"Piranha Brothers" is a Monty Pythonsketch that was first seen in the first episode (titled "Face the Press") of the second series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Originally broadcast on television on 15 September 1970, the premise is a BBC current affairs documentary programme, inexplicably titled Ethel the Frog, retrospectively covering the exploits of the brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. The sociopathic criminals employed a combination of "violence and sarcasm" to intimidate the London underworld and bring the city to its knees. Dinsdale is also described as being afraid of "Spiny Norman", a gigantic imaginary hedgehog whose reported size varied based on Dinsdale's mood. The threat of Norman affected Dinsdale so severely that it led him to launch a nuclear weapon attack on an airplane hangar (where Norman was thought to have resided according to Dinsdale) at Luton International Airport (then Luton Airfield) on 22 February 1966. During the end of the sketch, which also ends the episode, the creature is apparently revealed as real and appearing (in the form of a Terry Gilliam animation bellowing "Dinsdale!") beside various English landmarks as the credits roll.
The sketch constitutes a loose pastiche of the real-life story of the Kray twins, gangsters who maintained an underground criminal outfit based in the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s. Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were loosely based on Reggie and Ronnie Kray, and the policeman who pursued them, Harry "Snapper" Organs, was loosely based on the policeman who led the investigation against the Krays, Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read. However, the Piranhas' described methods seem to resemble more closely those used by the rival Richardson Gang and their associate "Mad" Frankie Fraser.
A slightly re-worked version of the sketch also appeared on the album Another Monty Python Record where, in addition to Doug's wide repertoire of sarcasm, hyperbole is also included. Rather than nuke Luton Airport, the brothers are said to have napalmedCheltenham. 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. An almost word-for-word transcript appeared in Monty Python's Big Red Book.
piranha, brothers, ethel, frog, redirects, here, nwobhm, band, ethel, frog, band, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia,. Ethel the Frog redirects here For the NWOBHM band see Ethel the Frog band This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Piranha Brothers news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Piranha Brothers news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Piranha Brothers is a Monty Python sketch that was first seen in the first episode titled Face the Press of the second series of Monty Python s Flying Circus Originally broadcast on television on 15 September 1970 the premise is a BBC current affairs documentary programme inexplicably titled Ethel the Frog retrospectively covering the exploits of the brothers Doug and Dinsdale Piranha The sociopathic criminals employed a combination of violence and sarcasm to intimidate the London underworld and bring the city to its knees Dinsdale is also described as being afraid of Spiny Norman a gigantic imaginary hedgehog whose reported size varied based on Dinsdale s mood The threat of Norman affected Dinsdale so severely that it led him to launch a nuclear weapon attack on an airplane hangar where Norman was thought to have resided according to Dinsdale at Luton International Airport then Luton Airfield on 22 February 1966 During the end of the sketch which also ends the episode the creature is apparently revealed as real and appearing in the form of a Terry Gilliam animation bellowing Dinsdale beside various English landmarks as the credits roll Contents 1 Background and details 2 Influence 3 See also 4 ReferencesBackground and details EditThe sketch constitutes a loose pastiche of the real life story of the Kray twins gangsters who maintained an underground criminal outfit based in the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were loosely based on Reggie and Ronnie Kray and the policeman who pursued them Harry Snapper Organs was loosely based on the policeman who led the investigation against the Krays Detective Superintendent Leonard Nipper Read However the Piranhas described methods seem to resemble more closely those used by the rival Richardson Gang and their associate Mad Frankie Fraser The sketch is introduced by a piece of music the Intermezzo from Sibelius s Karelia Suite which was used for many years until 1992 to introduce the Thames Television and previously Associated Rediffusion and Rediffusion London current affairs series This Week A slightly re worked version of the sketch also appeared on the album Another Monty Python Record where in addition to Doug s wide repertoire of sarcasm hyperbole is also included Rather than nuke Luton Airport the brothers are said to have napalmed Cheltenham 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 An almost word for word transcript appeared in Monty Python s Big Red Book Influence EditA heavy metal group took its name Ethel the Frog from this sketch The band is best known for taking part in the Metal for Muthas multi artist compilation album released in 1980 See also EditReggie and Ronnie Kray Bruce George Peter LeeReferences EditThe Monty Python script Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Piranha Brothers amp oldid 1130314077, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
