They say that you should never meet your heroes because they will always disappoint you. But I think that watching them suffer and die a slow death is probably a lot worse.
I’m not old enough to remember Monty Python’s Flying Circus airing for the first time on PBS back in the 70s, but I do remember how I was introduced to them, and it was by way of The Kids in the Hall.
I had just seen the Fur Trappers sketch on Comedy Central and when I brought up Kids in the Hall to someone they said
“Well you must be a big Python fan”
and of course, I was not. So I immediately sought out everything Python I could find because they were the reason my beloved Kids in the Hall were in existence.
Like most, I first saw the Parrot Sketch, the Self Defense Against Fruit and finally I stumbled upon my favorite sketch, The Fish Slapping Dance. None of which really have anything to do with what I am about to talk about, but mentioning some classic Python is really always a lot of fun. I bet you can see someone being slapped in the face by a trout right now.
In 2016, Monty Python star Terry Jones was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and apparently his condition has worsened in recent months according to Michael Palin, his Python co-star. When Palin was recently asked by a reporter about how Jones was doing, all Palin could say was:
“Well, not terribly well — the kind of dementia he has is not something that can be cured particularly. It’s just a matter of time”
That part really resonated with me, because I watched my grandfather die of dementia. For him, we didn’t know he was suffering because he wouldn’t let anyone into his house and had a routine he followed to keep things going. We would think it was just a silly thing that he would tell us the TV was yelling at him.
When he fell and hit his head and there was blood everywhere we realized that it was time. He went into the hospital and after punching a nurse, they found him incompetent and was put into a home. I won’t bore you with the details but for someone who used to complain about the Republicans and tell stories about World War II and his time in the Navy it was tough to see him just sit there like the lights were on but no one was home.
It’s the same thing with Jones. Palin said:
“I go and see him, but he can’t speak much, which is a terrible thing. I mean, for someone who was so witty and verbal and articulate and argued and debated, to be deprived of speech is a hard thing.”
I can empathize with what his family is going through at this point. And being that Python really shaped the comedy in my life it hurts even more. We always take for granted that people who have shaped us, who we respect will always be there. It was only a short time ago that Frank Conniff of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and The Mads are Back had to have open-heart surgery and my stomach just sank because other than Python, MST3K showed me that we midwesterners can indeed be funny.
So I guess at the end of the day, go ahead and meet your heroes because regardless of how they act, or how they treat you, it won’t change what they did to shape your life in the first place.
I just hope that Terry isn’t suffering…
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://ronhasawebsite.com/forgetting-the-punchline/