David Morgan

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Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python’s Flying Circus introduced something completely different: a new brand of surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness comedy that pushed the traditional boundaries of format, style, and content. 

            In MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS (Dey Street Books), David Morgan offers a thorough oral history of the Pythons before and after their massive success.

            Blending brilliant satire with slapstick silliness, The Pythons—Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin—spoke to a generation eager to break free of the conventional. Making their way across the Atlantic and the world, the Pythons’ zany approach to comedy would have a monumental influence on modern popular culture, paving the way for farcical entertainment from Saturday Night Live to The Simpsons to Austin Powers.

            David Morgan has collected interviews with Monty Python’s founding members, actors, producers, and other collaborators to produce a no-holds-barred look at the Pythons’ legendary sketches and films, including Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Spamalot), and The Meaning of Life.

THE REVISED & UPDATED EDITION OF MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS WILL INCLUDE:
            • A new foreword by LAST WEEK TONIGHT’S JOHN OLIVER
            • Four new chapters on Monty Python in the 21st century
            • The story behind the making of Spamalot: The Musical
            • The groups’ reactions to the wild success of their 2014 reunion show at London’s O2
            • Exiting The Stage: A touching look at the group sans Terry Jones (who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2015)
            • Corrections to the text & index
            • Also Wik

About the author: DAVID MORGAN is a senior producer for CBSNews.com, and for CBS’ Emmy Award–winning newsmagazine Sunday Morning. He has written about film production and media issues for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Sight & Sound, The Hollywood Reporter, Empire, The Independent, American Cinematographer, Millimeter, Cinefex, Ciak si Gira and Flix. He previously worked for ABCNews.com and the Environmental Defense Fund. He lives in New York City.