Graham Chapman’s zany fiction-filled book A Liar’s Autobiography is being made into an animated film of the same name. All the members of Monty Python, save for Eric Idle, are starring in the 85-minute comedy. To add to the insanity, Cameron Diaz is voicing Sigmund Freud. This will be momentous. After so long, we’re getting another Monty Python collaboration on film.
If you don’t recognize the name Monty Python, this is a great moment for you. A window to the zany, silly, and hilarious has just been opened in front of you. In 1969, six Cambridge friends decided to start their own comedy group. John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, and Graham Chapman began performing sketches until they got their own show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Graham Chapman stood out as a tall, authoritative man who seemed to have a more serious feeling to him (he was a doctor, after all), but he could still thrive in comedy. His legendary characters include the Colonel, Raymond Luxury-Yacht, King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brian in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and the title role in Yellowbeard.
He was also perhaps the most surprising of the Pythons. It seems every few years he would astound the rest of the Pythons with something they weren’t expecting. They discovered his alcoholism while filming Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Graham was so intoxicated, he had trouble with rock-climbing on set, an activity he was known to be good at. Later on, Michael Palin found an empty Gin bottle in Graham’s trailer, which was full earlier that day. Graham later announced his longtime homosexuality and 24 year romantic relationship with David Sherlock. Graham died of cancer a day before the 20th anniversary of Monty Python, an act Terry Jones explained as “The worst case of party-pooping I’ve ever seen.”
Make sure to see A Liar’s Autobiography. With the life of Graham Chapman, his writing skills, the Pythons’ performances, and the assorted talent of today’s animators, it is bound to be well worth your time.