A "
When I was your age" comedy
sketch, familiar to most people from its
Monty Python performances; it did not appear on the original
Monty Python's Flying Circus TV show, but was used in some of their live performances and the audio and video recordings released of those performances. On
Live at the Hollywood Bowl video, the performers were
Michael Palin,
Graham Chapman,
Terry Jones and
Eric Idle.
It's about four unnamed rich men (with strong accents presumably marking them as being from Yorkshire, England) relaxing in a row with background music that implies a tropical setting, remarking on how they've come up in the world and looking back on the hardships they supposedly endured in their youth. A sample:
"I had to get up at 10:30 at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of dry poison, work 26 hours a day down at mill AND pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Alleluia."
I find it somewhat amusing that "Ayup! - The Online Magazine for Yorkshire" actually has a transcription of this sketch in its "'Avin' a Laugh" section. (But then, they also have a "Home Rule for Yorkshire" page.)
Sources:
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl videotape, © 1982.
http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/four_yorkshiremen.htm
http://ayup.co.uk/laugh/laugh0.html
CST Approved