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"Ethel the Frog" redirects here. For the NWOBHM band, see Ethel the Frog (band).
For the Japanese "Piranha" crime family, see Amagasaki Serial Murder Incident.

"Piranha Brothers"
Monty Python's Flying Circus segment
Screenshot from the episode
Episode no.Series 2
Episode 1 (segment)
Written by
Original air dateSeptember 15, 1970 (1970-09-15)
List of episodes

"Piranha Brothers" is a Monty Python sketch from the first episode of the second series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The 14th episode of the series overall, it premiered on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 15 September 1970. The sketch constitutes a loose pastiche of the Richardson gang and the Kray twins, notorious gangsters from the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s.[1][2]

A slightly re-worked version of the sketch appeared on the album Another Monty Python Record, released in the UK on 8 October 1971, and in the United States on 21 August 1972. It was also featured in Monty Python's Big Red Book, published in 1971.[3]

Plot

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The premise for the sketch is a BBC current affairs documentary programme, inexplicably titled Ethel the Frog, retrospectively covering the exploits of the brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. We learn through the mockumentary that Dinsdale and Doug were born 'on probation' in the slums of London, with their father, Arthur Piranha, employed as a scrap‐metal dealer and TV quizmaster. The brothers are reported to intimidate their victims through 'violence and sarcasm'. Through a series of interviews with their victims, we find out that Dinsdale has a peculiar habit of nailing his foes' heads to the floor, while Doug is reported to be more vicious by assailing his enemies with 'sarcasm' and that "He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and... satire". One of those interviewed says he has 'seen grown men pull off their own heads rather than face Doug'.

We are also told by another interviewee, that Dinsdale is afraid of "Spiny Norman", a gigantic imaginary hedgehog whose reported size varies based on his mood. The threat of Norman has affected Dinsdale so severely that it leads him to launch a nuclear attack on an aircraft hangar, where Norman was thought to have resided, at Luton Airfield on 22 February 1966, attracting the attention of the authorities and causing a trans-Atlantic pursuit led by Police Superintendent Harry "Snapper" Organs. At the end of the sketch, which also ends the episode, the creature is revealed as being real and appearing in an animated form bellowing Dinsdale, beside various English landmarks as the credits roll.

Album and book

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Another Monty Python Record, released in 1971, features the sketch with a slightly different version, whereas instead of a nuclear attack on the airport, the brothers are said to have napalmed Cheltenham.[4] This version ends with one of the Piranha Brothers' associates interrupting the recording and accidentally scratching the record, causing a continuous loop in the album's run out groove.[5] The sketch can also be found being re-told in Monty Python's Big Red Book.

Influence and in culture

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A heavy metal group took its name, Ethel the Frog, from this sketch.[6] The band is best known for taking part in the Metal for Muthas multi-artist compilation album, released in 1980.[7]

The sketch is notable for being highlighted on various 'best of Month Python lists' featured in magazines, newspapers and websites. Entertainment Weekly listed the act at number 5 on their top 20 essential sketches;[8] GQ Magazine said it was one of four notable mockumentaries;[9] The Daily Beast included it in their funniest routines from the series;[10] The Daily Telegraph reported it as number 5 on their 10 funniest skits;[11] GamesRadar gave it top ranking as number 1 on their compilation of funniest performances;[12] and Nerdist said the piece was one of "The 8 and a Half Most Underrated Monty Python Sketches".[13]

Memorable quotes from the sketch have also been referenced in newspaper and magazine articles throughout the years since it was first broadcast in 1970.[14][15][16][17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ford, Robert (19 September 2003). "Make The Pain Stop, Please". Computerworld. Vol. 19, no. 19. (The tale of the Piranha Brothers from episode 1 of series 2, Monty Python's Flying Circus)
  2. ^ Larsen, Darl (13 June 2008). Monty Python's Flying Circus: An Utterly Complete, Thoroughly Unillustrated, Absolutely Unauthorized Guide to Possibly All the References. Scarecrow Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-4616-6970-8.
  3. ^ Topping, Richard; Long, Chris (1999). "Books, Records And All Manner Of Magnificent Monty Merchandise". Monty Python: A Celebration. London: Virgin Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 1-85227-825-0.
  4. ^ "Piranha Brothers". Another Monty Python Record (Vinyl LP). Marquee Studios, London: Charisma Records. 8 October 1971. Event occurs at 7:20. CAS-1049.
  5. ^ "Piranha Brothers". Another Monty Python Record (Vinyl LP). Marquee Studios, London: Charisma Records. 8 October 1971. Event occurs at 9:19. CAS-1049.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (1 January 2009). "Ethel The Frog". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  7. ^ Blows, David, ed. (13 March 1980). "Ethel Back". Hull Daily Mail. Hull, Humberside, England. p. 10.
  8. ^ Coggan, Devan (4 October 2019). "Celebrate 50 years of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' with 20 essential sketches". Entertainment Weekly.
  9. ^ GQ Editors (3 November 2016). "21 Documentaries Everyone Should See". GQ. Vol. 86, no. 11.
  10. ^ "Monty Python at 40". The Daily Beast. 15 October 2009.
  11. ^ Telegraph Reporters (16 April 2018). "Monty Python's 10 Funniest Sketches". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023.
  12. ^ Nelson, Jayne (14 October 2009). "The 40 Greatest Monty Python Sketches". GamesRadar.
  13. ^ Anderson, Kyle (27 March 2018). "The 8 and a Half Most Underrated Monty Python Sketches". Nerdist.
  14. ^ Maffucci, Maria McFadden (Summer 2023). "Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist". Human Life Review. Vol. 49, no. 3. pp. 78–82.
  15. ^ Hill, Andrew (23 June 2010). "Protection Money". Financial Times. p. 38.
  16. ^ Malamud, Randy (30 January 2011). "Monty Python's Academic Circus". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Martin Carter, a senior lecturer ... at Sheffield Hallam University ... has studied how the Piranha Brothers sketch keenly reworks the lurid careers of two infamous contemporary criminals.
  17. ^ Meehan, Thomas (18 April 1976). "For Something Completely". The New York Times.
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