"My video arrived yesterday and I am very pleased
with it. Thank you for making such a gem available worldwide. It's not easy to find even
the 45 English episodes of Flying Circus in America, in spite of an enormous following. I
admire your ability to spot a hidden treasure." Jeffrey French, St. Matthews, South Carolina, USA
"Thank you. I received my package and my son was thrilled! Thanks again!"
Eileen Russo,
New York, USA
"Video received and understood (more or
less). Thoroughly enjoyable, Tell the boys 'Thank God we won the War!' Will pass on any
other comments from friends in Hungarian." Jim Cross AUSTRALIA
"Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
arrived two days ago and I want to tell you what pleasure it has given me already. Many
thanks for your prompt shipment, for the enclosed postcards and, most importantly, for
helping to preserve such brilliant humor!" Elias,
Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA
"I received Monty Python's Fliegender
Zirkus - the 'lost' German episodes promptly and find it one of the funniest
videos I've ever watched." Jonathan Sloman, London, UK
"The third Internet order I received was
from the FROME PET & AQUATIC CENTRE. I thought this must be a joke from John Cleese or
Michael Palin so I got in touch with the e-mail number on the order form. It turned out to
be for real and they even had a parrot for sale, but sadly, it was still
alive." David Nicholas Wilkinson,
guerilla films ltd, UK
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"Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
There's scarcely a popular British TV series that doesn't have some kind of
"lost" episode that is difficult to acquire. Whether it is "Til Death
Us Do Part" (the Beeb destroyed the master tapes in the 1970s), or the
unscreened alternative first episode of "Blackadder" (betcha didn't
know about that one) every popular series has a rarity for which VHS copies are as rare as
a dog that speaks Norwegian.
"For Python the eholy grail is two 45 minute films made for German TV in the
early 1970s, of which one has never shown in Britain at all, and whilst the other turns up
on Sky occasionally, it hasn't been shown terrestrially for over 25 years.
"Now, thanks to those staggeringly far sighted people at Guerilla
Films, both of these mini-masterpieces are available on one cassette , as a
perfect accompaniment to last years backed eComplte Series boxset. The films juxtaposition
of re-written classic sketches and new material forms (particularly in the first
instalment) an almost hallucinatory tour-de-force of surreal images, punch line-less jokes
and devastating face pulling.
"In many ways this is the ultimate expression of TV Python, with more money
and time than they ever had at the BBC, and without the strictures of plotting forced on
the films, this is six brilliant men given free rein at a time when they were at the
height of their powers. Whether it's the story of the Princess with the Wooden
Teeth, the Germany v. Greece Philosophical Football Match,
The Lumberjack Song in German, or the incredible invasions from other TV
programmes (difficult to explain, dazzling to watch) these two "lost" programmes
are riotous, witty and unmissable. BUY."
***** Pi Magazine - November 1998.
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" These two 45-minute episodes of Monty Python gags, unearthed from a musty attic,
feature the team doing German-orientated surrealist sketches (in German) for German
television. It's all material that's hardly been seen before and previously thought lost
(hence the subtitle The Lost German Programmes),. The result is some of the Python team's
most audacious and hysterical work.
"The first episode includes their famous rendition of the "Lumberjack
Song"(it took Palin a week to learn it in German), with a chorus
sung by the Austrian Border Police. There's also the "Silly Olympic Games", and John
Cleese is brilliant as Little Red Riding Hood. Not strictly movie related then,
but episode Two (in English) does include their mini-feature " The Tale of Happy
Valley" (boasting Connie Booth as the Princess with the Wooden
Teeth), a lavish production by their standards. It was also telling hint of the style and
content of the features that would follow.
"Fliegender Zirkus" is a curiosity and a rare treat.
It's packed full with moments of unbrided genius and is as absurd and insane as you'd have
any right to expect. These two timeless episodes, filmed in 1971 and 1972 respectively,
show the Python team at their most wonderfully ridiculous."
***** (Very Good.
A small landmark in film-making, highly impressive, hugely satisfying and entertaining)
Total Film - Issue 23
December 1998
Pick Of This Week’s Weirdest Releases:
MONTY PYTHON’S FLIEGENDER ZIRKUS
"The problem with Python is, you’ve heard it all so often - the records,
the videos, that bastard down the pub - you start to forget how new it was first time
round. Just in time, here are two rarely seen episodes they did for German television.
Some of the old material’s here, of course, and bits got recycled for the books, but
there’s a ton of new stuff, and it’s all cripplingly hilarious. Like bumping
into a long-lost friend." BIZARRE -
November 1998
"I have had all these empty years without these fantastic episodes. The
funniest thing I have ever seen. I urge you to buy this video."
Paul Ross, Talk Radio, October 1998
Top
"There are people out there who pride themselves
on having seen every episode, bought all the records, books and videos, and can do
"The Parrot Sketch" or "The Lumberjack Song" at the drop of a hat.
These are the ones who will be ecstatic with the news that two undiscovered Python Shows
are now available to buy on video.
"Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus from guerilla
films is the first UK video release of the two shows which the Pythons did to
satisfy their apparently huge German audience. If you want to see "The Lumberjack
Song" done by the Austrian Border Police then this is the one for you." Glasgow
Evening News
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
"That's Flying Circus to you and me. These are the legendary "lost" tapes
made for German TV, although non of them spoke German. Their two episodes here, one of
which is in German with sub-titles, is a truly bizarre and surreal sight. One wonders how
they managed to perform the world's funniest, and most deadly joke gag though. Fans will
love this release as it effectively offers new material, even though some of the sketches
have appeared before and others pop up in the live films."
7 out 10 Timecode"
"Yes, they really do speak German - yes, all of
the time. But if you don't then there are sub-titles to keep you in the picture. Well sort
of. After all, who ever really knows what's going on with Monty Python. The first half is
interspersed with a running gag about a documentary on Albrecht Durer. There is also the
"Lumberjack Song" which perhaps looses something in translation. And a very
funny John Cleese as little Red Riding Hood. There seems to have been no
concern for the national pride of the viewing audience, which gives a nice edge to it all.
Even non-Python fans will enjoy this." Satellite Times
Herr Von Python
"A valuable enough catch for confirmed Pythonists, a little insubstantial for more
occasional fans, certainly no starting place for the novice, "Monty Python
Fliegender Zirkus: The "Lost" German Programmes" presents two
Python specials recorded for German TV in 1971 and 1972. If it's true that the Python
sketches often work better on the page than on the screen, consider the effect of the team
performing those sketches in German, an arrangement which the non-German speaking six
discovered only shortly before shooting began and which forced the the production to rely
on idiot boards held up behind the camera through-out the shoot.
"The 1972 return, filmed very much in English, consequently runs rather more
confidently, and boasts better sketches to boot. A number of the sketches here either
reworked from the BBC series or subsequently repeated live at the Hollywood Bowl, but
there are a number of otherwise unseen pieces too, notably the
final, atypical extended fairy-tale Happy Valley (The Princess with the Wooden
Teeth). Special mention also for The Bavarian Restaurant Sketch,
and where would we be without the Philosophers Football Match?"
Time Out - 22nd October 1998
Top
"So much of the humour is visual. It
really works for an English audience. I thought they were absolutely hilarious".
Johnny Vaughan, The Big Breakfast, Channel 4 TV, October 1998.
Chosen as Video of the Month.
MAXIM magazine (November 1998)
"There is something undeniably funny about seeing the team struggle with
their lines over the English sub-titles. Conclusive proof, were
it needed, of the universal language of comedy. Funny they never
once mention the war, though."
GQ Magazine - October 1998
"Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus - The
Missing Films.
Long overdue release of classic material shot on location in Germany in 1971 and 1972
featuring many familiar items with a fresh twist (such as `The Lumberjack Song' sung by
the Austrian border police). There are also a number of brand-new sketches, including the
Python's own version of a classic German fairy tale called 'The Princess' with the Wooden
Teeth (this mini-feature alone is worth the price of the video). An absolute
must for all Python fans."
1998 Film Review Annual
Ve haf vays of making you laugh
Monty Python's oddest adventure
"Sit down. Take that sausage out of your mouth and pay attention. Monty
Python made two programmes in German. Yes, German. That's Fliegender Zirkus,
dummen englishchen Schwachkopfe! And no, they didn't mention the war, though they did do
the Lumberjack Song with the Austrian Border Police.
"No, this is not a joke. Back in 1971, Cleese, Palin, Jones
et al were invited over to make a series for German TV. Unfortunately, when they
arrived in the Alps they discovered that the producers wanted them to make it in German.
None of them spoke the language In the end they had to read the sketches off idiot boards.
Piling irony on irony, the programmes were shown while the main German channel televised
the West Germany v England World Cup clash.
"The lost episodes, which have been salvaged by Guerilla
Films, get their first British screening in Bristol next week. Terry Jones will
be on hand to interpret.
"Jones recalls that one day the team decided to visit the
concentration camp at Dachau. Turning up just as the place was closing, they were herded
out by the officious attendants. Graham Chapman was not best pleased, and
banged on the gates, shouting: 'Let me in, I'm Jewish!'"
Arts Diary, The
Guardian, September 12, 1998
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Flogging Ein Dead
Parrot
"It is a little known fact that the
world's most famous comedy group Monty Python started their career in Germany, performing
in the seedy sex clubs of Hamburg during the late sixties. It was here, amidst the sleaze
and squalor of the Rieperbahn red light district, that the young comics first developed
their famous "Parrot Sketch" and "Lumberjack Song". And it was here
that the sixth Python, the enigmatic Paul Shane, left the group after a disagreement about
haircuts.
"Now, thirty years later, amazing rare footage of the Python's live in Hamburg
has come to light. Two priceless recordings - discovered under a hat in a dusty Hamburg
bier keller - have been released on video for the first time ever. A must for any
obsessive Python fan who has lost all sense of reason."
VIZ, November 1998
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"The happiest event since the invention of brain surgery." Pisso
the Alcoholic Dog
"We have enjoyed everyone of the Monty
Python German programmes what we have seen."
Queen Muvver, WINDSOR GAZETTE
"Makes you want to disappear off the face of the
earth." Lord Lucan
"Makes you want to purr." Felix
I'd rather watch Fliegender Zirkus than have my
testicles tied to the rear fender of a Lada."
Name and address supplied
"The funniest shows since they stopped capital
punishment." Mr A Pierpoint (deceased) HANGING TIMES
"Die Fliegender Zirkus ist mein Gunstling
Salat."
Karl Marks, COOKING TODAY
"If you really want to watch a British comedy
team trying to do reasonably stupid things in German then this is the show for you." Ken
Obvious, BLEEDING OBVIOUS NEWS
"Lots of laughs, lots of penetrating
insights into the human condition and a sense of style that will endure for many
centuries." Nancy Banks-Smith (but not about the Python
programmes)
"As good as a lunch at Buckingham Palace." Princess
Michael of Kent
"Makes you want to wag your tail." Rover.
"The first thing I have laughed at since I
was born." Billy Smith, aged 6 minutes"
"I can't think of anything else to
write about Fliegender Zirkus." Terry Jones, aged 56
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