Editing Dead Parrot sketch (section)

==Variations of the sketch==
[[File:Dead Parrot O2 Arena.jpg|thumb|Palin and Cleese performing the Dead Parrot sketch at ''[[Monty Python Live (Mostly)]]'' in 2014]]
In the film ''[[And Now for Something Completely Different]]'' (1971), in which the parrot is a blue and gold macaw, the sketch ends with the shopkeeper explaining that he always wanted to be a [[lumberjack]] and, ignoring Mr Praline's protests of that being irrelevant, begins singing "[[The Lumberjack Song]]".

The ''[[Monty Python Live at Drury Lane]]'' album features a live version of the sketch, which is slightly different from the TV version. Praline's rant about the deceased parrot includes "He fucking snuffed it!"  Also, the sketch ends with the shopkeeper saying that he has a slug that does talk. Cleese, after a brief pause, says, "Right, I'll have that one, then!" According to Michael Palin's published diary, Palin changed his response in order to throw Cleese off. During this performance something occurs on stage that does not translate into audio, but causes the audience to break into hysterics upon Cleese's follow-up line "Now that's what I call a dead parrot".

A live performance from the 1976 [[Amnesty International]] benefit show, ''[[A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)]]'', has Palin cracking up while Cleese declares "Pining for the fjords? What kind of talk is that?" The audience cheers this bit of [[breaking character]], but Palin quickly composes himself and Cleese declares "Now, look! This is nothing to laugh at!" before proceeding with the sketch. This version can be seen in the film ''[[Pleasure at Her Majesty's]]'', albeit with the ending removed.

The 1976 ''[[Monty Python Live at City Center]]'' performance ended with the following punchline:
:''Shopkeeper'': (long, long pause) ... Do you want to come back to my place?
:''Mr Praline'': I thought you'd never ask.

In his appearance on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', Cleese appears as a pirate attempting to take over a spaceship during a "Pigs in Space" sketch. At the end of the sketch, he demands of the smart-mouthed talking parrot on his shoulder, "Do you want to be an ex-parrot?"

In 1980, the sketch was performed again during The Pythons' four-night stint at the [[Hollywood Bowl]]. However, it was one of the sketches to be cut from the 1982 [[Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl|film version]]. In the 1989 TV special which saw the final appearance of all six Pythons together, the sketch was mentioned in the title, ''[[Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python]]''. True to its title, the "Dead Parrot sketch" is not included.<ref name="Reunions"/>

In 1989's Amnesty benefit show, ''[[The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball]]'', the sketch opens similarly, but ends very differently:
:''Mr Praline'': It's dead, that's what's wrong with it.
:''Shopkeeper'': ''(long pause as he examines the bird)'' So it is. 'Ere's your money back and a couple of holiday [[voucher]]s.
:''(audience goes wild)''
:''Mr Praline'': ''(looks completely flabbergasted)'' Well, you can't say [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] hasn't changed some things.

[[Margaret Thatcher]] famously used the sketch in a speech at the [[Conservative Party Conference (UK)|Conservative Party Conference]] in 1990, referring to the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] and their symbol being a dove, before ending the speech by commenting, "[[And Now for Something Completely Different|And now for something completely different]]."<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/DQ6TgaPJcR0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100602062756/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ6TgaPJcR0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ6TgaPJcR0 |title=Margaret Thatcher does the Dead Parrot Sketch |publisher=YouTube |date=5 February 2010 |access-date=6 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1998, ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' ran the front-page headline "This party is no more...it has ceased to be...this is an EX-party" for an article about a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] conference. According to her former political secretary [[John Whittingdale]], Thatcher did not understand why the joke was funny and had to be persuaded that it would work.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/nov/18/simon-hoggart-week-thatcher|title=Simon Hoggart's week: Flogging a dead parrot with Mrs Thatcher|last=Hoggart|first=Simon|date=18 November 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=25 February 2021|archive-date=15 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615125259/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/nov/18/simon-hoggart-week-thatcher|url-status=live}}</ref> The Conservatives' use of this sketch was derivative of an earlier [[Spitting Image]] sketch, itself derivative of the Python Dead Parrot sketch, in which the part of Mr. Praline was played by a puppet representing [[David Owen]] and the part of the shopkeeper was played by a puppet representing [[Roy Jenkins]].  Mr Praline/Owen complains that the "party" he has recently acquired from the shopkeeper (representing the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)]]) has "expired", and the shopkeeper/Jenkins claims it is not dead but "pining for [[Bill Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank|Bill Rodgers]]" (Rodgers, Jenkins and Owen being original members of the '[[Gang of Four (SDP)]]'.

In a 1997 ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' performance of the sketch, Cleese added a line to the rant: "Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians!"<ref name="Reunions">{{cite news |title=Monty Python: 30 years of near reunions from the comedy troupe |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/comedy/a532589/monty-python-30-years-of-near-reunions-from-the-comedy-troupe/ |access-date=21 August 2019 |work=[[Digital Spy]] |publisher=[[Hearst UK]] |archive-date=21 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821104112/https://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/comedy/a532589/monty-python-30-years-of-near-reunions-from-the-comedy-troupe/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In an interview on NPR's ''[[Fresh Air]]'', Palin attributed an almost dead audience to his seeing guests reverently mouthing the words of the sketch, rather than laughing at it. To end the sketch, Palin reused the punchline from ''City Center'' and asked Cleese, "Do you want to come back to my place?" to which Cleese said, "I thought you'd never ask!"<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/t70338JIPY0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131120172704/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t70338JIPY0&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t70338JIPY0|title=Dead Parrot - Saturday Night Live|date=2 October 2013 |via=[[YouTube]] www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

For the 1999 ''[[Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python]]'' TV special, [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]] made a ''[[South Park]]'' version of the sketch depicting [[Eric Cartman|Cartman]] angrily returning a dead [[Kenny McCormick|Kenny]] to [[Kyle Broflovski|Kyle]]'s shop. Using much of the dialogue from the original sketch, it ends with [[Terry Gilliam]]'s animations playing around with Cartman before everything is crushed by the giant foot.

In a 2002 interview with [[Michael Parkinson]], John Cleese said that when he and Palin were performing the sketch on [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]], Palin made him laugh by saying, when asked if his slug could talk, "It mutters a bit" instead of "Not really." When Cleese eventually stopped laughing, he couldn't remember where they were in the sketch. He turned to the audience and asked them what the next line was, and people shouted it at him, causing him to wonder, "What is the point of this?" He also says that when he and Palin were asked to do the sketch for ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' they sat down together to try to remember the lines, and when they got stuck they considered just going out and stopping somebody on the street to ask how it went, since everybody seemed to have it memorised.

In his published 2006 diary, [[Michael Palin]] recalls that during the filming of ''Monty Python's [[Life of Brian]]'' in [[Tunisia]], [[Spike Milligan]] (who happened to be there on holiday) regaled the Pythons with his own version of the Dead Parrot sketch, but changed "Norwegian Blue" to "Arctic Grey".

Cleese and Palin acted out the sketch during the Python's reunion in [[The O2]] in July 2014, ''[[Monty Python Live (Mostly)]]''. The sketch ended with the shopkeeper saying he has a selection of cheeses, transitioning into the [[Cheese Shop Sketch]]. The entire sketch ended like the City Center performance, with the shopkeeper offering Mr Praline to come back to his place, and Mr Praline replying "I thought you'd never ask." In their final performance on 20 July (which was broadcast live to many theatres all over the world), whilst listing the metaphors for the parrot's death, Cleese added the line "it had expired and gone to meet Dr. [[Graham Chapman|Chapman]]" after which both Cleese and Palin did a thumbs-up to the sky.

In the episode of ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]'' from 13 November 2015, Cleese is a guest on the show. At the end of the big furry hat segment (where [[Stephen Colbert]] – and in this specific instance, Cleese – create nonsensical rules), Cleese asks, "Do you want to come back to my place?" and Colbert replies, "I thought you'd never ask."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwH04FeeVlQ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115023731/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwH04FeeVlQ |date=15 November 2015 }}. (13 November 2015). YouTube. Retrieved 25 August 2019</ref>