Graham Chapman - George Melly interview

I THINK Graham may be slightly drunk...?

[@billcowie]

Despite his intoxication his pure human spirit, kindness, vulnerability and honesty shines through.

[@owenlewis8006]

Somebody wrote a letter of complaint after this, saying how disgusted they were that one of the pythons was gay. They wrote back, saying "we've found out who it was, and we've shot him."

[@wididididididi8693]

"We should all just love each other and do it in our own way" I'm on a Graham interview marathon. Such a complex enjoyable character in his life outside of his acting and writing, yet so straightforward and simple.

[@cultfilmfreakreviews]

i think drunk might be slightly graham

[@reenarawat5537]

Graham was certainty flowing in alcohol's body...

[@djvoid1]

I think they both were to be honest

[@lisamarie5937]

Graham did say he was drunk here. He said it was what gave him the guts to admit to being gay.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

It's Graham's 80th birthday today (8.1.21). A troubled soul and a naughty boy sometimes but he was wise and brave and ahead of his time. Michael Palin said "he would have been very enlightening in his old age". Happy birthday Graham, wherever you are.

[@pleasequietdown8946]

Most interviews I've seen of Graham were after he had sobered up. I've never seen him so drunk and silly before, but the interview suddenly turned sincere and the host was clearly a great admirer of Chapman

[@hilaryepstein6013]

They were friends I believe and Graham admired George too. He called him a "true Renaissance man" as he had many talents.

[@gretagreebling]

Graham's entrance was fantastic-- "I'm very glad to see the hour we spent in hospitality wasn't wasted."

[@JMal883]

Great interview from two great men. I used to regularly see George Melly out and about when I was a student in Liverpool. He always said hello and would engage in chit chat. Never had the confidence to have a longer conversation with him, a real shame.

[@frankwood11]

Am sure he had a jazz band and played at the Heath pub allerton.

[@briefbrief]

thanks so much for this ❤ dear Graham my fave of all them loonies

[@yellowdark5070]

Ohhhh Thanks for the video, fantastic!!! Gray sadly died in 89, but in 2020 people still remember that silly man!!! we miss and love you Graham!!!!best python!!

[@themotorbikeist2446]

He sadly died *in* 89. If he had died *at* 89 he would still be with us!

[@yellowdark5070]

@@themotorbikeist2446 Yes, true...sorry English is not my first language...😅😅

[@MacJaxonManOfAction]

@@yellowdark5070 You are to be commended on your excellent command of English. It's not easy to express yourself in a second or third language :)

[@mynameisnotjerome1803]

This is very sad to see, as someone who drinks to soften anxiety I can clearly see that Graham was in a lot of emotional pain and also drinking to cope.

[@ragnaraxelson59]

You can clearly see that he was in a lot of emotional pain? How?

[@thecolourrose9022]

Youll be surprised the amount of people who drank to a extreme to the point where it killed them drank cus of mental illness john bonham and Keith moon are 2 i know of

[@Vovanov18]

I feel had Graham lived longer, he would have eventually scored a serious film or theater role that would've showed off his dramatic side and brought him wider recognition.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

Thank you for this. It's always good to see "new" Graham stuff but it's sad to see him so obviously drunk (or in his words, "in a very relaxed frame of mind indeed"), although his intelligence and charm still comes through and he does come across as quite endearing really. Also from what Graham said later about this period in his life I don't think it was a very happy time for him.

[@reneefreese3358]

Thank you for uploading this!

[@Philemon_Logos]

Simply Phenomenal! Even in a drunken state, Chapman perfectly plays his coin game with absolute precision.

[@jrtrevithick5097]

Thanks for uncovering this incredibly rare clip!

[@gretagreebling]

Happy 80th birthday, Graham, sweetheart!

[@ZenFox0]

George was a good sport.

[@nancyblake1000]

Two greats together.. Graham & George! Yeeessss...

[@styxcreek]

George was a sharp dresser. His autobiography is a great read. As is Graham’s

[@Kris.G]

Not seen Graham so drunk on TV before.

[@liambible2504]

Graham?

[@Kris.G]

@@liambible2504 ?

[@DrJones20]

@@liambible2504 What?

[@meistercoproductions5733]

Mans had a good taste....

[@krugmeister7301]

Love that 70's Hairstyles...

[@blakestewart7200]

God, Graham, one of the greatest geniuses we have ever had. Love him so much.

[@morganfisherart]

I think George (who let's face it was wilder than any Python) by about the 5-minute mark managed to get Graham out of daft drunk nonsensical mode into speaking sincerely about love. Bravo! I doubt Parkinson could have managed it.

[@ellie698]

Parkinson was a terrible interviewer

[@yvonnelygo681]

George is solo charismaticly breathtaking..or breathtakingly charismatic.

[@urbanosprey]

Graham's well pissed..lol

[@reenarawat5537]

6:04 ironically, the most infamous letter addressed to him came from an angry lady because of this particular appearance.

[@cumulo25]

The alcohol definitely effects his demeanor and behavior, but not his intellect and amiability. He was definitely the quintessential romanticized archetype of a drunk.

[@austinwoods466]

Thank you

[@posthumorously]

He's so cute. I hope he was feeling okay. He probably didn't remember this afterwards. 😅 Happy birthday, Graham

[@ukpeacheater]

I remember seeing this when it was first broadcast on TV, it must have been in the 80s I suspect as dear old Graham passed in 1989, very happy to have found it here. It seems that Ant and Dec have resurrected the "Grunties" game (at 9:00min here) on their Saturday Night show, calling it "in for a pound" and using a 1-pound coin.

[@vickistokes4545]

1972

[@zachthehistorian]

If he was alive today he’d be Sir Graham Chapman without a doubt.

[@thecolourrose9022]

Completely agree with him just let people be themselves dont lob it down their throats just love and respect people idk why that cant be done today

[@Vaginaninja]

Plenty of people are doing that today. You just don't notice them.

[@bobbydazzler1780]

Perfect. Extra strength tomfoolery from silly Graham with extrovert character George trying to keep things moving along.

[@anfearaerach]

Hearing Graham talk about acceptance and how he wants it faster than it does.. As a gay trans man both that section and the talk about surgery made me sniffle because we're STILL fighting. Graham has been a huge inspiration to me, so much that I have a silly tattoo of him. Ah. Thanks for uploading.

[@samsoa19]

Having a tattoo of Chapman is actually pretty boss ngl

[@janjansen3140]

The fak.. gay transman.. what are you then?

[@kid-miku-kun1662]

A straight woman.

[@miyalys]

Yes he seems very inspirational. All the best to you.

[@Slarti]

"gay trans man" as in a heterosexual woman who is a tomboy?

[@alexanderthrun4366]

Why is Graham Chapman so hilarious in this interview?!

[@joshuawaring4180]

Because he’s very drunk

[@watermelonineasterhay]

He's pissed 🥴 and awful funny with it

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

I wonder who disliked this instantly the second after it was up?

[@Sirfev2010]

i dislike freemasons

[@leosurname6993]

Mary Whitehouse's ghost.

[@anfearaerach]

The woman who wrote the letter to the pythons

[@BazIrvine]

Graham's Liver.

[@deborah_chrysoprase]

if it's that quickly, then likely a bot, there are bots that just dislike videos probably just for the sake of having written a bot to do that. Programming exercises are fun :D

[@Fongolitus]

'That's not even a proper nose, it's polystyrene"

[@Vinlyguyx420x]

George Melly seems like he understands freedom

[@markanthonycoliinson873]

George Melly was a complete free thinker. And a self proclaimed anarchist.

[@bobbydazzler1780]

Rare moments where Graham, although perpetually pissed, didn’t have a lit pipe glued to his gob.

[@Fongolitus]

"Throatwarbler Mangrove"

[@LizardLoungeRadio]

Absolute gold!

[@mollytaylor8122]

I think both of them would be so happy to have seen modern kids and young adults, myself in the latter category, and the fact that many of us have accepted that "most people are a bit" of everything, sexually. I'm proud that so many of us aren't ashamed to at least experiment with who we are.

[@hearmas]

Wonderful, thank you so much for posting! I wonder what year this is?

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

1974.

[@therealrussellsmyth]

The Monty Python Museum 👍

[@bootstrapperwilson7687]

For me, this year is 2023; for you it is 2020. We must however remember of course that this will change every twelve months.

[@growlerthe2nd712]

Stop that, it’s silly 😂

[@carlosvazquez2984]

He was so drunk. Poor guy

[@dannbuxton3556]

Bloody legend . Not a poor guy 👍

[@StephenHopkinsRum]

GRAHAM ❤

[@nonconnahordeath]

that jacket is fucking epic

[@KenLieck]

The television premiere of the game that's taking the world by storm -- "Shitties!"

[@jamesheath7601]

Rip Graham

[@slxxpyhollow]

"But when I'm in pubs they don't turn it off 'cus I'm quite tall"

[@JettMoonwing]

Aw, Graham never got to be a lesbian... :c

[@clivehaining3195]

At least he became a Brian.

[@grahamarthur___]

I love this Interview! Could there possibly be a second part though? It says ‘end of part one’ suggesting that there could be another part?

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Of the program, but not of this guest. Sod the other guests, I say!

[@hilaryepstein6013]

I know what you mean. It looked like they were going to get audience members to participate in Graham's game. Maybe they ran out of time.

[@Livinglife595]

I don’t know what year this was but he was very courageous to speak out like he did about his homosexuality

[@vickistokes4545]

1972

[@ChristopherLightfoot-zu3kb]

This looks like the jacket he wore in the Sir Edward Ross (Eddy Baby) Sketch 😂😂😂

[@zamiadams4343]

Graham being his alcohlic best!

[@professornuke7562]

Two bottles of the daily three of gin, I'm guessing. There were also additional pints and wine that he never told Parky about.

[@PopcornNigel]

Wow. Really obvious he was drunk here.

[@stevenzunich]

by this time of day he would have been more than slightly drunk...

[@aaronchang9317]

The complete lack of a single murmur of agreement whenever he spoke about queer rights/tolerance was absolutely heartbreaking.

[@russellwillmoth9734]

The fact that Chapman arrived totally drunk was the cause of the problem.

[@detvarsomfankanske]

@@russellwillmoth9734 Well in those days he was a full blown alcoholic and drunk all day every day.

[@TheAlmightyAss]

When you're sober, pissed people are very off-putting, it's almost a visceral thing. Even the most intelligent and charming individuals become obnoxious bores after a tipple.

[@Welcome2TheInternet]

why? there were no murmurs during any other part. the audience were there to laugh and watch a celebrity, not engage in a debate.

[@LitheInLitotes]

It's not a serious suggestion. He is making fun of freaks who think they can become women

[@GeoffreyBronson]

I think this may be the record for the most blasted interviewee in history, he's absolutely immeasurably fucked in this.

[@bootstrapperwilson7687]

Nah. Oliver Reed beat Chapman for insane behaviour on a chat show.

[@GeoffreyBronson]

@@bootstrapperwilson7687 Good point, it's still shocking though.

[@Fummy007]

There we had Graham, tired and emotional.

[@jaycee330]

9:15 Ah, yes, the venerable pub game of "Shitties".

[@lesselp]

Gay drunk, Melly, meets his match.

[@eternalriver]

A wonderfully flawed genius.... alcohol necessarily suppressed his thoughts. He was never quite the same once he gave up the booze (which he needed to do!)

[@davidfarmbroughrealtor]

Compare this with the interview between Roy Hudd and Charles Hawtrey, and *Hawtrey* looks very sad. Yes Graham is drunk, but he's very lovable.

[@sianiswack633]

A very funny show. Complete understated anarchy, even down to the games. This show was filmed in what year, 1980 ?

[@vickistokes4545]

1972

[@cultfilmfreakreviews]

"I wonder if there's been a surgery from a man to a woman in order to be a lesbian" AND THE AUDIENCE LAUGHS!!!!!! just wait a few decades and it's normal.

[@ulture]

SRS had actually been a thing for decades by this point

[@ZenFox0]

About 30 years ago I would joke sometimes that I was a lesbian trapped in a man’s body (and I had never seen this), until I told the joke to a lesbian friend. In a quite serious way, she responded “There are medical procedures that can help you with that.” And then I thought better about joking about it, as I realized maybe there are people like that, who are born male (or "assigned male at birth"), **do** identify as women, and like women.

[@deborah_chrysoprase]

@@ZenFox0 I joked about this all the time too ._. and admitted in certain places just how sad I am I'll never be able to truly be lesbian... and I had it pointed out that it's not a very cis thing to think, and now I'm finally, finally, FINALLY getting close to opening up and being the me I always wanted to be since I was 4 years old and so very much wished I could've been a girl instead ._.

[@tama9105]

@@deborah_chrysoprase so happyyyyy for you! :))) ♡♡♡

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

he looks like Andre Previn

[@loureviews]

Around 1974 I think?

[@Ingens_Scherz]

This is obviously before GC gave up the booze in the late 70s. At this point, he was drinking three bottles of gin a day, or more. So the possibility that he wasn't much more than completely wasted in this interview is low. I very much doubt he even remembered it. Melly is very nice though. But that's probably unsurprising because he is the man who admitted that during his time at Stowe School, when he was a new and small the senior boys (and I think I'm quoting), "buggered me senseless...taught me a thing or two about life." Ideal interviewer for this GC incarnation.

[@molloymort708]

Bring back drunk TV!! Fucks sake...

[@LizardLoungeRadio]

Quite agree! Oliver Reed was one of finest drunks we've seen on TV.

[@judyloukides]

When was this interview done?

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

@@alisak1701 mrs3Quator 1974.

[@SiriusMined]

1972

[@davidcross9811]

He’s pissed.

[@greeneyem]

This feels like a sketch more than an interview

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Yes the lines are blurred aren't they - but they're not the only thing that's blurred...!!

[@iamanatullah]

The proper name of the game by the way is "Shitties."

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Your name sounds familiar. Did you not once send me three tapes, many years ago now?

[@iamanatullah]

@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline That's right! Thank you for remembering. I'm glad so much of that material has now been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

@@iamanatullah Yes indeed. But even now, "Away from it all..." and Twice a fortnight and one or two others are nowhere else!

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

@@iamanatullah Do you know the "kaleidoscope" group for lost British programs?

[@iamanatullah]

@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline That's true. I wonder why "Away From it All" is still in the vaults. I'm not familiar with the Kaleidoscope group.

[@1silvervespa]

Wow some of the audience was acting disgusted ... why did they show up eh .... no place for closed minded people .

[@jaggass]

Graham nearly lost it at 1:34

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

I bet the band ac/dc were like "Our band name represents power and energy" then someone told them it meant bisexual but the t-shirts had already been made.

[@boychildnew1]

ha! great... (though his drinking did a lot of damage to him in the end)...i saw a bunch of scooter boys do this to amuse folk (with trousers down, the real way) at a northern soul club in Scotland when the DJ deck broke down and we had to wait for another one to come to start the music again.

[@jamesheath7601]

6:02 😂

[@antysusanti5569]

RiP Brian

[@jamesdettmann94]

Wow, making jokes about being a trans lesbian in the 70s

[@1975ukandbored]

He looks like a drinker here…

[@AmyWinehouse.914]

Not quite as drunk as Oliver Reed on Aspel.

[@CastlesForEyes]

I don't like this Chapman fellow, very snobby. Hasn't done an interview since the late 80's, clearly doesn't care about his fans.

[@alessandromariani99]

That's so Python's...

[@GrasshopperGame]

He died

[@GrasshopperGame]

He cares about his fans

[@deadmeatjb]

@@GrasshopperGame hope it was cancer of the lungs and his wife and children weep

[@tylerpurrden]

@@GrasshopperGame you don't like humor much, huh

[@clutterdust]

I can smell the booze from here

[@briancordova1299]

The game was called "Shitties".

[@nedkellysghost1086]

No one ever cared. Until nooooooooooow😅

[@WhoBeSilly]

You don't VOTE for KINGS........

[@johnbarroll1120]

absolutely stark raving loonies tunes

[@styxcreek]

I’m a lesbian trapped in a man’s body

[@deborah_chrysoprase]

I was too ._. started E last month after a year and a half of agonizing over whether I could ever truly come out, still not out of the closet to most people, but it really does feel... liberating

[@neurodermatitis]

Graham would be proud

[@watermelonineasterhay]

Would you like to ask me if im a lesbian? 😂😂

[@chevken1831]

Fart at :56

[@fragilesoulofthespotless80]

That was chair

[@davidcelliott]

What an old codger he is!

[@markwarne893]

both pissed

[@briankane6547]

Squeak for yourself sweety! I do NOT fear either Black folk OR KWEERS. They are ALL people aren't they?

[@ozzie-sk9dh]

Love Graham ….. but he's not the Messiah