"The Crimson Permanent Assurance" for Mind Screwing the audience by playing right before the main feature, and then returning to attack the film itself halfway through.
The way the movie decides to deal with the Crimson Permanent Assurance's attempt to intrude on the feature presentation: tipping over a skyscraper onto it.
Really, that entire goddamned short in all of its epic, unparalleled absurdity. A bunch of old British men become pirates and saila buildingall the way toAmerica.
As does the Mr. Creosote scene. But the capper is the very long Steadicam shot where Eric Idle's waiter takes us for a little ride, then launches into a Cluster F-Bomb rant.
"Oh Lord, please don't burn us, don't grill or toast your flock..."
The Grim Reaper. "...THE SALMON MOUSSE!" And Michael Palin's contribution: "Hey! I didn't even eat the mousse!"
One of the guests tries to kill the Grim Reaper by shooting him.
"Englishmen, you're all so fucking pompous! None of you have got any balls!
The Tiger/Leg sketch.
Not to mention the Reaction Shot when the doctor reveals that the likely perpetrator of the leg theft is a tiger. Cue the entire army, including the enemy Zulus going "A TIGER?!!". The Zulu army immediatly pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here and retreat from the battle.
The officer Strolling Through the Chaos in the opening, like it's just an afternoon rain shower and not war. He's only mildly annoyed when a stray bullet shatters his shaving mirror. Truth in Television; British officers of the time were encouraged to take the Stiff Upper Lip attitude to its logical extreme.
The victim originally thought a mosquito was the reason his leg was gone. African mosquitos can be nasty but not quite that bad.
"A tiger?! In Africa?!"
"...well it's probably escaped from the zoo."
A soldier pointing out how back in England if killed fifteen people he would be executed for murder here they'll give him a medal.
"Birth". The whole sketch is hilarious, but the machine that goes "PING!" is the funniest.
"ANNNND THE ROUGH TOWELS!"
Who are you?
I'm her husband.
I'm sorry, but only people involved may enter here.
The hospital administrator doesn't know what a "birth" is.
When the new mother asks what sex her new baby is, since it was whisked away to the nursery right after birth, the doctor (John Cleese) admonishes her for already caring about gender roles.
This song basically has children singing "every sperm is sacred", while their parents pop more out, and the current ones are sold off for science experimentation. Crosses the Line Twice doesn't quite cover it. It crosses the line about 5 times.
The Protestant neighbor witnesses the scene and complains about Catholics refusing to use contraceptives and end up with too many children they can't afford. His wife then points out that they've had sex twice in their marriage and they have two children. Her husband says that they COULD have protected sex if they wanted to. The wife, at least, very clearly wants to, but her husband is too busy extolling the Protestant right to sexual freedom to actually get around to practicing it.
The "Marching Up and Down the Square" sketch for its brilliant subversion of the Drill Sergeant Nasty trope.
The sex education class. "Now, did I or did I not... do... vaginal... juices?"
"What's wrong with a kiss, boy, hmm? Why not start her off with a nice kiss? You don't have to go leaping straight for the clitoris like a bull at the gate. Give her a kiss, boy!"
Rather than act rowdy and disruptive when the teacher is out of the room, then pretend to be calm when he comes back, the student sit quietly when he's gone and only become rowdy when one of them says the teacher is coming back.
Part VI: The Autumn Years is the sketch that features Mr. Creosote (Terry Jones), a morbidly obese man who dines at a French restaurant, and what follows is darkly hilariousVulgar Humor.
When Mr. Creosote shows up, the fish react accordingly, combined with Jaws-esque music.
Fish: Oh shit, it's Mr. Creosote!
Just how Prone to Vomiting Mr. Creosote is can bring in some laughter. He initially throws up on the carpet, but escalates to getting his puke on the maid and his waiter's trousers. He even throws up all over the menu.
Maître d': Ah, good afternoon, sir, and how are we today? Mr. Creosote: Better. Maître d': Better? Mr. Creosote: Better get a bucket. I'm going to throw up.
Not wanting to sit by a constantly-vomiting Mr. Creosote, the guests at a nearby table leave. A woman tells the waiter she has a Fake Period Excuse, while her husband simply says they have a train to catch. Then right afterwards the waiter accidentally steps into the vomit-filled bucket.
A completely stuffed Mr. Creosote tells the waiter he's full, but he offers him a wafer-thin mint. After giving him the mint, the waiter simply gets the hell out of dodge before Mr. Creosote explodes in a massive mess.
Mr. Creosote somehow survives and his organs are still intact. The waiter then calmly presents him the bill.
"Arthur Jarrett is a convicted criminal who has been allowed to choose the manner of his execution." And it shows...
Doubly funny is that Arthur Jarrett was played by homosexual Graham Chapman.
Crosses the Line Twice between shockingly gruesome and absolutely hilarious, especially with "The Galaxy Song" coming right afterwards.Mr. Pink: Pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth!