The parrot is dead

The parrot is dead (also This parrot is dead , in the original Dead Parrot or Parrot Sketch ) is a sketch by the British comedian group Monty Python .

The sketch was originally written and produced for the series Monty Python's Flying Circus , but an abbreviated version was recorded for the movie Monty Python's Wonderful World of Gravity . It is based on a concept that Graham Chapman wrote for the BBC program How to Irritate People , but it was not about a parrot, but about a used car that the dealer does not want to take back and claims that everything is fine , although the car falls apart in the course of the sketch.

content

A man ( John Cleese ) walks into a pet shop. He is carrying a cage with an apparently dead parrot. The animal dealer ( Michael Palin ) tries to hide behind the cash register, but comes out when he is addressed with "Hello, Miss!" (Answer of the animal dealer: "Why Miss?" - "Sorry, I have a cold." However, translation cannot imply that this answer was based on passing the English term 'miss' for a sneeze.) Then he explains that he has the parrot with him that he bought half an hour ago. The animal dealer admires the parrot, a "Norwegian Blue" (Original: "Norwegian Blue") and asks what is wrong with him. The man replies: "I want to tell you what's wrong with him: he's dead."

From here on, the conversation consists of the animal dealer vehemently denying that the parrot is dead and finding lots of excuses for the animal's condition (“He's just resting.” - “He likes to lie on his back, that's good for his spine. "), while the customer tries to make it clear with a multitude of synonyms of the word" dead "that the bird is really dead (" The eternal hunting grounds have accepted him as a member ... No trace of life in him ... He rode off to his ancestors ... This one is an ex-parrot! ").

After that, the content of the television series and film differs. In the series, the pet dealer sends the customer to his brother's pet shop in Bolton and the sketch becomes more and more bizarre: The other pet shop is obviously exactly the same, which the pet dealer's brother (also Palin, now with a glued-on mustache) vehemently denies and ultimately even claims, one is not in Bolton at all, the fourth wall is broken through several times and, among other things, the need to artificially elongate the sketch is discussed before the customer and the animal dealer's brother finally have a dispute about puns and palindromes. The sketch is ended at some point by the suddenly appearing Colonel ( Graham Chapman ) on the grounds that he is too stupid - a frequently occurring ending in the Flying Circus for a sketch without an ending punchline. In the film, on the other hand, the sketch breaks off after the pet dealer has agreed to exchange the parrot, but then realizes that he only has migrating snails on offer, but they cannot speak. He then explains to the customer that he actually wanted to be a lumberjack and so seamlessly introduces the Lumberjack song .

style

In the original, John Cleese speaks with a clear accent in this sketch. In the film The Wonderful World of Gravity , this was translated into German by the fact that the voice actor Thomas Danneberg had a strong Hamburg accent . In the German synchronization of the series Monty Python's Flying Circus (with speaker Bernd Stephan for John Cleese), which was only made in the 1990s, standard German is spoken.

meaning

Like the word spam and the term “pythonesk”, this sketch has also enriched the English colloquial language with a phrase: “The parrot is dead!” Is what you say when you want to convince your counterpart that he is completely wrong with his view.

The sketch is one of the most popular among fans of the comedian troupe. In reference to this, they produced a program on the occasion of their 20th anniversary, which was entitled Parrot Sketch not included (German for example parrot sketch not included ). The show was moderated by Steve Martin .

John Cleese used the synonyms for "death" from the sketch in his funeral speech for Graham Chapman .

literature

• Monty Python's Flying Circus , Vol. 1. Haffmans, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-251-00222-8 (German translation)

The Sketch Online

• The Parrot Sketch on YouTube (Official Monty Python Channel).
• Text version in English ( Memento from October 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )