Monty Python at Work

Drawn from his published diaries, this is Michael Palins account of the making of the Monty Python TV and stage shows, films, books and albums.

Monty Python at Work opens on 8th July 1969 with Michael Palins diary entry for the first day of filming on the very first episode of Monty Pythons Flying Circus. The diary entries that follow – up until the opening of their final feature film, The Meaning of Life, in 1983 – chart the tumultuous story of how the now famous shows and films were conceived and brought to life.

Palin records the evolution of Monty Pythons comic style, the moments of creative inspiration as well as discord, the persistent self-doubt, and the happy accidents that shaped what are now classic comedy moments.

He captures too the groups many anarchic exploits (John Cleese in a bikini; driving a Budget Rent-a-Van up Glencoe in full chainmail; filming Scott of the Sahara on the beach at Torquay…), as well as their battles with BBC suits, budget-conscious film producers and self-appointed censors.

Thanks to Palins as-it-happened accounts, we are taken behind the scenes to watch with unrivalled intimacy the creative processes that led to the finished work, seeing how it was actually put together. By distilling everything about the Pythons at work, this edition of Palins diaries serves as an intimate guide to the legendary shows, films, books and albums. It will delight Python fans everywhere, and be a source of instruction and inspiration to those who seek to follow in their footsteps.

No writer-performer has combined professional hilarity and personal sanity more successfully than Michael Palin. Anyone interested in how comedy happens should hang on his every word.David Mitchell