Customer Reviews

Monty Python's Graham Chapman - Looks Like A Brown Trouser Job

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Dr Graham Chapman, MD, delivers in these home movies a set of lectures and demonstrations on how to be funny. Take notes and pay very close attention, because he has it right at every turn. The Pythons were the right mix of personalities and comedic talents. The whole being greater and all that, but in point of fact, were it not for Chapman, it is hard to believe they would ever have coalesced. Inspite of leading the most lascivious of lifestyles, Graham was always the one playing the vicar, the Protestant, the general, Brian, the dowdy women. His window on the ordinary person embraced those characters with a sense of compassion as well as humour, and that's what made it possible for Cleese and Palin to be as off the wall, for Idle to nudge, wink and imply slyly, for Jones to be a perfect foil. It was Chapman, after all, who told Cleese to change his skit about an intransigent appliance salesman to a parrot shopkeeper, and the rest, as they say.... None of them could have pulled off either Arthur or Brian save Chapman. None of them but Chapman could have gotten away with pleading with the German security guards, when they were denied entry to Dachau concentration camp on a German TV project, to let them in because they were Jewish. He had some finger on the essentially dignity of his characters inspite of the prepsoterous silliness, and that touched his colleagues as well as his fans.
In this absolutely terrific and poorly shot film, Chapman holds forth on the college tour cicrcuit about all sorts of misadventures, most of which will thoroughly satisfy you with a great peel of laughter. Knowing how he died, you are aware of the tragic consequences of his carrying on, and perhaps he is as well. Like his skits, in the very peak of the hilarity, something fundamentally frail and human peeks through looking for approval. In the American theatre, I can think of only Red Skelton who could deliver that same sense of silliness and respect, all in an effort to bring you a smile. A brown trouser job? If so, crease mine twice....

Graham Chapman was, I believe, the most deranged and probably funniest of all the Pythons, and this DVD, though occasionally marred by technical shortcomings, showcases his amazing sense of humor perfectly. These presentations were taken from various live speaking events at US college campuses in 1988. The first two thirds of the DVD is material that is largely a series of recollections and reminiscences some of which involve Monty Python, and some of which do not.

The breadth of the material is staggering, but my favorite recollections involve his participation in a group called the "Dangerous Sports Club" which sponsored insane activities like hang gliding above active volcanoes, catapult-related events, and downhill skiing whilst attached to inappropriate objects, in Graham's case a "wretched" wooden Italian gondola appropriated from a local restaurant and containing Graham, a dubious member of the aristocracy, and an inappropriate club mascot in boxer shorts. This event gave rise to the DVD title, as it apparently was a real "brown trouser job."

The last third of the DVD is devoted to questions and answers, and Graham really delivers with outstanding spontaneity and wit. The audience asked interesting questions, and the answers were both funny and insightful.

Any fan of Graham Chapman, Monty Python, or humor in general will love this DVD. I give it five stars for some of the funniest comedy material ever released on DVD.

You'll hear some minor grumblings from techonerds about the picture quality of this DVD, but who cares? The content matters, and this DVD delivers in spades! This is super cool, super rare footage of the one and only Graham Chapman of Python in his prime in the late 80s. This DVD is so funny with so many hilarious bits that it gets my vote as BEST COMEDY DVD OF 2005. If you're a Python fan--buy it without even thinking twice, and if you just love some well-told stories by a really really funny man, buy it too. Great bonus stuff too! This tour released on DVD has been long-anticipated (for almost 20 years) and now here it is--it's a masterpiece!

I just finished watching this film and I thaught it was great. Most people would probably say "My, that quality was just terrible." Well, this is true. It was the late '80s when film technology was a bit shakey, but one has to set that aside after awhile and just remeber that they are getting a very rare and unique look into the final days of Chapman. His stories are funny, the glimses into his Python days are very interesting, especially if you haven't seen the Life Of Python box set yet. The stories are good, and it was very entertaining. However, if you are a technology buff, this may be a bit frustrating. I tried looking beyond that and realized what an interesting look into Chapman's life I was able to have. So...5 stars. This one is good.

Man, what a rare find this is! I came to Python late, after they had broken up and so never got to see Graham Chapman live. This amazing DVD makes me feel as if he's still alive and spinning stories! Okay okay, so the video quality is so-so, but it didn't matter really after the first minute, I went with the stories and laughed my bum off! This DVD is so special I can't suggest any stronger that you buy it. LONG LIVE GRAHAM! Hey--ya got anything else in the vaults???

As a historial document this DVD is all we have of Chapman's legendary 'US college tours' in the 1980s and for that reason alone this is worth every penny. As a piece of entertainment, this DVD also delivers. If you only know him from the Python TV series or their movies then it will be a revelation to you. He's warm and funny and a superb storyteller who will have you laughing from the opening salvo of "give me 30 seconds of abuse' to the final goodnight. Chock-a-block with some rare bonus features and a cooler-than-it-had-to-be package and you have a wonderful evening's entertainment as well as a historical record. Obviously, a must for the fan but also a good one for folks who just enjoy some great storytelling. Money, and time, well-spent.

This is one of the funniest videos I've ever seen...masterfully performed by the Python I now consider the best (difficult choice!). A must have comedy.

Great stuff! Yeah, it's basically "home video" quality, but so what? There's probably no other extant footage of this that's any better, unless someone in the audience shot it with a better camera!

After reading the joke sticker on the package saying (amongst other humorous things) that the disc had Latin, Sanskrit, & Aramaic subtitles, I was just a little disappointed to find out that the disc has no actual subtitles. I know it was just a joke, but it would've been a great joke if there were actual Latin, Sanskrit, & Aramaic subtitles supplied -- not necessarily actual translations (which wouldn't be worth the effort for the joke, in my opinion!), but just any ol' text, like how, on _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, they supplied subtitles "for people who don't like the movie" taken from Shakespeare's _Henry IV_!