Monty Python (Ultra Rare) Cheese Shop Sketch

You've seen the Cheese Shop sketch a thousand times, but never like this-- Cleese curses(!), makes Palin crack up, and freaks out at a bouzouki player. Best version ever.

[@MichaelWellsMW]

"...Well, it's so clean!" "It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese." Gets me every time.

[@nikhilpalange5236]

Me too😬

[@Mr_Valentin.]

"I don't care how fucking runny it is" says it casually like a gentleman

[@RedStrikerBeetleborg]

But he said it with such gusto

[@42lookc]

How he can go through so many names of cheese without stumbling shows what an amazing memory he has.

[@arthurbishop3173]

Thought the same thing!!

[@handsomebrick]

Or an amazing familiarity with cheese.

[@turbokai6262]

I only know very few cheeses so he even could have made the names up...lol

[@its1110]

Or he is a very cheesy fellow.

[@its1110]

@Zeug Dings What is called "photographic memory" I think is just great facility at making associations. It needn't be visual.

[@StephenPaulTroup]

"No, no don't tell me, I'm keen to guess." I use this line in real life every chance I get. Very few recognize it.

[@DoctorInk20]

Brilliant. 😂 Out of curiosity, what IRL situation do you use that in?

[@mitchellhughes5180]

That’s part of the fun.😏

[@mitchellhughes5180]

DoctorInk20 Perhaps when somebody asks him to guess the answer to something?😳

[@DoctorInk20]

@@mitchellhughes5180 Or rather when someone is going say what the answer is. XD

[@lauramalek3128]

I'd have to practice the line to achieve that superbly clipped delivery "KEEN to GUESS". Cleese is classic.

[@ryanandrews2219]

This sketch is so universal. In the weeks after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, commodities in the provincial town where I live became in short supply due to road transport and infrastructure breakdowns. Supermarket shelves were looking sparse. It was in that scenario that a complete stranger and I happened to be looking at the very lean pickings in the dairy part of the delicatessen chiller, where there was very little choice in the cheese section. I remarked, almost to myself, but loud enough for the stranger to hear - "Not much of a cheese shop is it?"... the stranger immediately replied "Finest in the district!" Thereupon we both burst out laughing.

[@billcobbett9259]

I had the chance to use this phrase at a specialist cheese shop in London. It was wasted on them, however, as the serving staff were rather immature

[@TheBeavadelic]

Jimmy Buffett said it best - "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" Amazing how humor can get us through the bad times.

[@lesnyk255]

Python is like a secret handshake among lodge fellows. I once worked at a medical supply company that went through about a dozen name changes over the course of a year. When the latest such was announced, an office wag who shall remain unnamed called out (in proper cadence) "We are no longer the Knights who say Ni!" Exactly two people in the bullpen laughed. The rest were clearly not among the Initiated.

[@digital2500]

Great story!

[@waynej2608]

That story cheered me up. Now, I feel peckish, and want some cheese(and I don't care how fecking runny it is). It's usually rewarding, when life imitates art.

[@RazrHack]

"I DON'T CARE HOW FUCKING RUNNY IT IS"

[@PonderingOne]

This is my favorite bit😂

[@michaelcorrigan1945]

I'm now 65. Two friends and I when in our early 20s drove around the continent listening to a recording of this performance. We memorized every word and laughed our way around Europe. Years later any time we met we greeted each other by saying ' I don't care how fucking runny it is' and would literally collapse in fits of laughter.

[@halwasserman7905]

I worked in the deli department of a grocery store for 15 years and I'm proud to say that at one point a customer asked for a product and I replied, "Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down."

[@jonathanlarsson4608]

"I don't care how f*cking runny it is."

[@u.v.s.5583]

It's so runny that it has just run away with the cat, sir!

[@ffggddss]

In the TV version it was, "I don't care how excremently runny it is!" Fred

[@mka4pol]

...as on the album.

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Nice bit of improv there. Just the right amount of edge...

[@IgnisConsumens]

I always enjoy the recorded version (of this and other skits) because the audience is too keen on the profanity that you can’t hear my favorite line: “hand it over with all speed,” which is admittedly dependent on the preceding profanity.

[@davemoseley7492]

This is so "ultra rare" that it's on the Secret Policeman's Ball DVDs and VHS tapes that have been available for purchase for 30 years.

[@swanningabout]

Dave Moseley ....and on KZbin

[@fanhoop187]

Yea not rare. My dad recorded the secret policeman’s balls off HBO in the late 80s. It’s a edit of the best sketches from the original two amnesty international stage shows, however sadly omitting some Pete Townsend. I’m happy I grew up with the edited version first because I saw the uncut version and there’s quite a few trash sketches and comedians.

[@gfoursux9]

Pardon, Shhhh?

[@fellowcitizen]

Not much a description is it?

[@godsdemons2421]

It must be rare if it comes from a secret tape though mustn't it?

[@samswank]

I think as this sketch progresses it becomes clear that Cleese really did not delight in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean Muse at all.

[@rdm4509]

See Stephen Fry's Mythos book.

[@chasleask8533]

So, he should have switched it off?

[@skovner]

At first, it seems he is referring to the bouzouki player, but Terpsichore is the muse of dance, so he is referring to the dancers - or a deliberate "mistake" to show the customer is not as smart as he pretends to be, using all those fancy words.

[@chasleask8533]

@@skovner So I can leave on then. ?

[@CJ-ft9yo]

ThAnk you I wondered what word that was !!

[@hughcorston9645]

"Will you stop that bloody nonsense!" Classic Cleese, and he makes a jump that would qualify him for the NBA :-)

[@StephenPaulTroup]

I love how Palin replies, "Finest in the district!" with such pride.

[@waynej2608]

'Is it'?

[@pipster1891]

It's called acting, love.

[@PointsofData]

@@pipster1891 and OP was admiring his ability to accurately portray the pride of a cheese shop owner with no cheese Love

[@varkaustin2371]

You have to admit, this humor is timeless. Having been in the army, the camouflage skit from their movie, 'And now for something completely different ' was one to have rolling in the aisles. What an amazing Troupe of comedians.

[@mjd4174]

How Not to be Seen. Classic.

[@vccstudents]

That was one of the cleanest stages to ever perform this sketch. It was uncontaminated by cheese!

[@angelsaltamontes7336]

"What, prrrrray, is the most POPular CHEESE arrrrrrrrrround "THESE PARTS"?"

[@QueenBoadicea]

Yes and the music being played is also considerably cheerier and gets gradually faster and louder, as if reflecting the increasing agitation of John Cleese's character.

[@qfox16789]

Once on the end of a shopping list for my Dad I added ‘Venezuelan Beaver Cheese’. He actually asked a guy in Waitrose if they had any. I couldn’t believe it when he got home. I think the guy just said ‘I think someone may be playing a trick on you’

[@marielcalder103]

I'm reading your comment while drinking soup from a cup. I narrowly avoided a catastrophe but it was a near thing! 😅

[@mrcydonia]

I love Palin's goofy nod after Cleese says "I'm going to kill you."

[@conscienceaginBlackadder]

It's an irrationally dumb ending.

[@Trowa71]

That nod looks like it broke Cleese's character haha.

[@TheBeavadelic]

@@conscienceaginBlackadder the Pythons were anything but rational!

[@STNeish]

@@Trowa71 Ya, I saw that too.

[@robertoseveno]

@@Trowa71 haha yeh, what a great nod

[@robf6105]

This has always been my favorite Python sketch. It always makes me laugh. "ohhhhh. The cat's eating it."

[@HansHenderson]

That's "The cat's eaten it" as in, has eaten, past perfect tense to show completion. As opposed to your present continuous, as in happening over a period of time, concurrently with the speaking about it.

[@garywalters5468]

in expected python style when cleese is told the cat has eaten the cheese, he responds "has he?!!" palin interjects "SHE, sir" i find this most witty as it suggests that there was even an actual cat in the first place by stating that it was a FEMALE cat because cleese guested wrong.

[@chasleask8533]

@@HansHenderson So , Is there any left?

[@KoyasuNoBara]

Wikipedia's Article of the Day is Hugh Walpole. I was skimming through the article to find "Rogue Herries" when I suddenly came over all peckish...

[@sirpercivalsmallcock-jones9585]

***** Peckish, sir?

[@KoyasuNoBara]

Throatwobbler Mangrove Esurient.

[@whitenerdymoonwalker]

***** ...Eh?

[@KoyasuNoBara]

whitenerdymoonwalker Eee, I'm all hungry-like!

[@whitenerdymoonwalker]

Ah, hungry!

[@ClickBeetleTV]

It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place!

[@silversnail1413]

I got an ad for Boursin cheese just before watching this. How appropriate.

[@harrys5877]

lmao I just saw this skit for about the 100th time and still busted out laughing!!! Brilliant!!!😂😂

[@FikretErdeniz]

-"Venezuelan Beaver Cheese" -"Not today sir, no." You can only hear such a thing on a Monty Python show. (3:22)

[@tskmaster3837]

Because only they know how long it takes to properly mature a Venezuelan woman.

[@That_AMC_Guy]

A good friend and I used to do Python sketches in Drama class way back in middle school. Had the class just rolling 'cuz most of them had NO idea where we were coming up with these sketches. God.... we did Cheese Shop, Dead Parrot, Argument Clinic, Nudge-Nudge, How not to be Seen..... had so much fun doing it.

[@yangcy]

This one's more like "Basil Fawlty in the Cheese Shop".

[@Shadow07Warrior1989]

WILL YOU STOP THAT BLOODY DANCING?!?!?! Stomping about and yelling like that was priceless! Go Cleese!!!

[@sierotkamarysia4199]

5:26 John laughed :D

[@violenceislife1987]

wgat a senseless waste of human life

[@IgnisConsumens]

How not!?

[@kelvinwilson9217]

Saw them live and is very unforgetable.

[@jtb1990419]

Gotta love Palin’s nod at 5:25 when Cleese says he’s gonna kill him lol! And it caused both of them to break momentarily!

[@ricarleite]

He was nodding because Palin made a mistake, he said "no" before he was supposed to.

[@jonnybgoode007]

Thanks very much for this. I used to watch "And Now for Something Completely Different- Monty Python's Flying Circus" on TV back in 1975 right after i graduated from High school. They're Hilarious and I appreciate. :)

[@Fredrockroll]

So rare it's up on KZbin

[@ricarleite]

It's rare in the sense they only did it live twice. This one, and the Mostly Live shows recently, where they did an abridged version. John Cleese did not like this sketch very much.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

"John Cleese did not like this sketch very much." No, it's a favorite of his.

[@Fredrockroll]

ricarleite It's one of the few he likes from the last season of Flying Circus.

[@ricarleite]

Fredrockroll It is not from the last series, it's from series 3. Cleese was not part of the last series, which is the 4th.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

Yeah. It's one of the few he likes from _his_ last season of Flying Circus.

[@davidekstrand8544]

I say that this is the best version of this sketch!

[@somersetnewsnetwork2198]

true story, I'm visiting the USA and I'm in a small bar in Prescott AZ, I when to the bar and get some more beer and there is a man sat on the stool dress like Clint Eastwood, Cowboy boots and hat. "are you English" he asked, Yes sir I'm English. "love your TV show, I love that Monty Pythons" then there is this guy dress like a cowboy and me going the cheese shop sketch word for word. Then we when on to the Parrot sketch word for word. When we finished he bought the beers.

[@s10m0t10n]

Doctors Rob Buckman and Chris Beetles were the dancers. They had a series called the 'Pink Medicine Show' on television many years ago. Couple of funny guys.

[@emperorpingusmathchannel5365]

The break of the forth wall with the music got me busting a gut.

[@John-gv2ug]

Many years ago, in my first year teaching in a small Australian rural secondary school, a colleague and I put the results and all the names from the Monty Python election skit ( Mrs Elsie Ziiiiiiiiiiiiip, Tarquin Fin Tim Whin Bim Lim Bus Stop F'atang F'atang Ole Biscuit Barrel etc ) in the Daily Bulletin. All the other teachers, non of whom were Monty Python fans, read it out, not realizing what it was, to totally bemused students, most of whom also had no clue. The result itself could have been a Python skit.

[@ysgol3]

Much funnier than the TV version, though the re-recorded one on a Python LP is hilarious too. I don't care how fucking runny it is. However, I get the impression that John isn't too keen on the very last line - better if he'd just walked off noncholantly maybe ?

[@Notebooked]

Oh dear god, this is beautiful. The way he pulls the gun out, his furious hopping as he freaks on the bouzuki...thanks for the upload.

[@strider6056]

I want to try some Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.

[@MiguelMorales85]

strider6056 I’m Venezuelan , Is our best cheese!

[@ricarleite]

Miguel, how's life in Venezuela lately?

[@MiguelMorales85]

ricarleite lovely!

[@hansruhlmann454]

Me too!

[@virginiaconnor8350]

Is there really such a cheese?

[@vardellsfolly5200]

There is something terribly exciting watching someone enjoying their work,especially in comedy.Now having that in mind,take two of the finest,most brilliant comedians in the world and observe them cracking up during this sketch...you don't really need anything else..

[@suncore598]

Palin looks like Manuel from Fawlty Towers.

[@zachhaywood1564]

Because he is,

[@sirpercivalsmallcock-jones9585]

Zach Haywood No, that was Andrew Sachs.

[@siglino]

The actor who played Manuel was Andrew Sachs.

[@Leebo13]

He isn't from Barcelona.

[@nostalgiaof98]

Que?

[@mangolassi_.]

Cheese Shop is my favourite Python sketch, thanks for uploading!

[@adamtzsch]

Cleese is a consummate performer and a fuckin’ national treasure.

[@Gazza63]

Ironically enough, John's father's real surname is 'Cheese'.

[@its1110]

Indeed, yes. I had not known this.

[@neilonaniet]

That;s not irony - just coincidence.

[@srj34]

@Anony Mousse No, the family name is Cheese. John changed his last name for show business reasons.

[@amyjones637]

@@srj34 no, his father changed the name when he was in the army

[@Keepingitrespectfulmostly.]

@@amyjones637 Marching up and down the square.

[@CCNuck]

The dancing all throughout is stinking hilarious. I mean the music it drives me insane, but that those two are there, dancing, doing the little steps, throughout this entire sketch - that brings me joy.

[@quizmaster85]

162 dislikers DO care how fucking runny their camembert is.

[@lpsp442]

Having never watched this rare clip before, I scrolled down to deposit my like, only to find that I already *had* done so. Turns out I have seen before, and forgot it as much as I was able to enjoy it again!

[@6B8RX]

There used to be a Palin's Barbershop here. I naturally assumed that there would be an empty cheese display and a birdcage with a dead parrot, and the barbers would be wearing plaid shirts and singing about becoming lumberjacks. No! Going by the photos that they posted on the web, it was where you would go to get your hair cut... if you were a member of a Mexican street gang! Glad I never went inside!

[@oldbrokensqueezebox]

This is the 3rd time I've watched this in 2 days and it's still funny

[@MrWired-il3cd]

0:47 i wanto buy sum CHEEEZ!

[@HisWordisLife4U]

Well, if they don't have Venezuelan Beaver Cheese on hand they can hardly call themselves a Cheese Shop at all, can they.

[@stephenderry9488]

Or a good night out in Caracas.

[@tomitstube]

brilliant use of a two competing acts in one scene, the tension building by the frustration of the customer, and amazing timing raging on the bouzouki player and dancers. he looks at them a couple times before losing it. hilarious.

[@geraldspencer8679]

My dad gave me the complete series of Monty Python, including their three movies and this skit, in cds when I was a teen in the early 90's. Seeing the actual skit is so much funnier! I love Monty Python! I don't care if they're silly! 🤪

[@ABR11hour]

Fun fact. John Cleese's dad originally had the last name Cheese, but he later changed it to Cleese prior to enlisting in WWI because he didn't want to be harassed due to his surname being Cheese.

[@MLaak86]

This sketch is so underrated compared to the Parrot Sketch

[@Plons0Nard]

Responders complaining this is not ultra rare : that may be the case but I watched it several times and enjoy it. So thank you for uploading ! 💪👍🤝🇳🇱🍺

[@chloeheartsyou]

I love reading the comments on Monty Python videos because rarely are they entirely inane and when they are there are plenty of clever people to beat them down with their Python knowledge and references. I am quite amused.

[@vizualizeit08]

This was incredible, thank you ✌️

[@Myrmelie]

These editions in our county aren't avaiable, so for me this is ultra rare. I'm extremely thankful for posting this!!! Somehow Michael reminds me Manuel from the Fawlty Towers, anyone? Must be the mustache... Love them!

[@TM-nu2iz]

The way that the music and dancing is slowly increasing is subtle yet noticeable

[@azynkron]

Only these guys could create a legendary sketch where the actual subject being absent actually becomes the joke. How can you make something this funny about a shop that sells cheese?

[@simonpeters2128]

4:40 my very favorite scene. I couldn't play that without laughing my arse off.

[@thebeatles4ever]

I love how when Palin hums while looking for the cheese, his head gradually sinks lower and lower until it disappears and springs back up XD

[@chasleask8533]

No Mediterranean holiday is complete without dad (me) shouting " Shut that bloody bouzouki up "!!!

[@StephenBoyd21]

simply glorious

[@GoldeneyeMarine]

"It's so clean" "Well it's certainly uncontaminated by cheese" LOL

[@travelsonic]

I've seen the cheese shop sketch a dozen times, first time seeing this version, like it much more. :D

[@slugerknot]

Shooting people who annoy you was very popular in these old sketches.

[@MrDavey2010]

Utter classic!

[@Guratza]

This is so goddamn funny. Better than the series version. You always wait for the moment john cleese shouts at the dancers LOL!!!! And i'm greek actually.

[@FunLittleMovies]

Ultra rare refers to the lofty heights of comedy to which This comedy rises, thank you.

[@phousefilms]

"I don't care how FUCKING runny it is...." XD! I had a CD once with the audio from this. Never saw the actual skit with it in!

[@66flamer]

lessons learned today: -dont piss off a python fan -python makes it all better -dont piss off john cleese. thanks for putting this up on here brie is the stuff.

[@davidwilsonsr4611]

My God.... That was awesome. Thank you🤣

[@NavinKumar-yp2rf]

👍

[@jonhawkins5838]

The way John Cleese says, "f#$+ing" is priceless.

[@TravisGloverPianist]

XD The part where John Clease curses! XD XD XD

[@hi_mom_im_on_youtube]

EKS FUCKING DEEEE

[@JollyJumbuk]

I love those extra comments designed to increase the cheese buyer's hopeful expectation and greater frustration - namely, the runnyness and ultimate loss of the Camembert, the cat's gender, Wensleydale, and Cheddar - "not much call for it round here!". Sketch delivery in video is very close to Matching Tie and Handkerchief version.

[@MegaMr46]

4:41 Do you have- WOULD you stop that bloody dancing?!

[@dmitriyk6465]

My favourite sketch

[@cmn1108]

Cleese? I whole-heartedly agree. Ironically, his surname would have been 'Cheese' had his father not changed it when he enlisted in the RAF for WWI. I'm not even kidding.

[@zarquondam]

They corrected it from "Horace Walpole" in the tv version to "Hugh Walpole" here.

[@CeruleanFilms]

For some reason the thing that makes me laugh the hardest is the nonchalant way in which he says "I'm going to kill you".

[@MichaelHarrisIreland]

Yes, there was nothing else he could do!

[@randomdude6719]

I love how u see him slowly get more and more pissed off while he mostly maintains his composure but every now and then a bit of his annoyance slips out lol

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

My favourite Python sketch. It was because of this sketch I've tried different cheeses through the years. Unfortunately Venezuelan Beaver Cheese is a little hard to come by.

[@chardonnay5767]

I’ve seen this ”ultra rare” sketch before. It was good then as it is now.

[@josiahbeiser2922]

good acting and good sense out of the guy that runs the shop.

[@danielcollin8227]

I love how differently Cleese plays this character here than he does in the original, a bit more up tight and pompous as opposed to casual and kooky. Both work hilariously!

[@bjofuruh]

4:40 Best part ever! It is real! No acting here... I believe.

[@Dorelaxen]

"Scuse me. Is this the cheese shop?" "No, sir." "Well that's that sketch knackered then, innit."

[@Problembeing]

The best version of this sketch :)

[@IDIGLOCAL]

LOVE THIS BIT. LOVE IT.

[@riggy001]

THAT's the sketch which should have aired on the LIVE show! That was MUCH better than what did air!

[@bellasparrow]

hahaha...awesome version :) love this sketch

[@marcodevries4481]

How can be possibly remember this skit. Brilliant

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Cleese probably wrote it. The way they wrote things, he would have no problem memorizing really long written parts. Remember the similar parrot sketch? I'd bet Cleese could do an impromptu version even now forty years later if someone asked him...

[@SchnauzerMom63]

My favorite Python sketch since I first heard it: 1978, when I popped the 8-track of Matching Tie & Handkerchief into the player!

[@Cosmicblast77]

Saw Python live in Brooklyn N.Y. in the 70s. Did their famous sketches. Great.

[@bardwheelo]

Palin's distant glance: priceless.

[@bjbjbjbjbj]

this is my all time favourite python scetch from matching tie and handkerchief