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.
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.
@@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 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.
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
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.
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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
@@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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!!!
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 ''
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.
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.
@@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.
My favourite version was Thatcher's mocking of her opponents
th-cam.com/video/DQ6TgaPJcR0/w-d-xo.html
@@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.
@@TonyEnglandUK Or Theresa May trying to dance, full stop.
The best thing is that he composes himself, John repeats his line and he loses it again.
I cried tears of laugther.
3:08 I love how you can hear Cleese start to laugh.
"this is nothing to laugh at"
John Cleese staying in character^^
Michael is so, so utterly beautiful. Makes this clip even better!
They should do a prequel, him buying the sleeping, motionless parrot.
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
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.
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.
@@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.
@@renderizer01 Look at John's coat at 1:22 and then again at 1:27
@@TonyEnglandUK Why?
I always find it funny how the bird is called Norwegian Blue and they always use a red/yellow colored parrot :P
If memory serves, the original was blue. Sorry, I'll take my nerd hat off now ;)
@@girlfromthedwarf Blue and Yellow!
That's what makes it funnier
One of the most common of Norwegian parrot species, the Blue. Found mostly in the Fjords - but easily missed due to its sedentary lifestyle ...
It is "Blue", in the Gills, now, isn't it.
PINING FOR THE FJOOOOOOOOOOORDS !!!
"This is nothing to laugh at!"
All these years I thought he was saying 'fields' in the most ridiculous and extravagant way possible. My life is a lie
Lol I love how Palin got caught off guard with that
@@xamrucs74 Norwegian Blue….Norway has fjords.
@@xamrucs74 me tooo
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.
The Olympic sport of Parrot Bashing.
Poor ole Michael palin is cracking up the whole time
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.
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
They're applauding because they see what he's carrying and they know what sketch is about to start.
Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plu M A G E
The plumage don't enter into it!
Its still dead! 🦜
@@PaperclipClips No, no… it's resting!
Michael Palin laughing always makes me blush! My friends fangirl over Anime, I fangirl over old British humor! :D
ChakaWhat I fangirl over both 😂
I've been pining, for Buck Naked Fangirls, pining, for the Fiords,, for to drown me, in my own sorrow, for years.
You just haven't found the right anime yet. It will come.
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.
I love that the Norwegian blue is red and green 😆
What I love about this version, aside from the corpsing, is that we are essentially watching Basil Fawlty registering a complaint!!
2:00 The Olympic Sport of Parrot Bashing.
Definitely the best version. John is hilarious and Micheal cracking up makes it even better
PIININNNGGG FOR THE FJOOOOOORRRDDDDSS
Awwww, he missed one! "If you hadn't nailed him to the perch, he'd be pushing up the daisies!"
gone down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!
@@PatioRS run down the curtain as in the end of a show
There's also a version where he says "he fucking snuffed it".
@@bramleydragon classic!
@@VoodooChileJ11 another where he says he kicked the bucket
Remarkable bird beautiful plumage.
02:00 Phil Collins lifted the drums for "In the Air Tonight" from here
🤣🤣 nice
Brilliant comment 👍👍🤣🤣🥁🥁
Underrated comment!
Hahahaha!!!
Cheese and Palin are magic together, they were born to play this sketch. Brilliant
47 years ago.
Already instantly recognisable by the actors alone.
Already legends just 6 (!) years after the sketch first aired.
THIS is by far my favorite version of this sketch !
Mine too. If you want to watch the *_worst_* version of this sketch, watch when Margaret Thatcher tried to do it.
@Tony England Gosh I just discovered it... Rust in peace !
I love that they were cracking each other up here. Perfect.
Perfection in comedy. Thankyou.
I also want the sketch played at my funeral.
lol I want to be there at your funeral to witness the mourners expressions.
how can there be a dislike for this?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Dead Norwegian Blues who may be Pining for the Fjords must have seen this
Matthew Wallack More like Parrots Yearning To Hinge On Nothing, Inc.
Could be The Spanish Inquisition?
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.
pInIng fOR THE FJOOOOOOooooRds.
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!
If only Michael had gone off script after John belted the hell out of the parrot with "well it is now."
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
@@jeffdiegurke9175 I think it'd be funny in a different way.
@@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.
Michael Palin's face LOL Trying to keep it together. Pure CLASS :)
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.
PIIINNNNNNNING for the fJOOOOOOOOOOOORDS
Got to love Palin's corpsing!
Poor Michael just falling apart throughout the whole sketch
It's strange how few views this seems to have - even the video where Michael discusses it has twice as many views.
This sketch was only a few years old, and already a classic, when this performance was recorded.
Even John laughed a bit there 😁
legit, how is john cleese so good at maintaining composure?
A true master of his craft
2:58 he just remembered his very great friend Biggus Dickus
😂😂 'this is nothing to laugh at' the underrated superb line from cleese to palin performing this sketch !
This parrot is Bereft of life. It has ceased to be. Beautiful 😍 plummage...
Both versions are amazing, but I'd argue that this one is better than the original.
The Beatles of Comedy
And thanks to that lifelong Python fan George Harrison, we got the majestic _"Life of Brian",_ too.
2:52 you can see in plain's eyes that he knows cleese is going to try and break him 😅
At 3:17 there seems to be a cut. I wonder if they had to give Palin some more time to recover.
I love this group , I love this scene
Wait a minute!
Cleese killed the parrot on the first wallop! Before that it moved a teensy weensy wee bit! No question!
That parrot couldn't be more dead if it wanted to.
It's resting.
Amo la sonrisa de Michael ♡
Notice this is comprised of two takes. Cleese's top button is closed for a few scenes.
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!
Peta disapproves of this XD
Python is love, Python is life.
That parrot is a remarkable shade of blue.
Two of the greatest doing the greatest sketch
So unfair that the camera is just on Palin because Cleese breaks too. :D
This is so raw
The stairway to heaven of comedy sketches!
Cleese and Palin really brought out the best in each other ❤🇨🇦
I consider myself lucky to have lived through these times of humor. Unthinkable in 2024
Original sketch: this parrot is no more!
This version: unintelligible squeaking
The 15 dislikes are from dead parrots
Me, every second and every time while watching this sketch: 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Monty Python: unique!
Unerreichbarer Humor, ich liebe sie einfach nur!
Love the moment when they both lost it, and Palin losing it through most of the sketch.
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.
Micheal corpsin Palin.
Classic Python sketches on stage.
On their gravestone: The Plumage Don't Entre It!
John’s top button on the raincoat alternates between open and closed.
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.
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.
Such a shame they are passing away before cloning has been perfected.
"I got a slug."
scarcely a replacement.
I forgot how handsome Michael Palin was. He's still a charmer to me.
Iconic
I KNEW it. Birds clearly aren’t real.
" I wish to register a complaint".
Absolutely criminal that it's not the entire sketch 😠
This is just brilliant :D :D
Poor Michael : ))
'e's brought down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!
their Argument Clinic was so good too...
No It Wasn't!
Love how the Norwegian blue is actually red - lolz
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!!!
oh fuck i cuold not stop laughing
E’s not pining…e’s passed ON!
The norwegian blue turned green...probably dead
No, no! He’s resting!!
A classic!
Sadly, a red and green Norwegian Blue is hard to come by these days..
Extinct 😔
A very rare red and green "Norwegian Blue" parrot.
Wish they had the other version where Michael corpses John by mentioning a muttering slug....
Shame I don't blame him 😂 poor mike
Damn shame they cut it off before the end of the sketch.
The plumage don't fit into it, its stone dead....also, he appears to be made of polyester.
Palin was hilarious!
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 ''
It's pining for the fjords, not pining for the fields
I would love to see John's face at 3.11
Palin was breaking hahaha
I'm pretty sure I can guess which sketch followed this one. Anyone else notice the clue?
Cheese shop?
I'm assuming the clue is Michael's shirt
@@pakora81 Right!
Some good soul can put subtittles on it?