Monty Python reunion: Top 12 videos for parent-kid bonding

Monty Python – the absurdist British comedy troupe whose BBC series “Monty Python and the Flying Circus” ran from 1969 to 1974 –  is reuniting for a stage show. And that means parents will have an excuse to introduce their kids via video to the group’s skits that run rings around modern humor with riffs on silly walks, dead parrots, and Spam.

Of all the things we hand down to our children, our sense of humor is the one thing that will never lose its value, particularly if it’s coiled around them like a Monty Python, squeezing out every last chuckle. At our house, when tempers begin to fray, one sarcastic little ditty from Monty Python has seen me through the plagues of life and parenthood, “Always look on the bright side of life.”

If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten, and that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing. When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps, just purse your lips and whistle that's the thing. And ... always look on the bright side of life...

For my husband and our son Ian, 18, it’s the Python bit from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” in which the old king tries to pass on his kingdom to his son Erbert.

“One day, lad, all this will be yours,” the proud king tells his son, as he points to the window and the kingdom beyond.

Erbert, being somewhat clueless, stares blankly at the window and replies, “What? The curtains?”

The kingdom, not the curtains, is what dear old Dad wants his son to see, and in that moment of total disconnect, parents find their common ground.

Here are the Top 12 best Monty Python videos to watch with your kids in order to attain maximum laughs and bonding.

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A scene from the Monty Python dead parrot skit.

1. Silly Olympics

Events like the 200-yard freestyle for non-swimmers and the chicken steeplechase take the gold for things to do with kids because, aside from the sketch itself, this is the ultimate birthday party game.

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