![Your Favorite Party Jokes [VHS]](/51B900C7A8LSL500.jpg)
In 1969, five overeducated British comics and an American illustrator ambushed the BBC with the strangest show in British history. How they got on the air is anyone's guess (rumors of blackmail were quickly hushed, though the Python's penchant for sheep gags... but enough of speculation), but their irreverent writing and ludicrous gags transformed the sketch comedy show into a stream-of-consciousness loony bin of absurdity, connected by the outrageous animations of Terry Gilliam. In these first episodes, you can see the sextet working out their technique, mixing music-hall slapstick with their zany brand of ridiculousness. Episode 1, "Whither Canada," features the Funniest Joke in the World (a.k.a. the Killer Joke, which is really nothing other than German gibberish, but don't tell anyone), as well as Famous Deaths Through History hosted by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (John Cleese in a silly wig), interviews with Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson and celebrated film director Sir Edward "Don't call me Eddie Baby" Ross, and a strange fascination with pigs. Episode 2, the teasingly titled "Sex and Violence," features John Cleese and Michael Palin as a pair of French inventors trading mustaches while explaining the finer points of sheep aviation, a man with three buttocks, an investigative report into the mouse crisis, and a wrestling match (two of three falls) to determine the existence of God. --Sean AxmakerPrice: $10.95
From those early days of black & white with Ed Ames' memorable tomahawk toss to Tiny Tim's technicolor wedding to David Letterman and Jay Leno's stand-up debuts. The first decade of the Tonight Show was filled with once-in-a-lifetime classic TV moments. This volume includes Pearl Bailey, Buddy Hacket, Steve Martin, George Carlin, Flip Wilson, Don Rickles, Dolly Parton and Jack Webb in the "copper clapper caper". Plus guests with extra special talents, animals on the loose and Johnny's own hilarious cast of characters. Let the laughs begin...