Seriously, you know you have made it big when even the Prime Minister uses catch phrases and entire passages from your sketches which were made 20 years ago and still get a resounding response from all levels of society nevertheless!

Such was the impact of Monty Python.

Margaret Thatcher's speech in 1990 about the Liberal Party's new symbol - "a bird of some kind". While the catchphrase "and now for something completely different" did not come from the Dead Parrot sketch specifically, it is also a uniquely Python creation used mainly in Monty Python's Flying Circus to link various sketches together without resorting to the use of puns and punchlines.


Monty Python's evergreen sketch, The Dead Parrot Sketch, which made its debut in 1969.

" 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"


John Cleese also used this in his rather unusual eulogy at Graham Chapman's memorial service.


Another famous Monty Python creation which entered popular culture was the use of Spam (ie. luncheon meat) in their sketch. Thanks to this sketch, "spam" is now used to refer to repetitive and unwanted junk email. Read all about it here.