Subj : Re: Graham Chapman's funeral speech To : George Kincaid From : RW Date : Mon Apr 25 2005 04:24 am From: AchterQuack@gmail.com (RW) And they poured some tea in. But that 1998 reunion is not the thing I mean. "George Kincaid" wrote in message news:... > Graham made an "appearance" in a cremation urn on an HBO special on Python > Robert Klein hosted a few years ago. He was "telegraphing" a response when > Terry Gilliam kicked his urn across the stage. A janitor came out with a > Dust Devil and swept him away! Classic stuff. > "RW" wrote in message > news:a2a7601b.0504231215.63dfaa13@posting.google.com... > > Cool, and I know a video fragment for the first half of his speech, > > but has anyone got the entire memorial service on tape??? Please????? > > > > > > "Heidi" wrote in message > > news:... > >> Just thought some people might like to see it, i thought it was VERY john > >> cleese! > >> > >> Graham Chapman, co-author of the 'Parrot Sketch,' is no more. > >> > >> He has ceased to be, bereft of life, he rests in peace, he has kicked the > >> bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed his last, and > >> gone to meet the Great Head of Light Entertainment in the sky, and I > >> guess > >> that we're all thinking how sad it is that a man of such talent, such > >> capability and kindness, of such intelligence should now be so suddenly > >> spirited away at the age of only forty-eight, before he'd achieved many > >> of > >> the things of which he was capable, and before he'd had enough fun. > >> > >> Well, I feel that I should say, "Nonsense. Good riddance to him, the > >> freeloading bastard! I hope he fries. " > >> > >> And the reason I think I should say this is, he would never forgive me if > >> I > >> didn't, if I threw away this opportunity to shock you all on his behalf. > >> Anything for him but mindless good taste. I could hear him whispering in > >> my > >> ear last night as I was writing this: > >> > >> "Alright, Cleese, you're very proud of being the first person to ever say > >> 'shit' on television. If this service is really for me, just for > >> starters, I > >> want you to be the first person ever at a British memorial service to say > >> 'fuck'!" > >> > >> You see, the trouble is, I can't. If he were here with me now I would > >> probably have the courage, because he always emboldened me. But the truth > >> is, I lack his balls, his splendid defiance. And so I'll have to content > >> myself instead with saying 'Betty Mardsen...' > >> > >> But bolder and less inhibited spirits than me follow today. Jones and > >> Idle, > >> Gilliam and Palin. Heaven knows what the next hour will bring in Graham's > >> name. Trousers dropping, blasphemers on pogo sticks, spectacular displays > >> of > >> high-speed farting, synchronised incest. One of the four is planning to > >> stuff a dead ocelot and a 1922 Remington typewriter up his own arse to > >> the > >> sound of the second movement of Elgar's cello concerto. And that's in the > >> first half. > >> > >> Because you see, Gray would have wanted it this way. Really. Anything for > >> him but mindless good taste. And that's what I'll always remember about > >> him---apart, of course, from his Olympian extravagance. He was the prince > >> of > >> bad taste. He loved to shock. In fact, Gray, more than anyone I knew, > >> embodied and symbolised all that was most offensive and juvenile in Monty > >> Python. And his delight in shocking people led him on to greater and > >> greater > >> feats. I like to think of him as the pioneering beacon that beat the path > >> along which fainter spirits could follow. > >> > >> Some memories. I remember writing the undertaker speech with him, and him > >> suggesting the punch line, 'All right, we'll eat her, but if you feel bad > >> about it afterwards, we'll dig a grave and you can throw up into it.' I > >> remember discovering in 1969, when we wrote every day at the flat where > >> Connie Booth and I lived, that he'd recently discovered the game of > >> printing > >> four-letter words on neat little squares of paper, and then quietly > >> placing > >> them at strategic points around our flat, forcing Connie and me into > >> frantic > >> last minute paper chases whenever we were expecting important guests. > >> > >> I remember him at BBC parties crawling around on all fours, rubbing > >> himself > >> affectionately against the legs of gray-suited executives, and delicately > >> nibbling the more appetizing female calves. Mrs. Eric Morecambe remembers > >> that too. > >> > >> I remember his being invited to speak at the Oxford union, and entering > >> the > >> chamber dressed as a carrot---a full length orange tapering costume with > >> a > >> large, bright green sprig as a hat----and then, when his turn came to > >> speak, > >> refusing to do so. He just stood there, literally speechless, for twenty > >> minutes, smiling beatifically. The only time in world history that a > >> totally > >> silent man has succeeded in inciting a riot. > >> > >> I remember Graham receiving a Sun newspaper TV award from Reggie > >> Maudling. > >> Who else! And taking the trophy falling to the ground and crawling all > >> the > >> way back to his table, screaming loudly, as loudly as he could. And if > >> you > >> remember Gray, that was very loud indeed. > >> > >> It is magnificent, isn't it? You see, the thing about shock... is not > >> that > >> it upsets some people, I think; I think that it gives others a momentary > >> joy > >> of liberation, as we realised in that instant that the social rules that > >> constrict our lives so terribly are not actually very important. > >> > >> Well, Gray can't do that for us anymore. He's gone. He is an ex-Chapman. > >> All > >> we have of him now is our memories. But it will be some time before they > >> fade. --- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5 * Origin: FidoNet MONTE <--> alt.fan.monty-python (1:379/45) .