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Spam (Monty Python)

 

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Spam (Monty Python)


 
 


"Spam" is a popular Monty PythonMonty Python

Monty Python, or The Pythons, is the collective name of the creators of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British te...
 sketchSketch comedy

Sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes, or 'sketches', commonly between one and ten minutes long....
, first televised in 1970. In the sketch, two customers are trying to order a breakfastBreakfast

Breakfast is a meal, preceding lunch or dinner and usually eaten in the morning....
 from a menuMenu

In a restaurant, a menu is the list of options for a diner to select....
 that includes the processed meat productSpam (food)

Spam is a canned meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation....
 in almost every dish. The term spamSpam (electronic)

Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited, undesired bulk messages....
(in electronic communication, and as of 2008, general slang) is derived from this sketch.

It features Terry JonesTerry Jones

Terence Graham Parry Jones is a British comedian and writer, film director and popular historian....
 as The Waitress, Eric IdleEric Idle

Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, pianist and guitarist/songwriter....
 as Mr. Bun and Graham ChapmanGraham Chapman

Graham Chapman was an English comedian and writer....
 as Mrs. Bun. The televised sketch also featured John CleeseJohn Cleese

John Marwood Cleese is an English comedian and actor best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Pyth...
 as The HungarianHungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovaki...
 and Michael PalinMichael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor and television presenter best known for being one of the members of...
 as a historianHistorian

A historian is someone who writes history, and history is a written accounting of the past....
, but this part was left out of audio recordings of the sketch.

Sketch

Only three and a half minutes long, it builds up into a semi-argument between the waitress who has a menu limited to having Spam in just about everything ("Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam"), and Mrs Bun, who is the only one in the room who does not want it. She asks for an item with the Spam removed (despite there already being some items mentioned that do not actually include Spam), much to the amazement of her Spam-loving husband. Eventually, Mrs Bun resorts to screaming, "I don't like Spam!"

At several points, a group of VikingsViking

The term Viking commonly denotes the ship-borne explorers, traders, and warriors of the Norsemen who originated in Scandinav...
 in the restaurant (referred to as the Green Midget Café in BromleyBromley

Bromley is the principal town in the London Borough of Bromley, England....
) interrupt conversation by loudly singing "Spam, lovely Spam, wonderful Spam." They are interrupted by the waitress several times, but they resume singing more and more loudly until the sketch cuts to an historian talking about the Vikings, "...and Spam selecting a Spam particular Spam item from the Spam menu, would Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam..." as the singing continues on and on...

It premiered on December 15, 1970 as the final sketch of the 25th show of Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python's Flying Circus was a popular, surreal BBC sketch comedy show from Monty Python, and the group's initial c...
, and the following end credits were changed so every member of the crew has either Spam or some other food item from the menu added to their names. The sketch became immensely popular. The word Spam is uttered at least 132 times.

This sketch has also been featured in several Monty Python videos including Parrot Sketch Not Included - 20 Years of Monty PythonParrot Sketch Not Included - 20 Years of Monty Python

Parrot Sketch Not Included - 20 Years of Python was a tribute special to the Monty Python comedy group in 1989....
.

The DVD release of the sketch contains a deliberate subtitling error. When the Hungarian tries to order food, his words are "My lower intestine is full of Spam, Egg, Spam, Bacon, Spam, Tomatoes, Spam." Yet the subtitles read "Your intestine is full of SpermSpermatozoon

A spermatozoon or spermatozoan , from the ancient Greek spe?a and ??? and more commonly known as a sperm ...
." This is a continuation of the "Dirty Hungarian PhrasebookDirty Hungarian Phrasebook

"Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" is a Monty Python sketch that first aired in 1970....
" sketch, earlier in the episode. The subtitles are a continuation to an argument some Python fans have waged over whether the Hungarian is saying "Spam" (which would be logical) or "Sperm" (which is what it sounds like, and would tie in better with the Hungarian phrasebook's wording).

The audio version of the sketch, since the Hungarian and historian are not featured, instead has the Vikings reaching an operaOpera

Opera is a dramatic art form, originating in Italy, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to ...
tic climax.

Spam was one of the few meats excluded from the BritishUnited Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
 food rationingRationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II

At the beginning of World War II Britain imported 55 million tons of foodstuffs per year, including more than 50% of its meat, 70%...
 that began in World War IIWorld War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers ,...
 and continued for a number of years after the war, and the British grew heartily tired of it, hence the sketch.

Menu

  • EggEgg (food) Overview

    An egg is the ovum produced by a female animal for reproduction, often prepared as food....
     and baconBacon

    Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides, back or belly of a pig or cow, cured and possibly smoked....
  • Egg, sausageSausage Overview

    A sausage consists of ground meat, animal fat, herbs and spices, and possibly other ingredients, generally packed in a casin...
     and bacon
  • Egg and spamSpam (food)

    Spam is a canned meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation....
  • Egg, bacon and spam
  • Egg, bacon, sausage and spam
  • Spam, bacon, sausage and spam
  • Spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon and spam
  • Spam, spam, spam, egg, and spam
  • Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beansBaked beans

    Baked beans is a recipe consisting of beans in baked format in a sauce....
    , spam, spam, spam and spam
  • Lobster thermidorLobster Thermidor

    Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy, cheesy mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and brandy or s...
     aux crevettesShrimp

    True shrimp are small, swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the wor...
     with a Mornay sauceMornay sauce

    A Mornay sauce is a Bchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added....
     garnished with truffleTruffle

    Truffle describes a group of edible mycorrhizal fungi....
     patéFacts About Pâté

    A pt is a spreadable paste, usually made from meat although vegetarian variants exist, and often served with toast as a star...
    , brandyFacts About Brandy

    Brandy is a general term for distilled wine, usually 40–60% ethyl alcohol by volume....
     and with a fried eggFried egg

    A fried egg is an egg cooked by frying, typically in butter, cooking oil or margarine, for the purpose of eating....
     on top and spam
  • Spam, sausage, spam, spam, spam, bacon, spam, tomatoTomato

    The tomato is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to Central, South, and southern North America from Me...
     and spam (this is only in the LP version's menu, but the TV version features the Hungarian trying to order a similar item)

Impact

The phenomenon, some years later, of marketers drowning out discourse by flooding UsenetUsenet

Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name....
 newsgroups and individuals' email with junk mailJunk mail

Junk Mail could mean:# Postal mail used in direct marketing...
 advertising messages was named spammingSpam (electronic)

Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited, undesired bulk messages....
, recounting the repetitive and unwanted presence of Spam in the sketch. This phenomenon has been reported in court decisions handed down in lawsuits against spammers - see, for example, CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc., 962 F.Supp. 1015Case citation

Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, New ...
, n. 1 (S.D.Ohio 1997).

The PythonPython (programming language)

Python is a programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1990....
 programming language prefers to use spam and eggs as metasyntactic variableMetasyntactic variable

A metasyntactic variable is either a placeholder name , or a random member of a class of things under discussion....
s, instead of the traditional fooFoo Overview

Foo may refer to:* Foo, bar, and baz: metasyntactic variables...
 and barBar (computer science)

Bar is a metasyntactic variable used heavily in computer science to represent concepts abstractly and can be used to represe...
.

Hormel's response

The HormelHormel

Hormel Foods Corporation is a food company based in southeastern Minnesota, perhaps best known as the producer of Spam lunch...
 company, the makers of the meat product SpamSpam (food)

Spam is a canned meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation....
, while never quite happy with the use of the word spam for junk email, have always seemed supportive of Monty Python and their sketch. Hormel issued a special tin of Spam for the BroadwayBroadway theatre

Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States....
 premiere of Eric Idle's hit musical SpamalotSpamalot

Monty Python's Spamalot is a comedic musical "lovingly ripped off from" the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail....
. Also, the sketch is part of the company's Spam museum in Austin, MN, United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
 and is performed every day by local actors. The sketch has also been mentioned in Spam's on-can advertisements for the product's 70th anniversary in 2007, though the date of the Python sketch mentioned is incorrect.

In 2007 the HormelHormel

Hormel Foods Corporation is a food company based in southeastern Minnesota, perhaps best known as the producer of Spam lunch...
 company decided that such publicity was part of their corporate image, possibly for the better, and sponsored a game where their product is strongly associated with the Monty Python http://www.spamspamspamspam.co.uk even featuring a product with "Stinky French Garlic" as part of the promotion of SPAMalot, a musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

External links