Fish Licence
Encyclopedia
The Fish Licence is part one of a two-part segment of the popular British television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus
. Eric Praline
, played by John Cleese
, takes on the role of the put-upon customer who, when seeking to obtain a licence for his pet halibut, Eric, has difficulty explaining to the clerk (Michael Palin
) how all pets should be licensed. The pets he mentions are:
This is one of the three appearances by Eric Praline
, along with the Dead Parrot
sketch and a brief appearance as a link the 5th episode of the second series, "Live from the Grill-o-Mat".
The clerk repeatedly calls Praline a 'loony', to which Praline angrily replies by making reference to famous people who kept odd pets. Praline remarks that he has licences for his pet dog Eric and his pet cat Eric. When the clerk says there is no such thing as a cat licence, Praline produces a dog licence form with the word "dog" crossed out and "cat" written in crayon, and explains that the man from the cat detector van (a parody of the TV detector van), which comes from the "Ministry of Housinge", didn't have the right form. Praline paid £60 for the cat licence, and 8 guineas for Eric the fruit bat.
When the clerk assures Praline there is no such thing as (and no need for) a fish licence, Praline requests a statement to that fact signed by the Lord Mayor; whereupon the superhumanly tall Lord Mayor (Graham Chapman
), surrounded by his equally gigantic entourage, enters the office and hands a thunderstuck Praline the signed statement. An announcer (also Cleese) narrates the exchange, ending by saying that Praline has "gone spare
".
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. Eric Praline
Mr Praline
Mr Eric Praline is a fictional character from the television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, played by comedian John Cleese.-Appearances:The Monty Python team consciously decided to avoid recurring characters...
, played by John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, takes on the role of the put-upon customer who, when seeking to obtain a licence for his pet halibut, Eric, has difficulty explaining to the clerk (Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
) how all pets should be licensed. The pets he mentions are:
- Eric the Fish (a halibutHalibutHalibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
) - Eric the Cat
- Eric the Dog
- Eric the Fruit Bat
- Eric the Half Bee
This is one of the three appearances by Eric Praline
Mr Praline
Mr Eric Praline is a fictional character from the television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, played by comedian John Cleese.-Appearances:The Monty Python team consciously decided to avoid recurring characters...
, along with the Dead Parrot
Dead Parrot
The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and one of the most famous in the history of British television comedy...
sketch and a brief appearance as a link the 5th episode of the second series, "Live from the Grill-o-Mat".
The clerk repeatedly calls Praline a 'loony', to which Praline angrily replies by making reference to famous people who kept odd pets. Praline remarks that he has licences for his pet dog Eric and his pet cat Eric. When the clerk says there is no such thing as a cat licence, Praline produces a dog licence form with the word "dog" crossed out and "cat" written in crayon, and explains that the man from the cat detector van (a parody of the TV detector van), which comes from the "Ministry of Housinge", didn't have the right form. Praline paid £60 for the cat licence, and 8 guineas for Eric the fruit bat.
When the clerk assures Praline there is no such thing as (and no need for) a fish licence, Praline requests a statement to that fact signed by the Lord Mayor; whereupon the superhumanly tall Lord Mayor (Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
), surrounded by his equally gigantic entourage, enters the office and hands a thunderstuck Praline the signed statement. An announcer (also Cleese) narrates the exchange, ending by saying that Praline has "gone spare
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
".
Trivia
- OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
's 3.5 release contained a parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
track of both the Fish Licence skit and the song "Eric the Half a Bee", titled "CARPCommon Address Redundancy ProtocolThe Common Address Redundancy Protocol or CARP is a protocol which allows multiple hosts on the same local network to share a set of IP addresses. Its primary purpose is to provide failover redundancy, especially when used with firewalls and routers. In some configurations CARP can also provide...
Licence and Redundancy Must Be Free". - The "Eric the half-a-bee" song is one of John Cleese's personal favourites, which he vastly preferred over sketches like "Ministry of Silly Walks". It is also one of the very few songs Cleese sings himself - usually he mimes to Terry JonesTerry JonesTerence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
.