The British comedy group Monty Python have graced televisions and movie theaters around the world, their unique take on comedy was first introduced in 1969 and even today people (but mostly me) are still hailing them as comedic geniuses who can't be matched. It's very likely that most every single piece of comedy you've come to enjoy in the past couple decades was influenced somewhat by the works of Monty Python. One of my favorite television shows ever, "South Park," is heavily influenced by Monty Python. The two creators of South Park claim that they grew up on Monty Python and always loved their style of comedy, and after knowing that info it's easy to see the similarities. Monty Python have released a few films in theaters: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Monty Python's Life of Brian," and "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life" They are mostly just random skits one after the other but in the case of "Life of Brian" and "Holy Grail" they do serve a larger story overall. In this article I wanted to highlight the 19 Greatest/Funniest moments in Monty Python's film history. I'm still working on getting through their TV show "Monty Python and the Flying Circus" so this article will just focus on amazing moments in their films specifically.

19. The Galaxy Song

Movie: "Meaning of Life." This segment isn't necessarily that funny but I think it's one of the most intriguing and thoughtful sketches Monty Python has put out. It's a simple song about how vast and enormous the universe is. It's easy to let go of your worries when you remember how small and insignificant your problems may be in the grand scheme of things, I could watch this clip 10 times in a row and not be sick of it.

18. She's A Witch!

Movie: "Holy Grail." This scene is absolutely classic and I'm glad the clip I found also included another small snippet I thought wouldn't make this list. The clip starts with these religious folk in hoods chanting while rhythmically smacking their heads with a piece of wood. The visual is so absurd that I can't help but laugh, but the real meat of this scene is the crowd trying to burn a witch. The men in town are forcefully shoving a woman to town square after lazily dressing her up as a witch.They attached a parsnip to her nose to look like a crooked witch's nose. The reactions throughout the scene from the crowd are extremely hilarious, the town just has this odd and extremely intense fixation on burning witches. What Monty Python does best is what I'm calling "crowd jokes." Jokes that are compromised by a whole crowd saying or thinking the same thing and working towards the same goal. This technique will come back later.

17. A Stoning

Movie: "Life of Brian." This segment works perfectly for very similar reasons to the Witch scene above. In this scene a man is about to be stoned to death for blasphemy, he mentioned "Jehovah" while describing a piece of halibut which in biblical times is cause for a stoning. Women were traditionally not allowed to attend a stoning, but in this scene the crowd consists of females in fake beards. They seem to get a thrill out of stoning prisoners and will lower their voices to pretend to be men in order to get their kicks, they also get a little out of hand when the priest in charge catches himself saying "Jehovah" out loud and gets stones thrown at him as a result.

16. Brave Sir Robin

Movie "Holy Grail." This one is a really funny "medieval-sounding" song. Sir Robin is accompanied by 'his favorite minstrels' who sing songs describing him throughout his adventure. This song has become a staple of inspiration for songs sung by a 'bard' or a jester in future movies, TV shows or plays set in the Middle Ages. This scene is also accompanied by some great banter between the heads on the three-headed giant in Sir Robin's path, it's also hilarious how Sir Robin is trying to downplay his important despite his minstrels continuing to sing about him out loud.

15. What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?!

Movie: "Life of Brian." This just shows how great Monty Python is with coming up with dialogue, especially argumentative dialogue. The back and forth between the members at this table regarding the resources and innovations the Romans have provided them is hysterical.

14. The Lumberjack Song

Movie: "And Now For Something Completely Different." This might be cheating because the movie this was featured in was basically a "Best Hits of the Monty Python TV show" compilation, but it's labeled as a film so I'm counting it. The clip I attached is from the TV show but it's essentially the same song with the same visuals when they recreate it for the movie. It's a really catchy song with interesting twists in the lyrics that begin to confuse the backup singers as the song goes on.

13. Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film

Movie: "Holy Grail." This is a very simple and short visual gag, at one point in the movie they skip past the introductions of some of the main characters and just showcase their name and a picture in the "Book of the Film." They list all the characters, portrayed by the Monty Python cast we expect. Then right at the end the page turns to a picture of a baby who plays "Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film." It's so stupid that I just can't help but laugh

12. Knights of the Round Table Song

Movie: "Holy Grail." Again, just a catchy song that stands out to me. The build-up definitely adds to the joke, we're expecting the royal and high-class setting of Camelot and instead we're treated to a shoddy song and dance number with some tap-dancing knights. My favorite line is easily "We dine well here in Camelot, we eat ham and jam and spam a lot."

11. Bring Out Your Dead

Movie: "Holy Grail." This is another scene that is one of those "So stupid it's funny" moments for me. The dead collector is going through town to collect those who have died the night before and for some reason a man is trying to throw another man into the pile despite him not being dead.

10. Killer Rabbit

Movie: "Holy Grail." I like how the build-up to this scene helps subvert your expectations. The knights are preparing to face a strong, scary monster guarding a cave and then discover it's just a small rabbit. They approach it only to be viciously attacked by the rabbit, the use of the small puppet with the loud monstrous roars is comedy gold.

9. Biggus Dickus

Movie: "Life of Brian." I'm really glad the clip I found included subtitles for Pontius Pilate because he speaks with such an odd lisp, it's obviously part of the joke but I think the scene is funnier when you know exactly what they're saying. It's an excellent showcase of timing and how just enough repetition can make a scene hilarious.

8. Coconuts

Movie: "Holy Grail." One of the first scenes in the movie and all the comedy comes from the delivery of the dialogue. King Arthur is traveling trying to find knights to join him and he comes across the two most stubborn guards in the world. A visual gag in this movie involves King Arthur's servant Patsy hitting coconuts together to make the sound of a horse galloping. The two guards on the tower are so fixated on the coconuts and continue to ask how they possibly found coconuts outside the tropical climate.

7. Galahad in Castle Anthrax

Movie: "Holy Grail." I think what makes this scene stand out to me is how well it unfolds, it's one of the longer clips I put in this article and it's all because this scene really utilizes build-up to sell it. Sir Galahad is weak and weary and finds shelter at this castle populated by female nurses who seem infatuated with him. As the scene goes on they keep making suggestions and requests which confuse Galahad. Plus the ending of the clip has a nice 4th-wall break, among many others also in the movie.

6. Romans Go Home

Movie: "Life of Brian" This one really works for me because of the absurdness of it all. Brian is tasked with rebelling against the Romans by vandalizing the walls of the city with "Romans Go Home" in Latin. Brian is caught by a Roman guard who only seems to care about the grammatical errors in his graffiti. After a strict lesson in Latin, Brian is tasked with writing the phrase multiple times to show that he learned the proper way to write the phrase.

5. French Taunter

Movie: "Holy Grail." Just like some of the other scenes I linked, this scene is carried almost entirely by the natural way these actors play off each other. The growing frustration from the Knights of the Round Table is funny to watch play out and it all cumulates with some hilarious taunting from the French soldier in the castle.

4. He's Not The Messiah!

Movie: "Life of Brian." Remember how earlier I said one of the things Monty Python does great is jokes involving a large crowd. This is the essential scene to watch to get what I mean by that, this scene involves a large crowd gathering around Brian's house. They believe he's their Messiah much to Brian's mother's dismay. The back and forth between one individual and an entire crowd is so well done and makes one of the greatest scenes in the movie. "There's no Messiah in here! There's a mess alright but there's no Messiah!"

3. God

Movie: "Holy Grail." What's funny about this scene is the frustration exhibited by 'God,' al the knights are averting their eyes and on their knees in intense worship but God doesn't want to deal with all that. He wants to give a quest and get out of there, he's clearly annoyed by Arthur and the knights. The scene comes out of nowhere and it's a welcome, funny surprise.

2. Black Knight

Movie: "Holy Grail." This is easily the greatest use of visual humor, bar none. King Arthur comes across the Black Knight who is guarding a bridge that Arthur needs to cross for his quest. He duels the Black Knight and chops off his limbs, but it doesn't seem to bother the Black Knight. He continuously tries to challenge Arthur, determined not to let him pass even if it means hopping around on one foot. I mean c'mon 'it's just a flesh wound."

1. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Movie: "Life of Brian." The perfect ending to a movie, absolutely brilliant. This clip doesn't include the few minutes that precedes this but it helps make the scene better. Brian is sentenced to death via crucifixion but while he's out in the desert, back in the city Pontius Pilate is considering letting a prisoner free. The city unanimously calls for Brian to be released and he agrees. The soldiers come to the field where dozens are being crucified and ask which is "Brian." Reminiscent of the climax of the movie "Sparticus" every person sentenced to death claims out "I'm Brian of Nazareth!" The soldiers remove the wrong 'Brian' and leave the real one to meet his fate on the cross. He's cheered up by his fellow prisoners who sing this song to him. The song has grown in popularity over the years, even playing during funerals in Britain. The lyrics to the song are amazing as well, the subject of the scene and the song is dark but you can't help but feel happy and light-hearted after hearing the song.

"For life is quite absurd and death's the final word."