My daughter and I attended the opening of Spamalot at the 5th Avenue Theatre last night. It was a ton of fun. Great performances. Original Broadway costumes and sets. I'll have a more thorough review later, but suffice it to say that if you're a Monty Python fan, you won't be disappointed. (And if you're not a Monty Python, what the fuck is wrong with you?)

But as much as we enjoyed the show, an added thrill came at the end when they brought out Eric Idle for the curtain call. It was a special moment not just for me, but for my daughter, who has grown up a big Monty Python fan herself. (Because I raised her right.) It was actually the second time I'd seen Idle live, the first time being when I was 13 and my father took me to New York to see Monty Python perform live at the City Center. Ah, the memories.

Which got me thinking about my own introduction to Monty Python. PBS had been airing the show for a few months before a friend of mine convinced me to watch an episode, and I was immediately lost. I had trouble understanding the dialog through the accents, was a bit put off by the low production values, and generally just didn't get the whole comedic aesthetic of the show. It was so alien to me, compared to what I was accustomed to seeing on mid-1970s American TV. And then, near the end of that episode, I saw this:

I literally fell to the floor gasping for air, I laughed so hard. It just suddenly all clicked. And I never looked at comedy the same way again.

So how about you: which sketch turned you into a Monty Python fan for life?