Giant dead parrot suspended above London to promote Monty Python show
By Ciaran McCormick on Tuesday, July 15, 2014
In a nod to the most famous Monty Python sketch, a 50 foot fibreglass parrot has been suspended by crane in London. The sketch saw John Cleese complain to shop owner Michael Palin that the parrot he had just been sold was far more dead than advertised. It will feature in their farewell show ‘Monty Python Live (mostly)’ and screened live on the 20th of July by television channel Gold, who orchestrated the stunt.
It took three sculptors two months to both design and create the infamously invented Norwegian Blue parrot. It will stay on its perch near Tower Bridge before being taken over to the O2 arena for the final show.
The sketch is one of their most famous, featuring wonderfully British euphemism and cynicism, including lines like this:
It’s not pining, it’s passed on. This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up daisies. It’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot.
The sketch will always be worth a watch: