Parrot Shopkeeper

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The character's existence is rooted in the absurdity of denying reality. He operates on the premise that a parrot, which is not native to Norway and has been nailed to its perch, is still alive. When Mr Praline (played by John Cleese) enters to complain about his 'Norwegian Blue', the shopkeeper offers increasingly ridiculous euphemisms for death, claiming the bird is 'pining for the fjords' or has merely been 'stunned'. The conflict escalates when the shopkeeper attempts to revive the bird by hitting the cage and later directs Praline to a branch in Bolton. There, he reappears disguised with a false moustache as his own brother, falsely claiming the location is Ipswich because he believes it is a palindrome for Bolton. He only admits defeat after Praline points out that 'Notlob' would be the actual palindrome, at which point the sketch is abruptly ended by the arrival of a Colonel (Graham Chapman) who orders it to stop.

In Their Own Story

The scene begins with Mr Praline entering just as the shopkeeper prepares to close for lunch. Despite being told the bird is dead and nailed down, the proprietor insists on its vitality. As Praline erupts in rage after banging 'Polly Parrot' on the counter, the shopkeeper lists several euphemisms: the bird 'is no more', has 'ceased to be', is 'bereft of life', 'rests in peace', and is an 'ex-parrot'. Refusing a refund at this location, he sends Praline to his brother's shop in Bolton. Praline travels there only to find the same store with his cage on the floor; the new proprietor (the original shopkeeper in a fake moustache) claims they are in Ipswich. When Praline returns to the station, an attendant confirms he is in Bolton. Confronting the 'brother', the shopkeeper admits it was a prank because he thought Ipswich was a palindrome for Bolton. Upon being corrected that the reverse of Bolton is 'Notlob', the shopkeeper demands to know what Praline wants. Praline refuses to continue, stating 'this is getting too silly', prompting the Colonel to burst in and halt the performance.

Reader's Guide

The Parrot Shopkeeper's defining trait is his semantic gymnastics used to evade admitting a sale was defective. He transitions from claiming the bird is alive to suggesting it is merely resting or stunned. In live performances, variations exist: the Drury Lane version ends with him offering a talking slug; the 1976 City Center performance concludes with him asking Mr Praline if he wants to 'come back to my place', to which Praline replies, 'I thought you'd never ask.' In the film And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), the sketch ends with the shopkeeper claiming he always wanted to be a lumberjack and singing 'The Lumberjack Song'. During the 2014 Monty Python Live (Mostly) reunion, the sketch ended similarly by transitioning into the Cheese Shop Sketch. The character has no name other than 'shopkeeper' or 'Mr Praline's opponent', representing the archetype of an unyielding merchant facing undeniable evidence.

Did You Know?

• The sketch was inspired by a 'Car Salesman' routine from How to Irritate People, based on an actual incident where Michael Palin encountered a salesman who had an excuse for everything.
• In early drafts of the sketch, the frustrated customer was attempting to return a faulty toaster before Graham Chapman decided the situation needed to be 'madder' and suggested using a parrot.
• During a 1976 Amnesty International performance, Michael Palin burst into laughter while John Cleese asked about the 'pining for the fjords' line, but quickly composed himself as Cleese declared 'This is nothing to laugh at!'
• In the 2006 diary, Michael Palin recalled that Spike Milligan visited the Pythons in Tunisia and performed his own version of the sketch, changing 'Norwegian Blue' to 'Arctic Grey'.
• Margaret Thatcher famously used the sketch in a 1990 speech against the Liberal Democrats, though her former secretary John Whittingdale noted she did not initially understand why the joke was funny.