15 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’

7. Stream-Of-Conscious Comedy

Ultimately, the team looked to some of Terry Gilliam’s animation work — specifically one piece called “Beware of the Elephants” — and decided to use its stream-of-conscious style to try and blend the sketches from every episode into one continuous comedic idea.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

8. Comedy Democracy

The writing process for each episode stuck to a pretty strict 9 to 5 schedule. Eric Idle worked solo, while Cleese and Chapman paired up, as did Jones and Palin. Then, the group got together with Gilliam to talk out each sketch, refining the product by committee. In other words, every joke came to a vote; a true democracy.

9. Gilliam’s Influence

The man who has become one of Hollywood’s most imaginative directors was given a free hand working with Monty Python. As the designer of all the team’s animations, he was not only partially responsible for channeling their efforts into a format, he also designed all of the animation that bridged sketches.