The celebrated British comedy team of Monty Python's Flying Circus chronicle their beginning, middle, end, and all the fiddly little bits in between in the oral history, THE PYTHONS AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY THE PYTHONS. Hailing from a variety of middle-class backgrounds, the members met variously at Oxford and Cambridge universities in the 1960s; the troupe coalesced working for TV and radio comedy shows on the BBC and on commercial television. In this lavishly illustrated, coffee-table-sized volume, they recall their early years, their influences (including Spike Milligan, the resident genius of the legendary'50s surreal comedy group The Goons), and the gradual genesis of the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV show. Contemporary diary entries describe the puzzled reactions of critics and BBC executives alike to the group's cutting-edge brand of humor, the Pythons' working methods (on a good day four hours of work produces almost four minutes of comedy sketch), and their personal relationships. In addition, there's plenty of backstage information on Python film projects, from MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL to THE MEANING OF LIFE, and the crowning revelation that Elvis Presley was a Python fan who took to calling people Squire after watching Eric Idle's Nudge, Nudge sketch. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.