School Year 1990-1991
Homecoming Parade: Celebrate
Twenty Years of Monty Python (Oops, Year Late)
(page 1 of 2)
At the 1990 homecoming parade, we celebrated 20 years of Monty Python, a year late, due to the unfortunate timing of Graham Chapman's death. I dressed as the Colonel, which was loads of fun because I got to march around and tell everyone else they were too silly.
Here's how I wrote about it in the newsletter:
Celebrate
Twenty Years of Monty Python ...
(oops, year late)
Imagine this... the Penn State Monty Python Society strutting its stuff in front of thousands of drunken alumni: the Pythonoids tossing peanut butter cups to children, handing out communist propaganda, and wielding huge cans of Spam. Though it sounds like a hopeless dream, it actually happened at this year's Homecoming Parade.
We gathered at 302 Bigler Hall. By 4:40, everybody was there except the two residents of the room — myself and Jenny Hoffman (Jen had gone home for a wedding). I sprinted from Rackley building to East Halls, but Cathy had already taken charge and sent everyone down to the parade route.
A quick change later, and the rest of us were off.
The great parade gods stuck us between Delta Tau Delta / Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Upsilon. We were number 41 (damn! One number short of the meaning of life)! At 5:10, the parade commenced... as much as these parades ever do (March ten feet, wait ten minutes. March another ten, wait another ten. Oh, well).
Some of our characters really went over well. The flashers would run up to innocent bystanders and expose themselves (they were fully clothed and wore "Boo!" signs). Abner [Mintz], as a loonie, sung a wonderful song and hit himself on the head. Kzin [Jon Kilgannon] often stopped and put his briefcase on top of other things. The Gumbies said, "HELLOOOOOO!" to everyone.As the colonel, I would approach everyone and say, "Stop this, stop this! This is getting too silly!" And we all did silly walks on request (we even walked silly in front of the judges' stand).
Overall, the parade went smoothly — except for those people on the sidelines reeking with Penn State Pride and Jack Daniels (I wonder if the guards along the parade route were to protect us or them).
Cast (in order of appearance)
Hippie Gumby / Groupie — Jen Smurlo
Military Pootar — Holli Weisman
Leon Davidovitch Trotsky — L.J. Sparvero
The Spanish Inquisition — Cathy Nelson
Cardinal Thang — Meg Jeffery
Attila the Pun — Steve Gradess
Spam Carriers — Andy Wilson, March Sachs
President of the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things — Jon "Kzin" Kilgannon
Man with Dead Parrot from "The Pet Shop Sketch" — Paul Yacisin
Deluded Minstrel — Budd "Ned" Wilkins
Flashers — Doug "Without a Nick Name" Miller, Stephen Coates
The Colonel (This is getting too silly) — Alyce Wilson
A Loonie — Abner Mintz
D.B. Gumby (Helloooooo) — Damon Buckwalter
"Rabbit" with sign — Matt Pyson Banner Designers - Alyce and Holli
Spam Designer — Cathy Nelson
