Monty Python - Mattress Skit

A skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus, where a couple try to buy mattress.

[@HunterZolomon]

Chapman's behaviour just *before* he puts a bag over his head is priceless! The mattress skit was actually a Monty Python experiment where they tested the theory that no matter how insane people behave, it needs consistency.

[@pbrucpaul]

Carol Cleveland is So Cute in this

[@Rubyofthedead]

Well, reality shows that insanity does tend to have some kind of logic to it. There's a weird pattern to it, whether it's excessive impulsivity, repetitive behavior, obsessions, excessive impulsivity, repetitive behavior, obsessions, excessive impulsivity, repetitive behavior, obsessions, excessive impulsivity, repetitive behavior, obsessions, excessive impulsivity, repetitive behavior, obsessions.

[@FilmGeek44]

"Now I've got to stand in the tea chest!" There will never be anyone like them again, they are the masters of sketch comedy.

[@elwrongo]

I liked it better when it went and got into the fish tank when anyone said mattress

[@olleronn616]

I LOVE the ferocious energy that Graham uses when he puts that bag on his head. Makes me laugh everytime.

[@biffyqueen]

My mom that the great thing about Monty Python is that things start out normal and get sillier and sillier as the sketch progresses, and this is a perfect example.

[@wenqiweiabcd]

+biffyqueen It doesn't exactly start normal either, what with Jones running around holding Cleveland in his arms...

[@samuelholmes3696]

+biffyqueen Yes and if things get too silly Graham Chapman comes on dressed as a British Army officer and stops the sketch for being too silly.

[@lancebaker1374]

Yes, your mom, indeed!!!!

[@DarkRubberDucky]

Get on with it. GET ON WITH IT!!

[@shannonkohl68]

"And now for something completely different" is their modus operandi. They start out acting straight, and then start throwing curve balls at the audience. This sketch, the Architect's Sketch. The Argument Clinic, Dead Parrot, it is an evergreen strategy. Too bad so many comedians these days can't figure that out.

[@LeechHat]

"SOMEBODY SAID MATTRESS TO MR. LAMBERT-- TWICE!" Best line ever.

[@samvolchenboum4637]

Shouldn't it have been 20 times?

[@OreadNYC]

In my opinion, one of the best Monty Python sketches ever -- it never fails to make me laugh (and it's been far too long since I had a really good laugh).

[@LarryHankJones]

This is the sketch that hooked me. Summer of 1975. One of my older brothers had told me to keep an eye out for Monty Python's Flying Circus. He didn't say anything else. I was expecting airplanes! It wasn't just how hilarious it was, but how unlike anything I'd ever seen before, as well. It changed my life, it really did.

[@cyberspore00]

I became a camel-spotter because of this show.

[@Omnywrench]

I was introduced to Monty Python via a cassette tape my dad owned, and this was one of my favorite bits. Though on the cassette they changed a couple lines to better fit the audio-only format: for one, instead of a bag, Mr. Lambert puts a metal bucket on his head, and instead of a tea chest it's a fish tank, so you hear sloshing water noises before he starts singing.

[@linnycrocus6023]

I wish Graham Chapman was still alive...otherwise he's perfectly alright.

[@ZacharyRodriguezVlogs]

Oh, he's not dead, he's only resting.

[@mahtimonni97]

@@ZacharyRodriguezVlogs Look. I know when I see a dead comedian wehn I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

[@Laurie_Ramone]

Omg I've seen this scene more times than I can count and only just noticed Carol mouthing "dog kennels" along with Terry at 2:19 😂

[@TOCC50]

MGTOW

[@benw4409]

To this day I cannot take the Jerusalem hymn seriously in any way. Thanks to the genius of the Pythons I now associate that song with Eric Idle and John Cleese singing in a tea chest.

[@Giubarchetta]

I'm from Brazil moving to the UK and I only know the hymn because of Monty Python :P

[@bluebear1985]

They also used it in a sketch when the church police came. They concluded their arrest with a hymn, which happened to be this one.

[@justgonzothegreat]

That's why they have to rule it out as a possible anthem of England

[@stravinsky1300]

To this day, whenever I hear someone talking about buying a bed, I want to start singing "Jerusalem" even though I know they wouldn't understand what I was doing!

[@maximrobi]

Pff, what's the next thing you'll say? That Brian is not the Messiah?! 🙄 Smh..

[@TheFourStringViking]

Not only can Graham Chapman act his way out of a paper bag, he can act his way back into it (also, he does it really fast).

[@freddywaller1713]

BUT ITS MY ONLY LINE

[@kathleenbyrnedalton]

WELL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY IT!!

[@procrastinator300]

the first time i saw this i didn't realize it. now i get why they want a mattress haha

[@jdm1505]

I've always liked the small details. The model name of the bed, for example: "The Comfydown Majorette".

[@CountArtha]

BRING ME MY ARROWS OF DESIRE

[@TheRealTricky]

It's stupidity is just plain brilliant, and funny. Only Monty Python could create something as brilliant as this.

[@ketmaniac]

I worked on a BBC transmitter in 1969, and I got home after evening shift just in time to see the first ever episode of MPFC, broadcast in some late night slot on BBC2. My mate, who shared a flat with me, was on night shift, and missed it. So I told him all about it next day. The following week he worked evenings and I had nights, so he had to watch and tell me the sketches. And so we went on week after week, taking it in turns to memorise whole chunks of dialogue for each other. Happy days.

[@Vojife]

I like how it's probably enough to sing the word "pleasant"

[@BFBCFTW]

She sounds like a boiling kettle at the end.

[@connfyoozed]

An appreciation for something I never noticed before in this: at 2:47 Eric tries to step into the tea chest but trips and nearly falls over. He doesn't even flinch or let it throw him off in the least. It looked like it was an accident and not planned, but it was so smoothly done that I'm not even sure about that.

[@kraken589]

I know this is probably the most random sketch (puts a bag on his head) "now I have to stand in the tea chest"

[@thevideogamenerd100]

"But it's my only line" wow lol

[@MaryE171]

I love Eric's hair and smile. LOL.

[@sailorv8067]

❤❤❤

[@SerbAtheist]

I love this sketch. More or less, the birth of Carol Cleveland's MP career.

[@themightychickens]

I wan't to file a complaint. This sketch is too silly!

[@DarkenRaul1]

Yes, well the complaints department is over in room 12D. But really, this sketch is in violation of Section 21 of the Strange Sketch Act and has committed an offense against the Getting Out of Sketches Without Using a Proper Punchline Act.

[@jjnelson222]

This is probably my favorite sketch.

[@williamcrowe2576]

(Cut to the Brigadier) Brigadier: Now, I've noticed a tendency for this show to get rather silly. The last two sketches were very silly indeed, and the one about the bed was even sillier. Now then, nobody likes a good laugh more than I do... Except for my wife and some of her friends... Oh yes, and Captain Johnson. Come to think of it, most everyone likes a good laugh more than I do... But that's beside the point!

[@everett3862]

This is my only line

[@awelcruiz]

This sums of Monty Python perfectly. No matter how ridiculous the premise, it still remains consistent in it's insanity. :D

[@WillScarlet16]

I literally just saw an ad for Nectar mattresses before this video started!

[@DeadNorwegianBlue]

Eric is cheerful when he says: He puts a bag on his head

[@Retrochild1979]

I absolutely love this sketch because Eric has such an amazing smile and he just doesn't stop in this! Gorgeous :-D

[@GoldeneyeMarine]

It's amazing how funny these random skits are lol

[@johnkoziol]

Is it odd that every time I hear "Jerusalem" this is the first thing that comes to mind?

[@MWSin1]

We're gonna need a bigger tea chest.

[@Tmanaz480]

"Did you say mattress?" "A little".

[@ken131]

I've just realized now how well this sketch flows and how well it was edited.

[@Noycey64]

Hey everybody, somebody’s said mattress to Mr Lambert!.... twice!

[@ryanzkizen]

I love watching Monty Python skits specially when I am stressed after work.

[@randomname123]

perfect example of monty python silliness. Love it

[@PedroPouchucq2010]

my favourite sketch by them! Simply brilliant!!

[@ScotishChristian]

This one is a good one but I loved their mouse organ sketch.

[@LemonBalmYT]

Okay so barely anything ever makes me laughed this hard I've never laughed this hard I'm definitely going to share this video with everyone I know

[@batmanofni]

I love the way they all bounce off at the end.

[@kevnar]

I spit coffee all over my monitor laughing. Hilarious.

[@cepson]

^Would happily run across London with Carol Cleveland in my arms.

[@laufunk4ever]

Love the laughing of Chapman at 1:00

[@jbjaguar2717]

How did they discover that Jerusalem was the song that would cure him? They must have gone through a lot of patriotic songs before that. I vow to thee my country, land of hope and glory, god save the queen....

[@logancasner8467]

Plus standing in a tea crate... must have been one interesting weekend

[@EXXTSON]

Fucking hell i laughed so hard hahahaha

[@kraken589]

This is so random but I love it!

[@discospec]

sounded a bit like a tea kettle at the end there. fav skit of mine.

[@cristinabumbac151]

These guys could make amazingly fun any thing! Gosh I miss them...and I shall do it forever because nobody could at least get to a very tiny part of their clever humor!

[@JanPBtest]

A lot of their sketches became reality. Like practically _all_ of their parodies of news broadcasts are regular on TV news now.

[@glitch373]

He should have said that the gentleman multiplied everything by 30 not 3.

[@KalebG]

Damn you right!

[@therealwillsmith]

maybe he multiplied everything by 0.3 then?

[@glitch373]

FIlho Da Puta But he didn't

[@mellowsign]

+FIlho Da Puta Are you telling me that the length of the bed is about 8 inches?

[@jennifercramer2156]

+WZFreakOnDrugs Yes. They are tiny.

[@henridelagardere264]

Lesser comedians would have resorted to the bawdy _Carol Cleveland on a mattress_ theme and garnered a few cheap laughs. In the Python universe, however, the viewer is being offered an education: As progressively unpredictable and off-the-rails as this skit may seem, the order behind the chaos will become unmistakeably clear if only you're willing to watch and listen and forget your preconceptions for a while. The rewarding experience might be compared to suddenly discovering the beauty of avantgarde jazz and subsequently becoming a lifelong aficionado, like with these brilliant Brits (plus one Yank).

[@GoldeneyeMarine]

"But it's my only line!" LOL

[@sopralto817]

Oh, that was the best episode! It had the Dead Parrot sketch!

[@Decoy_Octorok]

This is the best sketch to come out of Monty Python, in my opinion.

[@nighthawknina86]

monty python never gets old! i loooove graham chapman

[@haleyhoudini]

Freaking awesome and slightly odd. Still love it! :D

[@Flinklehurst]

"Oh certainly I'll get someone to attend to you." LOL

[@playboymaxim]

LMAO I would have found another store after the guy says "if you say matress he puts a paper bag over his head"

[@user-uf5nv5cb3b]

This is still better than Customer Service than we get today.

[@heysteve84]

"but it's my only line!" rofl monty python sure knew how to end a sketch

[@awkwardbarry]

@Jobrosforeverandever WELL SPOTTED! I've been watching this for 20 years and I never noticed that.

[@bigcoolviking]

I HAVE SEEN THIS SKETCH 14000 times but mind you I do happen to be over 600 years old now so I have had the time!!

[@kozmamate9d]

XD fantastic sketch. It's so cute when Carol laughs at 2:05

[@xKissMeImYourLovex]

"BUT IT'S MY ONLY LINE!!!" Oh my tummy hurts from laughing!!

[@AbdulAleemShekhani]

"but its my only line" LOL, well technically its not her "only" line now is it ;]

[@trainedjackass]

one of my favs and i own every episode

[@superman12211331]

Monty Python are the funniest people alive!

[@Eliezar18]

"But it's my only line!" She sounds like a tea kettle at the end LOL

[@SkinnyK1996]

"did someone say matress to mr lambert?" hahahaha Makes Me Laugh Every Time!

[@ReedCBowman]

I had to dig this up to show my wife why "stand in the tea chest" is family shorthand for performing any sort of silly list of operations needed for unclear reasons to get various tech to work.

[@rwulfsberg]

After viewing this sketch, the YT algorithm served up a DOG KENNEL advert!

[@LivingCrusader]

Thank you so much for posting this! LOL! I won't say mattress again. DOH!

[@Infinitis]

that was great! xD randomness conquers all!

[@bastlake]

and if those teeth, in ancient times, gnawed upon england's mountains green...

[@crystalsheep1434]

'But it's my only line' i feel that

[@OlviMasta77]

genius! one says more and the other says less! brilliant!

[@jenniferlewis1437]

One of the best

[@themedia1271]

They helped me pass my math class

[@skrat5]

All together now; And did those Feet, in ancient times, walk upon Englands Mountains green. Etc. Etc. Never gets old, lol

[@BritishComedyUK69]

Never grows old x

[@PepperPhoenix]

Aha, thank you. I've never seen this skit in context, only on here.

[@ondrejgalambos4033]

Best. Skit. In. History. Of. Television.

[@MoonBarrett]

I love how they say "WELL YOU DIDNT HAVE TO SAY IT!"

[@darkamethystprincess]

You contridicted yourself there... "I love Monty Python" and yet "what movie is this from?" It's from their television show Flying Circus--better than any of the movies they've made!

[@devildogg061]

Best.Sketch.Ever.

[@xleper17]

top 10 favorite sketches, definitely

[@ZeldaQueen64]

Yeah, the crew always jokingly called her "Carol Cleveage". XD

[@TheGreatAtario]

This sketch was how I first heard that song

[@FrankRabbit600]

I remember this one! I haven't seen it in years!

[@heronofheaven]

Mindblown

[@drottercat]

This is my favorite sketch.

[@Zaeriuraschi198]

This is my new favorite Monty Python sketch.

[@CaptainElli]

i miss this kinda stuff. necer gonna be as good as this.

[@RoseluvsHHR]

OH MY FUCKING GOODNESS THIS WAS PRICELESS!!! Soooo damn funny!!!!! One of the greatest shows on earth!!!!! :D :D :D :D

[@123Casso123]

don't say the words before you think, it can be dangerous xD

[@sillettaowns]

2:07 O_O!!! what a chilling laugh!!!!

[@ToozdaysChild]

Well, ya didn't have to SAY it!!