''Monty Python Live at Aspen'' was a reunion show featuring the surviving members of the

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

team:

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

and

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

, appearing on stage together for the first time since their

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

shows in 1980. Filmed on 7 March 1998 at the Wheeler Opera House in Colorado as part of The US Comedy Arts Festival, it featured the five Pythons in an interview with host

Robert Klein Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy albums: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (1974 ...

. The late

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the Surreal humour, surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel (Monty Py ...

was also allegedly in attendance as his "ashes" were brought out in an urn with his portrait attached to the front, only to be knocked over by Terry Gilliam. The Pythons initially appear with an uninvited

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

, who is quickly made to leave the stage. The team and Klein then discuss their work and answer questions from fans on the internet. At the end of the evening they are presented with an

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

Star Award, which is handed to John Cleese, who goes into a mock rant about how they never received any recognition when they were doing Monty Python, before the award is dropped into Chapman's urn. The show ends with Eric Idle leading a singalong of " Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". The special was broadcast in the US on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on 21 March 1998. In the UK it was released on VHS in 1999 as part of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

box set ''The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus''. A DVD version of the set was later released in 2004. In the US the show was released on DVD in 2001 by A&E Home Entertainment as part of their '' Monty Python Live'' box set.

Origins

In May 1997 the five surviving members of Monty Python regrouped for the first time since Graham Chapman's death in 1989. The meetings focused on Eric Idle's idea of a sequel to ''

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...

'' in which they'd return as Knights of the Round Table, using audio outtakes of Graham Chapman's voice from album sessions to dub a performance out of him, with Arthur's ashes as the front. The rest of the group were enthusiastic, and even began writing material for it. The idea died soon, though, as Cleese was against the idea of doing a new film, partly because he remembered the disagreements the team had when writing '' The Meaning of Life'', but also because any new film would miss Chapman's acting talents. The one-off reunion at Aspen led to plans for a 30th anniversary tour for the following year which, due to disagreements within the group, failed to materialise.''

The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons ''The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons'' is the official autobiography of the Monty Python team, released in 2003. It covers the whole of Python history, from their childhoods all the way through to the 30th anniversary celebrations in 1999. ...

'', 2003, p.345, Orion

Cast

*Cathleen Summers Also,

Ted Danson Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe A ...

and

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in the Western comedy film '' Goin ...

are seen in the audience.

Credits

*John Moffitt, Pat Tourk Lee, Stu Smiley – executive producers *Nancy Kurshner – supervising producer *Phil Savenick – co-producer *Paul Miller – director *Peter Crabbe – writer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monty Python Live At Aspen Monty Python American television specials 1998 television specials 1990s American television specials 1990s in comedy