Monty Pythons Flying Circus forever marked British comedy and their influence reverberated far beyond the island kingdom. In the documentary Monty Python Conquers America, Judd Apatow, Carl Reiner and other funny Yanks discuss how Python broadened their ideas on humor. Before the Flying Circus explores where the troop came from. Originally aired on the A&E Network, they have been collected on a two-DVD set, The Rise of Monty Python: The Other British Invasion.
As with anything, knowing their roots is essential to understanding how they developed. Through interviews, still photos and archival footage, Before the Flying Circus chronicles the formative years of the troops British members in the bleak, reduced circumstances of the 50s U.K. and glances sideways at the childhood of the token American, Terry Gilliam. The Brits found each other while studying at Oxford and Cambridge through a shared love of Peter Sellers and other outrageous BBC radio comedians. While doing comedy for BBC television in the late60s, they were joined by the expatriate Gilliam, whose whacky animation became one of Pythons hallmarks. Before the Flying Circus includes many black and white bits from their 1967-68 programs, showing how the lads honed their pointedly drawn, straight-faced excursions into the absurd before debuting as Monty Pythons Flying Circus in 1969.
