...And already Colin is working on that weak left knee of his...I wish comedy like this was still being produced. From the wrestling skit to The Last Supper where Michaelangelo (Idle) is trying to convince the pope (Cleese) to flesh out the painting with 28 disciples and 3 Christs, to Silly Olympics and the Marathon for Incontinents, to International Philosophy where the great German thinkers take on the Greeks for a match of contemplative football, and of course The Four Yorkshiremen who take "when I was a child" exaggerations of hardship to the ridiculous level like only they could, and my personal favorite: Little Red Riding Hood who daintily kicks down trees and uses their lumber to wipe her nose while she's gnawing on a shank of meat.And amidst all of this lunacy is an attention to detail and authenticity that transform a collection of satires into a masterpiece.

I consider the Pythons to be one of the best comedy groups that ever appeared on the screen, perhaps even THE best (it's either them or the Marx Brothers). If you agree even partially, you should not miss "Live at the Hollywood Bowl". Irreverence and surrealism in abundance - as you would expect from the Python guys at their best. Sure, devoted fans have probably seen many of these sketches before, but that won't stop them from enjoying them again - it certainly didn't stop the live audience at the time. There are some slow spots and the picture quality is fairly poor (as the show was videotaped and then transferred to film), but how can you say anything bad about a film that has you crying from too much laughter at least twice? ("What? Only one Christ?") (***)

I am a massive Monty Python fan and i would go as far to say that The Life Of Brian is the funniest film ever made but for me , Live at the Hollywood Bowl does not really work as a film. Having been to the Hollywood Bowl i should imagine that the show was magnifiscent and i would love to have said " I was There" because it was one of the last time the whole group performed but the show was nothing new. We see some of the old sketches seen 10 years previous such as " The Mynistry of Silly Walks" and "The Lumberjack Song" and some not so funny new ones but strangely no Parrot sketch. The group are also joined by a female member and song writer Neil Innis and im afraid to say they dont fit in at all. There is also film clips sandwiched in the middle of the sketches and quite frankly they are not funny. I hate to be cynical but i can only presume thay the Pythons did this show for the money and while the audiance look like they loved the show it should have stayed in their memories and not on film. 7 out of 10.

Many of my favourites were here (including the classic travel agent sketch: "Kellogg's Bornflakes"). But many of my favourites were also in And Now For Something Completely Different, and I didn't really like that. Something about the live atmosphere made this work, the fits of giggles adding to the occasion, not detracting from it. Best of all was the brand new stuff - the Silly Olympics, the History of Slapstick etc. I wish I was there.