromthedwarf
    @girlfromthedwarf Před 8 lety +397

    This is my favourite version of this sketch. Cleese's delivery is awesome and of course, poor ole Mike struggling against the laughter is a sight to behold.

    • @Mark73
      @Mark73 Před 3 lety +5

      There's one I liked better, where Cleese was screaming and ranting at the end. I've never seen a video clip of it, though. There was just an audio clip. I'm pretty sure it was another stage production and I'm not sure if there ever was a video of it.

    • @carlhartwell7978
      @carlhartwell7978 Před rokem

      @@Mark73 Hmmm, interesting. I mean they did tour it ALL OVER. I didn't even exist so I've only heard tell of other performances (me '78'). I would love to hear any recording audio or visual.

    • @philipb2134
      @philipb2134 Před rokem

      My favourite version was Thatcher's mocking of her opponents
      czcams.com/video/DQ6TgaPJcR0/video.html

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před rokem +3

      @@philipb2134 Thatcher's version was the most toe-curling, face-palming, cringe-inducing thing it's ever been my misfortune to witness. It was like watching Cyril Smith trying to do a sexy pole dance.

  • @mspeter97
    @mspeter97 Před 8 lety +201

    "this is nothing to laugh at"
    John Cleese staying in character^^

  • @eccentricgamer4111
    @eccentricgamer4111 Před 2 lety +87

    3:08 I love how you can hear Cleese start to laugh.

  • @egemensentin
    @egemensentin Před 3 lety +38

    02:00 Phil Collins lifted the drums for "In the Air Tonight" from here

  • @watermelonineasterhay
    @watermelonineasterhay Před 6 lety +115

    Michael is so, so utterly beautiful. Makes this clip even better!

  • @ParallelSyntax
    @ParallelSyntax Před rokem +24

    I love at 2:56 that John deliberately tries to make Michael crack (successfully) only for Michael to try getting him back moments later (unsuccessfully) at 3:27

  • @wattouk
    @wattouk Před 10 lety +255

    PINING FOR THE FJOOOOOOOOOOORDS !!!

    • @quizmaster85
      @quizmaster85 Před 8 lety +30

      "This is nothing to laugh at!"

    • @xamrucs74
      @xamrucs74 Před 2 lety +6

      All these years I thought he was saying 'fields' in the most ridiculous and extravagant way possible. My life is a lie

    • @juffurey
      @juffurey Před 2 lety +8

      Lol I love how Palin got caught off guard with that

    • @zlinedavid
      @zlinedavid Před rokem +1

      @@xamrucs74 Norwegian Blue….Norway has fjords.

    • @felipethiagojunior8846
      @felipethiagojunior8846 Před 2 měsíci

      @@xamrucs74 me tooo

  • @GavinJ37
    @GavinJ37 Před 8 lety +94

    Poor ole Michael palin is cracking up the whole time

  • @AlvMar0122
    @AlvMar0122 Před 8 lety +134

    I always find it funny how the bird is called Norwegian Blue and they always use a red/yellow colored parrot :P

    • @girlfromthedwarf
      @girlfromthedwarf Před 8 lety +34

      If memory serves, the original was blue. Sorry, I'll take my nerd hat off now ;)

    • @jamesalexander5623
      @jamesalexander5623 Před 3 lety +3

      @@girlfromthedwarf Blue and Yellow!

    • @KyuNoom
      @KyuNoom Před 3 lety +2

      That's what makes it funnier

    • @LeifurHakonarson
      @LeifurHakonarson Před 3 lety +6

      One of the most common of Norwegian parrot species, the Blue. Found mostly in the Fjords - but easily missed due to its sedentary lifestyle ...

    • @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113
      @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113 Před 2 lety +5

      It is "Blue", in the Gills, now, isn't it.

  • @renderizer01
    @renderizer01 Před 3 lety +62

    Poor Michael never had a chance past a certain point. He absolutely had it coming and that look of sheer despair (is there such a thing as amused terror?) when Cleese savagely took his chance and repeated his line in that hilarious voice is so incredibly funny to watch. Fucking brilliant.

    • @overlydramaticpanda
      @overlydramaticpanda Před 2 lety +12

      Best version of this sketch, hands down. Michael was clearly already in severe danger of completely corpsing even before John went in for the kill with the "pining for the fjords" screech, and that look Michael gives just after feeding John the line practically screams that he's aware John's about to somehow push him right over the edge. The fact that you can hear John starting to laugh as he repeats the line to set Michael off again just makes it even better.

    • @renderizer01
      @renderizer01 Před 2 lety +10

      @@overlydramaticpanda The only thing that actually saddens me a little bit about this video is that the camera didn't catch John when he started to laugh himself.

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před rokem +2

      @@renderizer01 Look at John's coat at 1:22 and then again at 1:27

  • @Palerider610
    @Palerider610 Před 2 lety +72

    There's no way anyone, even Michael Palin, could keep a straight face with John delivering the best "deadpan"
    version of the parrot sketch in history on this stage.

  • @ChakaWhatTheDovahkiin
    @ChakaWhatTheDovahkiin Před 8 lety +183

    Michael Palin laughing always makes me blush! My friends fangirl over Anime, I fangirl over old British humor! :D

    • @sujay3668
      @sujay3668 Před 6 lety +6

      ChakaWhat I fangirl over both 😂

    • @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113
      @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113 Před 2 lety +2

      I've been pining, for Buck Naked Fangirls, pining, for the Fiords,, for to drown me, in my own sorrow, for years.

    • @moreblack
      @moreblack Před rokem +1

      You just haven't found the right anime yet. It will come.

  • @TM-nu2iz
    @TM-nu2iz Před rokem +31

    The way that the crowd just applauds as soon as John Cleese walks out of the shadows shows how dominant his presence is on stage

    • @DanielWesleyKCK
      @DanielWesleyKCK Před 10 měsíci +11

      They're applauding because they see what he's carrying and they know what sketch is about to start.

  • @R.U.1.2.
    @R.U.1.2. Před 2 lety +17

    They performed in Edmonton Alberta, in their early days and as John Cleese has pointed out, we all knew the lines, and at times repeated them. To make a long story short , when they finished the last sketch(The Parrot Sketch), the 3000 people present broke into bedlam...howling, yelling stomping, beating the seats. I have attended almost all the great rock bands there have been but I never saw (or heard) the adulation and appreciation for this group. It went on for 1/2 an hour and then they finally came back out and told us to piss off and go home. More hysteria ensued. They were one of a kind.

  • @jamesbyersmusic
    @jamesbyersmusic Před 2 lety +31

    What I love about this version, aside from the corpsing, is that we are essentially watching Basil Fawlty registering a complaint!!

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před 2 lety +5

      2:00 The Olympic Sport of Parrot Bashing.

  • @rEdQUINOX
    @rEdQUINOX Před 5 lety +40

    Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plu M A G E

    • @pakora81
      @pakora81 Před 2 lety +3

      The plumage don't enter into it!

    • @PaperclipClips
      @PaperclipClips Před 2 lety +1

      Its still dead! 🦜

    • @bardamiau
      @bardamiau Před 2 lety +2

      @@PaperclipClips No, no… it's resting!

  • @SundaeExpress
    @SundaeExpress Před rokem +10

    I love that the Norwegian blue is red and green 😆

  • @carlhartwell7978
    @carlhartwell7978 Před rokem +19

    There are more than a few moments in this live performance that make it 'compulsory' viewing for Python fans at least, but enjoying poor Michael totally lose it on stage and yet carry on despite the wicked, wicked efforts of Cleese to make him break is hilarious! Well done John...but special recognition to Michael.

  • @VoodooChileJ11
    @VoodooChileJ11 Před 11 lety +69

    Awwww, he missed one! "If you hadn't nailed him to the perch, he'd be pushing up the daisies!"

    • @PatioRS
      @PatioRS Před 4 lety +12

      gone down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!

    • @mrkimble2618
      @mrkimble2618 Před 3 lety +2

      @@PatioRS run down the curtain as in the end of a show

    • @bramleydragon
      @bramleydragon Před 2 lety +4

      There's also a version where he says "he fucking snuffed it".

    • @VoodooChileJ11
      @VoodooChileJ11 Před 2 lety +1

      @@bramleydragon classic!

    • @AO1YinYang
      @AO1YinYang Před 2 lety +2

      @@VoodooChileJ11 another where he says he kicked the bucket

  • @boiledkettles6066
    @boiledkettles6066 Před 4 lety +62

    Definitely the best version. John is hilarious and Micheal cracking up makes it even better
    PIININNNGGG FOR THE FJOOOOOORRRDDDDSS

  • @poopmcstuffins4417
    @poopmcstuffins4417 Před rokem +8

    Michael is too cute

  • @mcaddicts
    @mcaddicts Před 8 lety +30

    Remarkable bird beautiful plumage.

  • @kevanbrown7620
    @kevanbrown7620 Před 3 lety +11

    Cheese and Palin are magic together, they were born to play this sketch. Brilliant

  • @TukayAway
    @TukayAway Před 12 lety +23

    Got to love Palin's corpsing!

  • @gilloselton824
    @gilloselton824 Před 2 lety +6

    Michael Palin's face LOL Trying to keep it together. Pure CLASS :)

  • @sammencia7945
    @sammencia7945 Před 2 lety +5

    47 years ago.
    Already instantly recognisable by the actors alone.
    Already legends just 6 (!) years after the sketch first aired.

  • @Marie-PoilBelle
    @Marie-PoilBelle Před 2 lety +17

    THIS is by far my favorite version of this sketch !

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před 2 lety +3

      Mine too. If you want to watch the *_worst_* version of this sketch, watch when Margaret Thatcher tried to do it.

    • @Marie-PoilBelle
      @Marie-PoilBelle Před 2 lety +3

      @Tony England Gosh I just discovered it... Rust in peace !

  • @surfwriter8461
    @surfwriter8461 Před rokem +11

    This is a classic sketch modified for the stage, with some clever sight gags and subtle references and changes from the original sketch. Notice that the audience starts to laugh loudly as soon as John Cleese appears holding the bird cage. They know the sketch immediately and are laughing just in expectation of what's to come. Cleese throws Michael Palin off a few times by his exaggerated vocal play as he delivers certain words so that Palin can't contain his laughter.

  • @rockoperajon
    @rockoperajon Před rokem +5

    In their efforts not to laugh (especially Michael) they do some amazing face acting. I wonder if this was part of the inspiration for the Biggus Dickus scene in Life of Brian.

  • @5HlNOBI
    @5HlNOBI Před 9 lety +33

    I love that they were cracking each other up here. Perfect.

  • @user-zf8jn3hd9f
    @user-zf8jn3hd9f Před 8 lety +40

    pInIng fOR THE FJOOOOOOooooRds.

  • @elusiverobertdenby3000
    @elusiverobertdenby3000 Před 6 lety +23

    Even John laughed a bit there 😁

  • @andrewreynolds9559
    @andrewreynolds9559 Před 3 lety +10

    Perfection in comedy. Thankyou.
    I also want the sketch played at my funeral.

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před 2 lety

      lol I want to be there at your funeral to witness the mourners expressions.

  • @chris34668
    @chris34668 Před 10 lety +37

    how can there be a dislike for this?

    • @matthewwallack601
      @matthewwallack601 Před 7 lety +32

      People for the Ethical Treatment of Dead Norwegian Blues who may be Pining for the Fjords must have seen this

    • @camilogarciaylasaari1857
      @camilogarciaylasaari1857 Před 7 lety +4

      Matthew Wallack More like Parrots Yearning To Hinge On Nothing, Inc.

    • @jamesalexander5623
      @jamesalexander5623 Před 3 lety

      Could be The Spanish Inquisition?

  • @robertrodriguez3927
    @robertrodriguez3927 Před 3 lety +4

    This parrot is Bereft of life. It has ceased to be. Beautiful 😍 plummage...

  • @babanadopu
    @babanadopu Před 2 lety +12

    Poor Michael just falling apart throughout the whole sketch

    • @upturnedblousecollar5811
      @upturnedblousecollar5811 Před 2 lety +2

      It's strange how few views this seems to have - even the video where Michael discusses it has twice as many views.

  • @josefschiltz2192
    @josefschiltz2192 Před 8 dny

    Actually, the live performance of this sketch at The Secret Policeman's Ball - a charity event some years later - is well worth looking at because they are enabled extremes!

  • @ngiallag2792
    @ngiallag2792 Před 7 měsíci +1

    😂😂 'this is nothing to laugh at' the underrated superb line from cleese to palin performing this sketch !

  • @hansvandermeulen5515
    @hansvandermeulen5515 Před 11 měsíci +1

    That parrot is a remarkable shade of blue.

  • @MLaak86
    @MLaak86 Před 6 lety +43

    If only Michael had gone off script after John belted the hell out of the parrot with "well it is now."

    • @jeffdiegurke9175
      @jeffdiegurke9175 Před 3 lety +1

      Naaaah it would destroy the joke i mean how the shopguy still sells his "product" even after both obviously know that its pretty dead since the beginning just fking nails the end doesnt it

    • @MLaak86
      @MLaak86 Před 3 lety

      @@jeffdiegurke9175 I think it'd be funny in a different way.

    • @mansourr
      @mansourr Před 3 lety +6

      @@jeffdiegurke9175 he actually made it once, he went to him at the start and Cleese left it on the counter, and Michael went yes he is, and gave him the money back and went out.

  • @AlanCanon2222
    @AlanCanon2222 Před 3 lety +7

    This sketch was only a few years old, and already a classic, when this performance was recorded.

  • @sangeovr
    @sangeovr Před 3 lety +3

    I love this group , I love this scene

  • @bakarandguladze
    @bakarandguladze Před 2 lety +4

    2:58 he just remembered his very great friend Biggus Dickus

  • @turbo8628
    @turbo8628 Před rokem +6

    2:52 you can see in plain's eyes that he knows cleese is going to try and break him 😅

  • @vardellsfolly5200
    @vardellsfolly5200 Před 8 lety +22

    That parrot couldn't be more dead if it wanted to.

  • @71Splinter
    @71Splinter Před rokem +4

    PIIINNNNNNNING for the fJOOOOOOOOOOOORDS

  • @blitsriderfield4099
    @blitsriderfield4099 Před 3 lety +7

    legit, how is john cleese so good at maintaining composure?

  • @Kachavashka
    @Kachavashka Před 3 lety +3

    This is so raw

  • @martinpatrick9915
    @martinpatrick9915 Před 9 měsíci +1

    Classic Python sketches on stage.

  • @gmaccruyff55
    @gmaccruyff55 Před 11 lety +13

    Wait a minute!
    Cleese killed the parrot on the first wallop! Before that it moved a teensy weensy wee bit! No question!

  • @phoenixguild8375
    @phoenixguild8375 Před 5 lety +9

    Both versions are amazing, but I'd argue that this one is better than the original.

  • @phadde
    @phadde Před 2 měsíci +1

    They should do a prequel, him buying the sleeping, motionless parrot.

  • @diananaomi9452
    @diananaomi9452 Před 5 lety +9

    Amo la sonrisa de Michael ♡

  • @TalesofStories
    @TalesofStories Před 5 lety +7

    Notice this is comprised of two takes. Cleese's top button is closed for a few scenes.

  • @arndnaj
    @arndnaj Před 24 dny

    Love the moment when they both lost it, and Palin losing it through most of the sketch.

  • @ilokivi
    @ilokivi Před 2 lety +3

    "I got a slug."

  • @dwightdaone2815
    @dwightdaone2815 Před 6 lety +7

    Peta disapproves of this XD
    Python is love, Python is life.

  • @maldicientin
    @maldicientin Před 3 lety +9

    At 3:17 there seems to be a cut. I wonder if they had to give Palin some more time to recover.

  • @Ken.-
    @Ken.- Před rokem +1

    On their gravestone: The Plumage Don't Entre It!

  • @willbosley7413
    @willbosley7413 Před 3 lety +6

    The 15 dislikes are from dead parrots

  • @AstronomyDomine
    @AstronomyDomine Před 4 lety +3

    Iconic

  • @lissy.doerfler
    @lissy.doerfler Před 2 lety +1

    Me, every second and every time while watching this sketch: 🤣🤣🤣🤣
    Monty Python: unique!
    Unerreichbarer Humor, ich liebe sie einfach nur!

  • @johnwalsh2759
    @johnwalsh2759 Před rokem +1

    " I wish to register a complaint".

  • @christianandersen8931
    @christianandersen8931 Před 2 lety +1

    A classic!

  • @Harrycaine14
    @Harrycaine14 Před 8 lety +14

    At first when I saw Michael Palin smile while saying his lines I thought "Oh he's trying to be funnier but it isn't working because he's no longer the straight man" until I burst out laughing having realised he was corpsing so much!

  • @dooshunv.7429
    @dooshunv.7429 Před 2 měsíci

    This is just brilliant :D :D
    Poor Michael : ))

  • @DylanFowler
    @DylanFowler Před 6 lety +7

    Micheal corpsin Palin.

  • @Ardjano234
    @Ardjano234 Před 2 lety +2

    Original sketch: this parrot is no more!
    This version: unintelligible squeaking

  • @paulmccluskey6862
    @paulmccluskey6862 Před měsícem

    Palin was hilarious!

  • @craigmahon1303
    @craigmahon1303 Před 3 lety +1

    John’s top button on the raincoat alternates between open and closed.

  • @cyrilio
    @cyrilio Před rokem +1

    I KNEW it. Birds clearly aren’t real.

  • @zlinedavid
    @zlinedavid Před rokem +1

    E’s not pining…e’s passed ON!

  • @paolocoletti3424
    @paolocoletti3424 Před rokem +2

    Absolutely criminal that it's not the entire sketch 😠

  • @robertgruny8054
    @robertgruny8054 Před 3 lety +1

    their Argument Clinic was so good too...

  • @brucemcbain3150
    @brucemcbain3150 Před 2 lety +1

    Such a shame they are passing away before cloning has been perfected.

  • @scottmurphy650
    @scottmurphy650 Před 2 lety +1

    I don't know how these guys ever kept a straight face around each other. It was like Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, but Harvey used to lose it every time.

  • @michaelireland7239
    @michaelireland7239 Před rokem +1

    oh fuck i cuold not stop laughing

  • @Tocha_official
    @Tocha_official Před 2 lety +2

    9 o’clock alarm clock? Back in my day, we woke up by the howling of the landlady below at midnight that in turn will make the dogs to start running and dragging our bodies across the field for miles before they throw us into the bottomless swamp.

    • @bythebreach
      @bythebreach Před 2 lety +1

      Luxury. In my day, we were woken up by our landlord hacking our feet off with a blunt knife every 6 hours before being set on by a pack of fifty rabid wolves and then thrown down a bottomless chasm.

  • @montecristo1845
    @montecristo1845 Před 5 lety +2

    'e's brought down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!

  • @benkata
    @benkata Před 5 měsíci

    Love how the Norwegian blue is actually red - lolz

  • @paulnorris1559
    @paulnorris1559 Před 2 lety

    Wonderfull people and tremendous actors...both trying and failing to keep a straight face, John (Yes the JC) trying his very best to derail Michael, absulutely hilarios. I met Micheal once in Santiago, Chile and confused him with a British Airways pilot when I was at the Sheraton.....he fell about laughing by the pool!!!

  • @breoschstevenson5957
    @breoschstevenson5957 Před 2 lety +2

    Shame I don't blame him 😂 poor mike

  • @bongfuhrer
    @bongfuhrer Před 3 lety +4

    Sadly, a red and green Norwegian Blue is hard to come by these days..

  • @liontasouou
    @liontasouou Před 9 lety +8

    The norwegian blue turned green...probably dead

  • @dcbsmt
    @dcbsmt Před 2 měsíci

    So unfair that the camera is just on Palin because Cleese breaks too. :D

  • @krisscanlon4051
    @krisscanlon4051 Před 2 lety

    Palin was breaking hahaha

  • @synthonaplinth5980
    @synthonaplinth5980 Před rokem +1

    Wish they had the other version where Michael corpses John by mentioning a muttering slug....

  • @misomiso8228
    @misomiso8228 Před 3 lety +1

    There is a cut in the middle of this though which is annoying. IS there a version without the cut?!

  • @9Y000008
    @9Y000008 Před 3 lety +2

    I love these guys..
    Michael Palin, he just breaks and just starts laughing and John's timing is spot-on.... Maybe he was '' pining for the fields.. Hand with John's response you see Michael break & laughing.
    ''if it's supposed to be a '' Norwegian Blue ''
    why is this bird RED
    '' This is nothing to laugh at ''

    • @pakora81
      @pakora81 Před 2 lety

      It's pining for the fjords, not pining for the fields

  • @treadstone1138
    @treadstone1138 Před 10 měsíci

    Damn shame they cut it off before the end of the sketch.

  • @paulmccluskey6862
    @paulmccluskey6862 Před měsícem

    😂

  • @cesarveralatorre5198
    @cesarveralatorre5198 Před 3 lety +1

    Some good soul can put subtittles on it?

  • @j_scee6819
    @j_scee6819 Před 5 měsíci

    I see a little Basil Fawlty in this version.

  • @jychilly
    @jychilly Před 4 lety +2

    I'm pretty sure I can guess which sketch followed this one. Anyone else notice the clue?

  • @coloneljawoof6832
    @coloneljawoof6832 Před 2 lety

    😆

  • @Thursdaym2
    @Thursdaym2 Před 3 lety +9

    If you can't laugh at this, you, are an ex human.

  • @thomaselliott573
    @thomaselliott573 Před 3 lety +2

    Unfortunately the like of which will never be created again. Real comedy had gone the way of the Norwegian Blue. What a shame comedians after this team learnt nothing from them and the Two Ronnys.
    Atkinson never went close and after that it just got worse.

  • @tomashize
    @tomashize Před 2 lety +7

    The Beatles of Comedy

    • @TonyEnglandUK
      @TonyEnglandUK Před rokem +3

      And thanks to that lifelong Python fan George Harrison, we got the majestic _"Life of Brian",_ too.