Sad news for fans of funny: Terry Jones, founding member of the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python, has died at age 77.
Jones died of a rare form of dementia earlier today. He made his name with Monty Python, the outrageously surrealist British comedy outfit that launched in England in 1969, then grew in popularity, crossing the pond to America in the early 1970s and eventually becoming a phenomenon worldwide.
I remember being a kid in the 80s and watching episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus on PBS. The sketches were silly and irreverent and sometimes confusing, but I would laugh so hard–even at the stuff I didn’t understand. Looking back, I’m realizing now how much Jones and the Pythons shaped my sense of humor. The weirder something is, the funnier I find it.
So, to honor Terry Jones, here he is in my favorite piece of work with Monty Python. I hope they have plenty of SPAM in heaven.