This clip from Monty Python Flying Circus’s “Pirana Brothers” sketch illustrates their comedy-writing genius. Perhaps only they could make a punchline out of a list of literary devices in a sketch parodying a 1960s-era London crime family, the infamous Kray Brothers.
For all who love the English language, history, and humor that is simultaneously intellectual and ribald, I encourage you to watch Monty Python’s many YouTube videos. Get caught up on the BBC television show, which ran from 1969 to 1974, comprising four seasons and 45 episodes.
Meanwhile, watch their several movies, especially “Monty Python & The Holy Grail,” a parody of the King Arthur legend. Also, don’t miss “Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life,” which explores various aspects of the human condition in a way you’ve never thought possible.
Another great BBC series, “Ripping Yarns,” written and starring Python alumnus Michael Palin, parodies stories in British Victorian-era schoolboy adventure books. The Monty Python universe delivers laughs galore while also teaching the history of Western civilization in a delightfully subversive fashion.
In this clip, a terrorized Pirana Brothers’ business associate, Luigi Vercotti (Michael Palin), enumerates Doug Pirana’s master of literary devices to intimidate his crime victims: “He used … saracasm. Oh, he knew all the tricks: dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes, and … satire.” In future blog posts, I’ll address these valuable literary tools to make your writing more readable, entertaining, and, thus, effective.