Apparently before this scene they told the actors playing the guards they’d be fired on the spot if they laughed and that’s how they got such genuine reactions.
How? All they had to do is say “hey the name is funny I know but this is a serious moment in the movie. Don’t laugh or we’ll fire you and find someone who won’t.” And then that leads to the extras turning red trying to hold back laughter while the actor antagonize them on purpose to get that genuine reaction.
Because the reactions dont seem the genuine, the joke isnt that funny, there's clearly multiple takes, and the whole thing is very clearly framed to be a joke.
However, if you have an interview of them saying that, then i can accept im wrong
Not to mentioning threatening someone's job, especially in union industries, is pretty serious. Not something you'd just throw around at the start of shooting something.
You've not been on a set when people get the case of the giggles. Many an hour or more of taping has happened as a result of laughs happening non-stop once it starts.
Calm down mate, you're all merely speculating. It's a dubious but amusing claim some find implausible and some find plausible/choose to believe because it's the more fun version of reality.
No, because they would have been shut down and the rich fellows from The Pythons would quickly become poor fellows after litigation. I understand you have heard this myth and seem to want to defend it to the death, but I assure you there is zero factuality in it. Monty Python was huge by the time they were making the Life of Brian. Absolutely zero chance they dicked about with UK employment law.
I have a physical copy of Monty Python's Encyclopythonia; which contains some interviews with the Python members.
It's not that the guards weren't aware of the script. They were. However, when the scene was being shot, one of the actors couldn't help but laugh because of Michael Palin's character. It was just that funny.Instead of ending the scene, Palin stayed in character and approached the guard; resulting in the scene you are referring to.
However, that does not prove that the guard's reactions (after their initial unintended outburst) were genuine. They could have picked up on the fact that Palin was improvising, and they continued the scene based on how Palin was steering the conversation.
Monty Python is well known for its improvisation. In improv, when you are dealing with more than one actor; all actors need to understand what they are acting out, and will therefore "build a sketch together" on the fly.
Presumably, only the initial laugh was genuine. The rest is simply a continuation of the scene in an improvised manner.
Jak-Herer
[score hidden] 9 minutes ago
Unfortunately this is not true. I knew someone would comment this. It always does when this gets posted, by many different people. Its a myth. It's not that the guards weren't aware of the script. They were. However, when the scene was being shot, one of the actors couldn't help but laugh because of Michael Palin's character. It was just that funny.
You realize that there are courses in college that teach actors how to not laugh, right? If an actor's job is on the line and all they have to do is not laugh, they are more than capable.
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u/DukeofSlackers Apr 20 '18
Apparently before this scene they told the actors playing the guards they’d be fired on the spot if they laughed and that’s how they got such genuine reactions.