More on the death of the dead parrot: I am delighted to receive the following info from an old pen-pal, Kim "Howard" Johnson, who knows more about Monty Python than any man alive. He's authored four Python books including the best one — The First 280 Years of Monty Python — and worked on their films and concerts, and he's currently personal assistant to John Cleese. Can't get much more qualified than that. About the topic we've been discussing here, he writes…
I spoke to both John and Michael about it a couple of weeks after it aired, so I believe these are the most reliable accounts — but John's memory wasn't even clear at that time, and his subsequent memories are not completely consistent. But here's what I know.
John Cleese and Michael Palin were in New York doing publicity for Fierce Creatures. They had agreed to do a guest shot on SNL, appearing in, as I recall, three sketches. The first was part of the opener, a sketch parodying the then-new TV rating system. I think one or both of them appeared in another segment (possibly involving the news — I don't have any notes with me). Lorne wanted them to do a third segment. John seems to recall that since he was so busy with publicity, that he was happy to do a Python sketch, as it would involve the least work on his part. It is unclear whether John or Lorne initially suggested this, and we'll probably never know.
(Incidentally, a friend of mine who was a cast member at the time had me e-mail the script of the Parrot sketch to SNL — I suspect it had more to do with putting it on cue cards, as that seems to be how SNL operates, than worries that John and Mike would forget it, although neither of them had performed the sketch in many years. So, they were rusty — I'm not even sure if they ever rehearsed it beforehand…)
That Saturday, John got up around 5 a.m. and did some 40 interviews throughout the day, so he was clearly exhausted. The Parrot Sketch was performed during the final half-hour — about 12:30-12:45 am — normally used for filler and as a dumping ground for weaker sketches, and expectations are low.
I recall watching it on TV and being slightly disappointed at the subdued laughter. But, what I later found out, and what would not be apparent to home viewers, was that it was also performed on a set against the back wall. In other words, the majority of the live audience at SNL sits in the balcony, and it is almost impossible to see the actors performing in this area; the relative few with main floor seats had to turn completely around to see the sketch being performed behind them. In other words, most audience members had to watch it on one of the small TV monitors in the studio — it's possible some of them didn't even realize it was being performed live…
Not the best way to schedule and present one of the all-time great comedy sketches. In fact, there were rumors later that Lorne Michaels had even deliberately sabotaged the sketch out of some misguided Python-SNL jealousy (which I think is highly unlikely).
When I talked to Michael and John a couple of weeks later, Michael was genuinely surprised when I asked him about the response to the sketch — he hadn't noticed any particular lack of reaction. And indeed, in the studio, there may not have been (depending on how the audience was miked and how the sound levels were set for home broadcast). I have my doubts about Lorne giving that speech to John and Michael immediately after the sketch, though, as I'm sure one or the other would have mentioned it to me.
I can vouch for the reaction at the Hollywood Bowl, however (I was on stage with the group each night, dressed like a pantomime goose), and the reaction to the Python show at the City Center a few years earlier was the same.
So, this is a bit of Python Rashomon. Was their timing off? Were they victims of circumstance? Were they set up? Or did the sketch receive a perfectly fine reaction in the studio? There's evidence to support any of these, so take your pick.
Thanks, Kim. For what it's worth, I think the suggestion of sabotage is ridiculous. I would also presume that the reason they needed a copy of the sketch material was not so it could be on cue cards (which Palin and Cleese presumably didn't use) but so the director could have it in the script from which he called camera cuts. And they certainly must have done a couple of rehearsals, if only so the director and camera operators could have figured out how to cover it, plus they presumably did it in the dress rehearsal.
My impression, as I think back on that night, was that the audience was warm to Cleese and Palin in the show's cold opening, and to Palin when he appeared briefly in another sketch. But they were far more excited about the musical guest, Beck, who got more applause than Cleese or Palin ever did that night. Perhaps that was the problem right there. The parrot routine came, as you mentioned, near the end and I felt it failed, at least in part, because it was disconnected from the rest of the program. It was like Saturday Night Live stopped for five minutes and suddenly, there was this show on that had nothing to do with SNL, its regulars, that night's host (Kevin Spacey) or the musical guest. Also, of course, there's a fine tradition of sketches that air in the last fifteen minutes not doing well, period.
I think all that, plus some of the other things you mention, may be the explanation. Their timing did seem to be a bit off, perhaps because they were weary or under-rehearsed but perhaps also because they'd grown used to doing the bit with live audiences screaming in recognition over every line, and weren't quite able to readjust to the more subdued response. (I should mention that I'm dwelling on this because I think Michael Palin and John Cleese are two of the all-time great sketch performers in the history of comedy, and it was stunning to see them not be well-received in anything, let alone their best sketch.)
It's interesting to hear that Mr. Palin didn't notice a paucity of laughter because I recall a certain look on his face that suggested he was thinking, "Boy, are we in trouble." On the other hand, I don't recall seeing that look when I saw the sketch rerun later and I wonder if the version currently being aired is the same one. The SNL reruns occasionally substitute a bit from the dress rehearsal when the live version wasn't as good. I have a suspicion here that the routine went better in dress than air (which is why it wasn't cut) and that what's rerun now is the dress rehearsal version.
Whatever, as mentioned, that particular SNL reruns on October 26 on Comedy Central, at 4 PM in most time zones. It's also worth catching for Norm MacDonald's amazing impression of David Letterman in one of the early sketches. And don't you just love the fact that a grown man could vouch for something because he was present at the moment, dressed like a pantomime goose? That's what we need more of in all these televised trials. ("Your honor, I can testify that Detective Fuhrman could not have planted the bloody glove at the Rockingham estate. I know because I was there at the time, dressed as a pantomime goose.")