The fact that she delivered that speech with a completely straight face made it so much funnier.

@MartinHomeVideo

3 жыл бұрын

she delivered it with a completely straight face only because she had no bloody idea what she was talking about.

@ubergeek1968

3 жыл бұрын

@@MartinHomeVideo That is probable, but she didn't even react to the raucous laughter from the MPs.

@TonyEnglandUK

2 жыл бұрын

Margaret Thatcher doing the Parrot Sketch is like Josef Stalin on a trampoline, it just should never happen.

@herrroy4963

Жыл бұрын

She took it serious. Thought it was for real and not a comedy sketch.

@HALLish-jl5mo

Жыл бұрын

​@@MartinHomeVideo She loved comedy shows, Yes Minister was her favorite TV show, to the point that she wrote a self insert fanfic (admittedly one of the few self insert fanfics in history where it was somewhat justified), and then made the actors perform it with her. It was terrible. But clearly she had some appreciation for comedy.

I smiled when she did the Dead Parrot, but then I knew what to expect. When she finished with "And now for something completely different", however, I nearly had a heart attack from laughing so hard.

@jenslumbye7996

2 жыл бұрын

The Larch!

You can almost feel Cleese's mustache twitch with rage.

@peaco1000

3 жыл бұрын

John Cleese is a Tory! Don't know his views on Thatcher though.

@Rasputin443556

3 жыл бұрын

@@peaco1000 No, he’s a staunch LibDem.

@jhibberd6290

2 жыл бұрын

@@peaco1000 Cleese is a Liberal Democrat

@DrCruel

Жыл бұрын

@@Rasputin443556 He's a loonie.

@arthurleegis1333

Жыл бұрын

Ya mean he's not an AnarchoSyndicalist? Oh yeah, that's Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

"This Monty Python.....is he one of us?" - Maggie Thatcher.

She was the only one in the room who didn't get it.

@philipwilliams5808

3 жыл бұрын

Norman Lamont had no idea what she was talking about. He clearly didn't get the reference at 0:45. But Chancellors are seldom great comedians as he proved with his European Exchange Rate Mechanism joke.

This prime minister is pining for the fjords.

@oren1neu1dag

4 жыл бұрын

She is now an Ex prime minister

@KabirChattopadhyay1991

4 жыл бұрын

Ding dong the witch is dead. She has ceased to be.

@akshatnagarkar256

3 жыл бұрын

"Pining for the fjords"? What kind of talk is that?!

She should have continued with the lumberjack song.

@mmgeigle5728

27 күн бұрын

That's what I was thinking, She would have to say "I put on MEN'S clothing"

@LoveOfATree

17 күн бұрын

@@mmgeigle5728 nope, it would have been exactly right the way the pythons did it.

The wonder is not Mrs Thatcher quoting the Monty Python, but that EVERYONE in the room actually knew what she was talking about. Not bad for a low budget comical sketch show...

Well, that was something completely different....

@sanaddaoud6541

3 жыл бұрын

Quite

@abundantharmony

Ай бұрын

@@sanaddaoud6541 innit

This is much funnier when you learn that Thatcher didn't know who Monty Python were when she was given the speech. Apparently she said "Is he one of us?"

@johnolson2113

7 жыл бұрын

I hope John Cleese and the rest of the Monty Python crew sued her ass for using their copy righted material in her speech

@fasteddyuk

7 жыл бұрын

John Olson We didn't sue people in Britain in those days :D

@Bombellih

7 жыл бұрын

She just parroted (pun inevitable) what her speech writers gave her.

@wotdoesthisbuttondo

7 жыл бұрын

It's lucky for Python Benny Hill was clearly feeling charitable as he could have called them out if he felt like it for using an old sketch of his to make the parrot one, in the 1950s, he pre-dated Python’s Dead Parrot sketch passing off a stuffed duck as a parrot, blaming its condition on “shrinkage”.

@williamfrancis5367

5 жыл бұрын

@@johnolson2113 Funny thing is Cleese was and is a memeber of the Liberal Democrats.kzread.info/dash/bejne/a5uqlqObpJbZirg.html

NOT ENOUGH PURPLE.

@waqqashanafi

3 жыл бұрын

My IG name is literally PurpleTurnip so I'm happy.

Funny, except she didn’t get the joke. When her script writers put forward the line, apparently she asked “Monty Python - are you sure he is one of us?” To which her political secretary, replied: “Absolutely, Prime Minister. He is a very good supporter.” Which was what reassured her to carry it forwards.

@TristanWeijermars

4 жыл бұрын

Which then in turn could be a scene from Yes (Prime) Minister!

@whitedragon9731

3 жыл бұрын

I think that actually helped her deliver in such a hilariously deadpan fashion.

@paolopetrozzi2213

3 жыл бұрын

"Apparently". What your sources? The smoked friend of the cousin of your neighbour? It looks like a way to denigrate her. A villain leftist here?

@allenjenkins7947

3 жыл бұрын

Note that by that time, public servants were forbidden to reply "Yes, Prime Minister". The same rule applied in Canberra.

@grabble7605

Жыл бұрын

@@paolopetrozzi2213 "Villain leftist" You're a real whiny twat.

Cleese's ultimate WTF moment.

"Well, I better replace it then"

@ivucica

5 жыл бұрын

If you want to get anything done in that country, you've got to complain till you're blue in the mouth.

This is an ex-Thatcher!

@TeddyLeitner

3 жыл бұрын

Thank heavens

@AH-be6bu

2 жыл бұрын

Ding dong, the wicked bitch is no more!

Thatcher's dead pan delivery nails it!

I read about this in John Cleese’s autobiography. This was really funny!

Whether one liked Thatcher (I didn't) or not - this deserves a respectful chuckle. Of all the politicians in the world I would have thought her to be the most unlikely to ever do something funny. :)

@kathiewippel2399

6 жыл бұрын

Cleese kinda thought it was funny.

@TonyEnglandUK

5 жыл бұрын

Ugh. Imagine Neil Kinnock doing a strip-tease and you'll get an idea of how wrong Thatcher doing Python was.

@allenjenkins7947

3 жыл бұрын

Maggie actually had a good sense of humour and a sharp wit, it just didn't leak into her policies. I wasn't a fan either, but by the time she came to power I was living on the other side of the planet.

@teecee1827

3 жыл бұрын

She didn't write her speech, she didn't even know who the Monty Python were at the time.

LMAF... How did I miss this video for so many years? Best prime minister ever!!!

This...this is gold.

THIS IS AN EX, PM!

suddenly i find myself a thatcher fan

Absolutely fucking hilarious!!! Perfectly delivered too! Please come back, Mrs T, all is forgiven.

@amarok5048

3 жыл бұрын

Indeed!

@duckduckgoismuchbetter

2 жыл бұрын

Yes...but there was nothing to forgive. She was an excellent Prime Minister. The greatest since Winston Churchill.

Telling a joke without understanding it one bit. Apparently just before she went on-stage she asked the man who wrote it for her "Monty Python....is he one of us?" and just in case it scared her he replied: "Yes, he is a very loyal supporter."

Theses really where the golden years, shame they couldn't last forever

20 years later and they're perfect bedfellows.

I imagine Graham Chapman spitting his tea watching this.

@WilliamSmith-mx6ze

7 ай бұрын

I think he himself had rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible by this point.

Number 26: Margaret Thatcher's brain

This means that there has to be made an updated version of the worlds thinnest book ever: "The humor of Margaret Thatcher"

@davidc4571

7 жыл бұрын

*humour

@experi-mentalproductions5358

6 жыл бұрын

*Wit

@Weirdisjustabrownandyellowword

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidc4571 When I click "translate to English (United Kingdom)" it changes your comment to the American spelling.

@davidc4571

2 жыл бұрын

@@Weirdisjustabrownandyellowword i hereby declare war on all translation services who have the American dictionary as their default data reference

I saw Cleese, Jones and Gilliam be interviewed in 09 right before their 40th Anniv series came out and this did come up. Apparently, she really was not familiar with this from the Pythons (and yes, I do pronounce it "their way") and someone had to coach her ad infinitum to get it to work. But it's a BEAUTIFUL WORK and I congratulate her Party and personal Political advisors for getting her to do it..!!!

Now I am imagining that Ronald Reagan in gumby suit, with handkerchief on of course, standing before a 5 inch obstacle yelling "Mr. Gorbachef! Take down the wall!".

Next up: Parrot does the dead Thatcher sketch

Born to the Purple... Rest easy, Mrs. Thatcher... 💜👍💜

@andrewmcgillivray1881

Жыл бұрын

she isn‘t dead, just tired from pining for the fjords…

And instead of C-SPAN it's C-SPAM. This video is bloody awesome!

RIP Lady Thatcher.

I want to hear her do the "Mawwiage... is what bwings us together..." speech

Ironically, John Cleese is a Liberal Democrat. By the way, Thatcher, do late parrots go into coalition? No, dead parrots usually don't have seats.

@An0niem4

6 жыл бұрын

The only reason they have seats in the first place is that they have been nailed there.

@thegdpwhytea439

4 жыл бұрын

Well. Not many seats anymore......

Saw a German interview with John Cleese where he said he, grudgingly, was impressed by her delivery..tho he also said he was told by her aide they had 'several hours' of rehearsal for her to get it down pat. And now, sadly, Maggie too has 'joined the choir invisible.."

10/12/1990. She was the one who would ceased to be just 47 days later

I heard that this was a thing but didn't believe it until she said "this is an ex parrot"

I laughed for five minutes! 🤣😂🤣 Maggie's deadpan delivery was spot on!

Rest in peace, Baroness. Run, you clever girl, and remember.

Don't know whether I should laugh or cry.

I wish they wrote political speeches like this nowadays!

Well done Maggie Bless you.................

Still have respect for her for quoting Python.

One thing we miss about the Thatcher Years is the boffo laffs.

Although comedy wasn't Mrs.T's forté, she delivered this perfectly, given the wet subject matter. The best political comedian for delivery and timing was the late, great Ronald Regan, 40th President of America 🇺🇸

@SonshineLady7

Жыл бұрын

And people said he was too old to be President. Oh how time changes things. I miss former President Reagan and he did have a knack for comedy. Having first been an actor most likely contributed to that but still - he never seemed to get flustered when being attacked by political opponents nor the media.

Had no idea she ever did this.

That was hilarious!

This is an ex-Thatcher. She's not merely dead, she has ceased to be, expired and gone to meet her maker.

Somehow I can picture both Cleese and Palin shouting "Bitch!!" from the moment they saw this on TV

I love Margaret Thatcher. She was elegant, dignify and beautiful. Her delivery of the joke was perfect. The Python team should be proud.

@AFord1981

2 жыл бұрын

I had a week of parties when she became an ex-human.

@richardcarnaby3398

2 жыл бұрын

I rejoiced when she became bereft of life !

How she can say that without even cracking a smile(!)

Eh, I've loved Python (and other bits of British anarchist genius like the Goons) from the earliest days of my childhood. It's in the blood. I often say there's a Python sketch for every situation in life. I understand that not everyone likes Python, but to underestimate its importance is silly. To be entirely ignorant of Python is verily in the realm of criminal idiocy.

@miket9563

Жыл бұрын

“to underestimate its importance is silly” Nobody like a good laugh more than I do. But yes. It’s very silly. Very silly indeed.

Appropriate again in May 2015

@hypno45 actually her speech writers had some difficulty persuading her that this was funny. Even once she finally agreed she then said: 'this Monty Python chap... is he one of us?'

Who, in the English-speaking world doesn't know Monty Python.

Bloody hell, I don't remember this. just great.

Wow! Seeing this for the first time.

She is an ex-parrot. She has ceased to be, expired and gone to meet her maker. She is a PM no more. She has run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. She is a late parrot. Honk if Thatcher's dead

@7beers You're right, I'm glad there are people on KZread who are like you. I'm glad we avoided a big argument when in reality it would do nothing.

Based on her class warfare and her destruction of industry in the UK in the 80s, I was and am still not a Thatcher-lover but you have to admire her for this - based on the reckoning that nobody can be bad all the time. I mean, what did the Romans ever do for us ...

It looks like she is nailed to her perch...

it was recorded on the 10th of December 1990. it says so on the bottom right-hand side of the recording

Proof positive that Maggie was one of the greatest deadpan standup comediennes ever !

Wow, with this single act, Thatcher has become funny.

After 40 years that woman still makes my blood run cold.

@coolsnail58

3 жыл бұрын

so glad the wicked bitch is gone

@duckduckgoismuchbetter

2 жыл бұрын

Don't worry...it is just because it wants desperately to leave your body.

@colourfaze86

Жыл бұрын

@@duckduckgoismuchbetter 😂

Remember folks, politics is serious business... like the internets. Maggie had a sense of humour. Who knew lol.

Best dead pan ever

The Iron Lady....secretly the 7th Python.

This is more accurate now than it ever was.

Aw man, if I hadn't been linked to this about 20 vids down on another vid just now, I never woulda known about this ;o Maybe it's why my foster dad loved her ;]

One thing i will say about thatcher, when it came to our countrys defence she wasnt afraid to use "her boys" the SAS. She also wasnt afraid to threaten other countries with nuclear warfare.

Perhaps, but she did a lot of good for the country on the whole. :)

People say she thought Monty Python was a person. Apparently she was just parroting the lines. *grin*

Respect for MT: +15. Well done. Clapclapclap.

Daddy was a Home Secretary, and Mother won the derby...

Holy Shit. I cannot believe she did this. Whoa.

does anyone have the text? i can't understand half of it

Even funnier than John Cleese attending a party dressed up as Elizabeth Tudor after someone attending another do wore a Jaegar dress and had her collar felt shortly afterwards!

@ misishaxi -- yes, the strings of toffee hanging off them, I think.

So help me I'd swear I saw William F. Buckley in the crowd.

I don't know about this! Did I wake up in a parallel universe again?

Absolute madlass.

@hatstalker Ian Dale's Diary: "When we came to read through the draft of the speech, Mrs Thatcher paused when she reached the dead parrot section and looked at John O’Sullivan as if he were completely mad. On each subsequent occasion, whenever we reached the parrot section, she stopped and said: ‘Are you sure that this is funny?’ . I and the three others found the sketch it so hilarious that we had tears rolling down our cheeks. Thatcher found it difficult to see why we were laughing so much."

Hawwww hawww hawww Lord Horace. Pass the caviar and quail's eggs.

@edj66 I meant the 'bad things happening to bad people' part, not the wishing of it.

The fact that she messed up some of the lines is actually what makes this funny for me.

Cc: Jo Swinson, Chuka Umunna, John Bercow, Luciana Berger, et al

Awesome!

Brilliant!

Wrong! Unfortunately according to the guy who wrote this speech ( John O'Sullivan) he had to explain not only this sketch but also who or what Monty Python were. He arranged a private viewing for her but according to him she didn't 'get it'

Thumbs up if you were expecting audio of the actual Python sketch over footage of Thatcher---and were greatly surprised.

The Tories. Famous for their humour, and this was a classic. Almost as good as when she did that brilliant pun on the phrase u-turn. Yeah, that's what people forget to mention about dear old Maggie, she was a shit-hot stand-up comedian. Funniest in the business in my opinion. Her double-act with Pinochet made me laugh so hard I shat meself.

@HarryAshcroft

2 жыл бұрын

Fuck the tories

@pauljordan4452

Жыл бұрын

Shit!!! That would have been embarrassing.

Love you, Maggie!

@johnalang

9 жыл бұрын

thomas conroy She already did....in 2013

This parrot has, on april 8th, 2013, ceased to be.

And where did you get that from?

@jacovc1986 It is a parrot no more. It has rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is a late parrot. And now for something completely different.

Fucking priceless.