Editing Monty Python (section)

==Cultural influence and legacy==
[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 13 00 13 (14415341590).jpg|thumb|"[[Argument Clinic]]" sketch with Palin (standing) and Cleese in 2014. [[CNN]] states, "Monty Python has been called The Beatles of comedy".<ref name="CNN Beatles"/>]]
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish".<ref>{{cite book|last=Perry|first=George|title=The Life of Python|year=1999|publisher=Pavilion Books|location=London|isbn=1-85793-441-5|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_Zg-9u4yLAC&q=life+python|access-date=24 August 2010}}</ref> A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."<ref>{{cite book|title=Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think!|chapter='What's All This Then?' The Introduction | editor-first1=Gary L. | editor-last1=Hardcastle | editor-first2=George A. | editor-last2=Reisch|year=2006|publisher=Open Court|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-8126-9593-9|page=8|series=Vol. 19 in Popular Culture and Philosophy series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPQelKFNA5MC&q=monty+python|access-date=24 August 2010}} Also {{ISBN|0-8126-9593-3}}</ref>

Ron Devillier, the PBS programming director who put ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' on American television, states, "they brought through a kind of phony baloney surface ethic that we all lived under and shot right through it and split it in half. If you really let it happen, you could laugh at yourself. All the things that they were doing were really funny like playing on our sensibilities and making fun of them in a very funny way, pointing out how pompous we can be and making fun of themselves at the same time."<ref name="Dallas Observer"/> Danny Gallagher of the ''[[Dallas Observer]]'' writes, "Monty Python has also been good to American comedy. If America's television viewing public had never seen "The Lumberjack Song" or "The Dead Parrot" sketch, we might still be holding up ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' as a supreme example of cutting-edge TV comedy."<ref name="Dallas Observer"/> ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]'', featuring the slapstick and innuendo of [[Benny Hill]], which contrasted with Python's more absurdist style, was also a hugely successful British comedy on US television, with [[Charles Isherwood]] writing in ''The New York Times'': “Benny” and “Monty” were essential poles of British television comedy as imported to America in the 1970s."<ref name="Isherwood">{{cite news |last1=Isherwood |first1=Charles |title=Why the British Killed King Leer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/weekinreview/22isherwood.html |access-date=22 February 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to [[the Beatles]]' influence on music.<ref name="CNN Beatles"/><ref name="Atlantic Beatles"/><ref name="BBC Beatles"/> Author [[Neil Gaiman]] writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."<ref name="Greatest skits">{{cite news |title=Monty Python's greatest skits |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/22/monty-pythons-greatest-skits-best-sketches-o2-shows |access-date=25 August 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

===Comedy stylists===
{{quote box|align=right|width=27%|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|"Everything I've ever done can be distilled to at least one Python sketch. If comedy had a periodic element table, Python would have more than one atom on it."|source=—[[Mike Myers]].<ref name="BBC America"/>}}
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: [[Sacha Baron Cohen]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anthony |first=Andrew |date=2009-06-06 |title=The Observer profile: Sacha Baron Cohen - the comic who is always in your face |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/07/sacha-baron-cohen-bruno-profile |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> [[David Cross]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bent |first=Mike |title=Profile in Comedy: David Cross – Comedy Writing |url=http://www.netplaces.com/comedy-writing/lets-get-sketchy/profile-in-comedy-david-cross.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407012456/http://www.netplaces.com/comedy-writing/lets-get-sketchy/profile-in-comedy-david-cross.htm |archive-date=7 April 2011}}</ref> [[Rowan Atkinson]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Robert |date=2015-03-27 |title=Before and after 'Bean': A talk with Rowan Atkinson, continued |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-mr-bean-rowan-atkinson-20150326-column.html |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Seth MacFarlane]],<ref>{{cite interview|last=Pollak |first=Kevin |interviewer=Kevin Pollak |title=Kevin Pollak Chat Show |last2=MacFarlane |first2=Seth |url=http://www.kevinpollakschatshow.com/archive/?p=64 |date=August 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016071245/http://www.kevinpollakschatshow.com/archive/?p=64 |archive-date=October 16, 2013 }}</ref> [[Seth Meyers]],<ref>{{cite interview|last=Gaydos|first=Steve|interviewer=Steve Gaydos|title=Live from New York: A Discussion with the Saturday Night Live Writers|url=http://www.paleycenter.org/2011-fall-saturday-night-live-writers/|date=13 November 2011}}</ref> [[Trey Parker]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paulson |first=Ken |title=Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript |url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209001855/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881 |archive-date=2010-02-09 |website=firstamendmentcenter.org}}</ref> [[Matt Stone]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100209001855/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881 "Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript"]. Retrieved 10 March 2020</ref> [[Vic and Bob]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/monty-python-reuniting-10-reasons-2809537|title=Monty Python 'reuniting': 10 reasons it HAS to come back|website=[[Daily Mirror]]|date=19 November 2013|quote=Monty Python would itself go on to influence an entire generation of future comedians, from Eddie Izzard to Vic and Bob.}}</ref> [[Mike Myers]],<ref name="Collin"/> [[Russell Brand]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Russell Brand names his five favourite movies of all time |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/russell-brand-five-favourite-movies/ |access-date=30 July 2022 |website=[[Far Out Magazine]]}}</ref> [[Robin Williams]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robin-williams-monty-python_b_5678242 | title=Robin Williams' Throbbing (And Reciprocated) Love of Python | date=14 August 2014 |website=Huffington Post }}</ref> [[Jerry Seinfeld]],<ref name="Seinfeld">{{Cite news |last=Reinstein |first=Mara |title='I Wasn't Very Good!' Jerry Seinfeld Reflects on His Early Routines, Favorite Seinfeld Episode and the Future of Comedy |url=https://parade.com/1096425/maramovies/jerry-seinfeld-is-this-anything/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |newspaper=Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays |date=2 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> [[Eddie Izzard]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Sweeney |first=Eamon |title=Living the dream: Eddie Izzard |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/day-and-night/living-the-dream-eddie-izzard-1956032.html |work=[[Irish Independent]] |access-date=8 May 2011|date=27 November 2009}}</ref> and [["Weird Al" Yankovic]].<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://podcasts.triplem.com.au/audio/20070307_spoon_best_weirdalredux.mp3|title="Weird Al" Yankovic interview by Spoonman on Triple M Australia|time=9:10|access-date=2 April 2007|archive-date=4 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704191934/http://podcasts.triplem.com.au/audio/20070307_spoon_best_weirdalredux.mp3}}</ref> [[Matt Groening]], creator of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in [[The Simpsons (season 5)|seasons five]] and [[The Simpsons (season 6)|six]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Brian L.|last=Ott|year=2008|title=The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-6154-1|page=103}}</ref> Appearing on ''Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly)'', [[Jim Carrey]]—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "[[The Funniest Joke in the World]]" sketch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly) |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/c7jvrt/monty-pythons-best-bits-mostly--series-1-episode-1/ |access-date=5 September 2019 |work=Radio Times |archive-date=17 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117001205/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/c7jvrt/monty-pythons-best-bits-mostly--series-1-episode-1/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Nick Park]], creator of ''[[Wallace & Gromit]]'', was inspired by Gilliam's animation in Monty Python "to be a bit wacky and off the wall".<ref>{{cite news |title=Nick Park's 7 animation heroes |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/nick-park-favourite-animators-influences-early-man |access-date=13 October 2023 |publisher=BFI}}</ref> [[Simon Pegg]], co-writer of the ''[[Three Flavours Cornetto]]'' trilogy of British comedy films (from ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' to ''[[The World's End (film)|The World's End]]''), stated his "love of comedy was hugely informed by Monty Python".<ref>{{cite news |title=Simon Pegg and the Pythons will do Absolutely Anything |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/12/simon-pegg-monty-python-terry-jones-absolutely-anything |access-date=23 October 2022 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Jerry Seinfeld told [[Parade (magazine)|''Parade'']], "Monty Python was a gigantic influence on me. They were just about silly, funny things that meant nothing, and that's the stuff I love. There's a wonderful childlike freedom in those kinds of things."<ref name="Seinfeld"/> ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' served as an inspiration for voice actor [[Rob Paulsen]] in voicing [[Pinky and the Brain#Pinky|Pinky]] from the animated television series ''[[Animaniacs]]'' and ''[[Pinky and the Brain]]'', giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theringer.com/tv/2020/11/20/21578891/animaniacs-legacy-influence-reboot-hulu |title='They'll Get It at 8 or at 38": How 'Animaniacs' Introduced a Generation to Comedy |first=Tim |last=Greiving |date=20 November 2020 |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = https://uproxx.com/tv/pinky-and-the-brain-anniversary-interview/ | title = The Rise And Fall Of 'Pinky And The Brain,' A Clever Cartoon Too Smart For Its Own Good | first1 = Ashley | last1 = Burns | first2 = Chloe | last2 = Schildhause | work = [[Uproxx]] | date = 30 December 2015 | access-date = 31 May 2021 }}</ref> [[Graham Linehan]], co-creator of the sitcom ''[[Father Ted]]'', cited the ineffectual protest of ''Life of Brian'' upon its release as an influence for the ''Father Ted'' episode "[[The Passion of Saint Tibulus]]".<ref>{{cite AV media |last1=Linehan |first1=Graham| authorlink1=Graham Linehan |last2=Mathews |first2=Arthur |authorlink2=Arthur Mathews (writer) |year= |title=Father Ted DVD Commentaries |type=Podcast |url=https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/father-ted-dvd-commentaries/id582800079 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517221107/https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/father-ted-dvd-commentaries/id582800079 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2014 |accessdate=3 October 2024 |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Channel 4}}</ref>

Comedian [[John Oliver]] states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed."<ref>{{cite news |title=John Oliver on Monty Python: 'inspirational idiots who changed comedy' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/07/john-oliver-monty-python-inspirational-idiots-who-changed-comedy |access-date=25 August 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, [[Tina Fey]] of the American television show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."<ref name="BBC America">{{cite news |title=8 TV Shows and Comedy Stars Inspired by Monty Python |url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2019/09/8-tv-shows-and-comedy-stars-inspired-by-monty-python |access-date=29 September 2019 |website=BBC America}}</ref> [[Stephen Merchant]], co-creator of ''[[The Office (British TV series)|The Office]]'' with [[Ricky Gervais]], stated, "I don't remember where I got this grand idea that I could somehow be John Cleese. That was my overriding passion from my mid-teens. Cleese had grown up in Weston-Super-Mare, not far from Bristol where I grew up, and he was tall and he was very funny and very British and it's almost like I thought 'well if they want tall people from the west country I can do that.'"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2019/12/22/news/stephen-merchant-recalls-creating-the-office-with-ricky-gervais-1797154/ | title=Stephen Merchant recalls creating the Office with Ricky Gervais |work=The Irish News | date=22 December 2019 |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref>

===Places===
; In space
* Seven [[asteroid]]s are named after Monty Python or its members: [[9617 Grahamchapman]], [[9618 Johncleese]], [[9619 Terrygilliam]], [[9620 Ericidle]], [[9621 Michaelpalin]], [[9622 Terryjones]], and [[13681 Monty Python]].
* In 2010, the commercial space company [[SpaceX]] launched a wheel of cheese into [[low Earth orbit]] and returned it safely to Earth on [[SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 1|COTS Demo Flight 1]]. [[Elon Musk]], CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.<ref>{{cite web|title=SpaceX's 'secret' payload? A wheel of cheese|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/12/spacexs-secret-payload.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=9 December 2010|access-date=23 April 2013}}</ref>
;Terrestrial
* After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of [[Palmerston North]] in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".<ref name="thegeektwins.com" />

==="Pythonesque"===
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
* The most obvious of these is the term "[[wikt:Pythonesque|Pythonesque]]", which has become a byword in [[surreal humour]], and is included in standard dictionaries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Monty Pythonesque|work=Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English|edition=Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)|publisher=Lexico Publishing Group, LLC|date=23 November 2007|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Pythonesque}}</ref><ref>"[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/155585 Pythonesque, adj.]" ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, June 2018. Accessed 22 July 2018.</ref> Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and  "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' shows the extent to which we failed".<ref>{{cite book|author=Jones, Terry|title=Monty Python: Live at Aspen|date=1998}}</ref>
* The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of ''[[South Park]]'', whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/464765.stm|title=Monty Python meets South Park|work=BBC News|date=4 October 1999|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>
* ''[[Good Eats]]'' creator [[Alton Brown]] cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mr. TV: Food for Thought|url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/community/programming-insider/column/e3icbd5f8a8048766fc980ec4910fe71b25|publisher=Mediaweek|date=27 September 2009|first=Marc|last=Berman|access-date=27 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002220042/http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/community/programming-insider/column/e3icbd5f8a8048766fc980ec4910fe71b25|archive-date=2 October 2009}}</ref> Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
* Film critic [[Robbie Collin]] writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The ''[[Austin Powers]]'' series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are [[Christopher Guest]]'s mockumentaries, such as ''Waiting for Guffman'' and ''Best in Show'', which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of [[Will Ferrell]] that's also deeply Pythonesque."<ref name="Collin"/>

===TV===
The Japanese [[anime]] series ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' featured the special episode "Survival War!", which referenced the "Spam" sketch,<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/AlsvLZvAkOg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160903232232/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlsvLZvAkOg Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=YouTube: Girls Und Panzer – *pam *pam *pam|website = [[YouTube]]| date=8 June 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlsvLZvAkOg}}{{cbignore}}</ref> but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.

===Things named after Monty Python===
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the [[lexicon]] in other ways.
[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 13 04 42 (14598710791).jpg|thumb|Menu from the "[[Spam (Monty Python)|Spam]]" sketch, from where the [[Spamming|junk term]] is derived. Spam is included in almost every dish, much to the consternation of a customer.]]
* The term "[[Spamming|spam]]" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "[[Spam (Monty Python)|Spam]]" sketch.{{ref RFC|2635}} As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of [[Viking]] patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!"<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thegoodword.co.uk/2010/09/20/the-origin-of-the-word-spam/| title = The Origin of the word 'Spam'| website = The Good Word| access-date = 23 August 2019| archive-date = 16 December 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191216040211/http://www.thegoodword.co.uk/2010/09/20/the-origin-of-the-word-spam/| url-status = dead}}</ref>
* The [[Python (programming language)|Python programming language]] by [[Guido van Rossum]] is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default [[integrated development environment]] of the programming language is named [[IDLE (Python)|IDLE]], an alternative one is named [[Eric (software)|eric]], both in honour of Eric Idle.  Additionally, a 2001 [[April Fool's Day]] joke by van Rossum and [[Larry Wall]] involving the merger of Python with [[Perl]] was dubbed "Parrot" after the [[Dead Parrot sketch]]. The name "Parrot" was later used for [[Parrot virtual machine|a project]] to develop a virtual machine for running [[bytecode]] for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.python.org/about/gettingstarted/|title=Python For Beginners|publisher=Python.org|access-date=3 March 2013}}</ref> after the [[Cheese Shop sketch|sketch of the same name]]. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after [[Bicycle Repair Man]] sketch.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bicycle Repair Man, a Refactoring Tool for Python|url=http://bicyclerepair.sourceforge.net/|publisher=SourceForge.net|access-date=12 January 2013}}</ref>
* In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the [[Miocene]] was discovered in [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh]], Queensland, Australia. The Australian [[palaeontologist]] who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] name of ''[[Montypythonoides]] riversleighensis'' in honour of the Monty Python team.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A687945 Monty Python – a Brief History], [[BBC]], 29 January 2002</ref>
* In 2006, [[Ben & Jerry's]], known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://leemichaelwithers.tripod.com/sfh7_16_96.htm|title=STAN FREBERG HERE – British Ice Cream Flavors|access-date=1 October 2010|quote=Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream has just finished a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavor.&nbsp;... They wanted a kind of "pun" flavor along the lines of their successful American flavor, "Cherry Garcia"--hmm, my favorite. Anyhow, the winner was "Cool Brittania."&nbsp;... But some of the 7500 losers might have been better. How about this, for British flavors: "Minty Python"? "Jack the Ripple"? Or how about "The Rolling Scones"?}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 July 1996 |title=American Scoops Up Prize For Name of Brit Ben & Jerry's |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1996/07/04/american-scoops-up-prize-for-name-of-brit-ben-jerrys/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529173139/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1996-07-04/business/9607030986_1_ben-jerry-ice-cream-flavor |archive-date=29 May 2013 |access-date=1 October 2010 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |via=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |quote=If Britain were an ice cream, what flavor would it be? Jack the Ripple? Charles and Diana Split? Those names were floated in a contest run by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. to create the quintessential British ice cream flavor, along the lines of its world-famous American flavor, Cherry Garcia.}}</ref>
* In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in [[North Yorkshire]].
* The endangered [[Bemaraha woolly lemur]] (''Avahi cleesei'') is named after John Cleese.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4427160.stm|title=Endangered lemurs get Fawlty name|website=BBC News|date=11 November 2005|access-date=30 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |author=Louis, E.E. |author2=Raharivololona, B. |author3=Schwitzer, C. |author4=Wilmet, L. |date=2020 |title=''Avahi cleesei'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T136335A115582253 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T136335A115582253.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
* Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones.  They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]''.<ref name="thegeektwins.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thegeektwins.com/2013/09/9-geekiest-things-named-after-monty_5.html|title=9 Geekiest Things Named After Monty Python [List]|website=thegeektwins.com|date=5 September 2013 |access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref>
* The band [[Toad the Wet Sprocket]] took its name from the Rock Notes<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock Notes Script|url=http://www.montypython.net/scripts/rocknote.php|website=montypython.net|access-date=5 October 2017}}</ref> sketch on the comedy album, ''[[Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Python|first1=Monty|title=Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album|url=http://www.montypython.com/music_Monty%20Python%27s%20Contractual%20Obligation%20Album%20(1980)/14|website=Monty Python's Official Website|access-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>

===World records===
[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 27 13 (14415368570).jpg|thumb|[[List of recurring Monty Python's Flying Circus characters#Gumbys|Gumby]] flower arranging. A character of limited intelligence and vocabulary (a satire on the condescending use of the "man on the street" on TV), he is played here by Terry Gilliam in 2014.]]
On [[St George's Day]], 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of ''Spamalot'' gathered in [[Trafalgar Square]] under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]", for the ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' attempt.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[BBC]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6586187.stm|title=''Spamalot'' cast sets coconut record|access-date=2 October 2019}}</ref>

On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as [[List of recurring Monty Python's Flying Circus characters#Gumbys|Gumbys]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/26/still-flying-monty-python-to-mark-50th-anniversary-with-record-attempt |title=Still flying: Monty Python to mark 50th anniversary with record bid |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 26 June 2019}}</ref> A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and [[Wellington boots]]. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!"<ref>Chapman, Graham, ''The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus, volume 2'', p. 123. Pantheon Books, 1989</ref>