Where does it come from?

One of my guilty passions is that I love Monty Python. I mean I own all their movies, and every episode of Flying Circus ever made. 

It’s not stylish, but it’s fun. 

The other night I was re-watching The Life of Brian.  Now this movie has never been one of my favourites, especially since you are never sure whether as a Christian you are allowed to admit that you saw it.  Nevertheless, it definitely has some of the finest lines in it of any Python piece. 

This DVD was given to me as a birthday present last year by the DLFs.  Since then, I have watched it a number of times, and am always amazed at the lines, but this time, I caught one I had never noticed before.

John Cleese, as the Roman Centurion, bursts into the jail looking for Brian, who has been sent to be crucified.  He shouts, “Are they gone?”  To which Terry Gilliam, as the mad jailer, replies, “We’ve… We’ve got lumps of it around the back.”

We’ve got lumps of it around the back.

How does any sane person come up with that?   “Are they gone?”  “We’ve got lumps of it around the back.”

Do all the members write out the most random line they can think of, and then when they can’t think of a line they just stick it in randomly?  Do these comic geniuses sit around for days crafting the most humourous reponse to a question like, “Are they gone?”

We’ve got lumps of it around the back.

My brain hurts just from trying to think about it. 

For the record, I think this has now overtaken the interrogation scene as being my favourite moment in the movie.  I couldn’t find a you a clip, but here’s the interrogation scene for you.

 

We’ve got lumps of it around the back indeed!