Monty Python's Flying Circus: Hidden Treasures

by Adrian Besley

This book delves into the official archives and recounts the history of the men who changed the face of comedy. The story is told through photographs, text, props and memorabilia, including hand-scribbled scripts, never-before-published cue sheets, artwork, unused presentation material, and more, offering the reader a unique peek into the world of these comic geniuses. The "Dead Parrot" sketch. "The Lumberjack Song". "Argument Clinic". "Spam". Monty Python's Flying Circus was packed with famous skits and classic one-liners, many of which are still globally recognized, from the Hollywood Bowl to the University of Woolloomooloo. Their irreverent humour is the yardstick by which others are judged and the adjective "Pythonesque" has been part of the English language for years. And 50 years after first broadcast, Monty Python's Flying Circus is still attracting and amusing audiences around the world.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Comedy, Biography, History

160 pages, Hardcover

Published September 6, 2019

About the author

Adrian Besley is a freelance writer and former copywriter for the BBC. He is the author of many non-fiction titles, including EXO: K-Pop Superstars, Blackpink: K-Pop's No.1 Girl Group and the forthcoming Billie Eilish: From e-girl to icon, as well as 5 Seconds of Summer Confidential and a series of top-selling YouTube books, including YouTube World Records.

Reviews

[Joe Davoust · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty book with lots of extras but no real substance, as a coffee table book really should be. The pullouts were cool little facsimiles of scripts, posters, press releases and show programs. They were all interesting to peruse but only slightly entertaining. There are links in the book through QR code’s to YouTube videos but all of them said unavailable, at least to me. Maybe because the rights are different in the US versus the UK? I did enjoy the book but it led me to find and rewatch many of the sketches on the "telly" and that ended up being much more enjoyable.

[ReadaBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought back great memories of this hilarious comedy group. I can recall watching the Flying Circus on PBS every Sunday night, sitting alone in the family room, thinking how funny, risque, different and sometimes not very understandable it was. Loved every moment. The extras in the book -- various memorabilia -- were fun to look at too. If you're a Python fan, you're sure to enjoy this!

[Martín Torres Negri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great thing that its not only words and long phrases. It´s got lots of stuff coming out of the book. Pictures can be found all along the book making it really easy to progress and rate it here in goodreads once you´re done. For me its a 4 and not a 5 just because it would have been great to have some pages with black & white drawings to paint with whatever colour I wanted.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly! Just plain silly.

[Michael D Jedlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good. Some new takes on the Pythons.

[Melissa Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of fun to go through, some info I didn't know about the group, some never-before published sketch scripts and things that had been cut. If you're a Python Fan, it's a fun read.