
Terry Jones has died - acdanger
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51209197
======
pseudolus
Not only a comedian/actor/writer but also a fine medievalist who engaged in
original scholarship. Some years ago he caused quite a stir in Chaucerian
circles by arguing that the Knight in the Knight's Tale (Canterbury Tales) was
not actually the ideal of a knight but rather a mercenary and further, that
the Knight's Tale, rather than being an ode to chivalry, "emerges...as a hymn
to tyranny, dressed-up in the rags of a chivalric romance."[0] This sounds
fairly minor but it's an interpretation, albeit one not wholly accepted by
many scholars, that upended centuries of scholarship. An impressive
achievement.

[0] [http://smuhlberger.blogspot.com/2007/03/chaucers-knight-
by-t...](http://smuhlberger.blogspot.com/2007/03/chaucers-knight-by-terry-
jones.htm)

~~~
vanderZwan
> _Not only a comedian /actor/writer but also a fine medievalist who engaged
> in original scholarship._

As much as I loved discovering Monty Python in my college years, I think I've
watched more episodes of Terry Jones' history documentaries than Monty Python
episodes. A lot of of them are on YT, uploaded way back when 480p was the best
you could get. I would love to see them again in high quality some day though.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Link(s) for archival purposes?

EDIT: Thank you, it is appreciated. Archived.

~~~
vanderZwan
I just searched for it for you, and by coincidence found one I hadn't seen
myself yet! _The Hidden History Of Egypt with Terry Jones_ [0]. Aren't I
lucky? I can honor the man while treating myself.

Anyway, these playlist[1][2] contains his _Medieval Lives_ series as well as a
few about the Romans (I think there were more episodes in that series though).
Sadly, his _Crusades_ and _Barbarians_ series have all been blocked. There are
also a few other documentaries he hosted - including one about the number one!

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVw6b15w8Ys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVw6b15w8Ys)

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbisfXkmOx8&list=PLEr7udSNoJ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbisfXkmOx8&list=PLEr7udSNoJQPbn36sutvWLbC8fl4CUhVk)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrLQW1vQklE&list=PLaaaWAUe8c...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrLQW1vQklE&list=PLaaaWAUe8cR6S7KKreTa771YUPBqMJz80&index=13)

~~~
AQuantized
Thanks for these great links! Terry seems to have a penchant for alternative
hypotheses, and a refreshingly entertaining style of presentation.

~~~
vanderZwan
Makes perfect sense to me - I would have had a harder time reconciling a
legendary absurdist contrarian comedian with a conformist historian! ;)

------
danabrams
I got to take a writing workshop with him once and I’m proud to say I made him
laugh. He was very kind, and obviously had great stories.

Python was very much a group effort, but I think he made an enormous
difference behind the scenes.

~~~
ryanmercer
I got Kevin Smith laughing hysterically on stage once without even trying, I
felt like I'd unlocked some life achievement, it was awesome. I can only
imagine how great it would be to get a laugh out of a legend like Terry Jones!

~~~
komali2
I vaguely remember Dan Harmon talking about this on his podcast, lord knows
which episode. Basically about how his audience or random people he brings up
on stage can spontaneously cause him to crack up more than any professional.

He reasoned that since he's a professional, when he watches another comedian
act, he pretty much knows what's going on under the hood. He can predict where
a joke is going because there are tried and true formulas, he can see through
their pacing, etc. But if a noob cracks one, even if it's a joke he's heard
before, he knows there's probably none of the calculation that a pro puts into
it. It was a genuine thing, which makes it all the more hilarious to him.

~~~
toyg
That might also be why he enjoys the company of that box of randomness going
by the name "Rob Schrab".

------
PaulRobinson
The type of dementia he had - FTD - sounds particularly painful for somebody
who had such a strong personality and who clearly loved writing and language
as much as he did.

I've put together a JustGiving page to raise money for the leading charity in
this area in the UK, with the hope that in Terry's memory a few people might
be able to say thank you with a few quid.

[https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Terry-Jones-
RIP](https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Terry-Jones-RIP)

RIP Terry.

~~~
lentil
Great idea. Thanks for setting that up!

------
drawkbox
Not ready for Monty Python crew to kick off, what legends that changed
everything, for the better.

Some Terry Jones quotes:

> _" Some people are passionate about aisles, others about window seats."_

> _" The funny thing about history is that we imagine that people didn't laugh
> in the old days, but of course they did, at stupid things."_

> _" Every age sort of has its own history. History is really the stories that
> we retell to ourselves to make them relevant to every age. So we put our own
> values and our own spin on it."_

> _" I'm cheerfully optimistic about life. Optimism is very important!"_

We'll try to be optimistic Terry Jones, we'll try and thanks for helping by
making us think critically and laugh at the absurdity of things. Always look
on the bright side of life.

~~~
WalterBright
> "Some people are passionate about aisles, others about window seats."

Isn't anyone passionate about center seats?

~~~
inpdx
I passionately hate them.

------
WorldMaker
Terry Jones wrote the novelization (and voiced the audiobook of that
novelization) of the videogame Starship Titanic. That novelization and its
audiobook are two of the best things about the game Starship Titanic. The game
is more associated generally with Douglas Adams, but the novelization was
entirely Terry Jones. Worth a read or a listen if you get a chance, whether or
not you have played or have any interest in playing the game.

(The game is a weird relic of a Myst clone that wanted to be a Parser IF game
and had delusions/experiments of using early chat bot AI/ML that mostly fall
flat.)

(The game was published through traditional book publisher Simon & Schuster,
and requiring that novelization was probably the smartest thing they did. I
will forever recommend the book.)

~~~
0xff00ffee
I remember getting emails from Stevedave and Davesteve for weeks after signing
up!

Sadly, shortly after that Adams died. I bought "Salmon of Doubt" and it took
me almost 10 years to read it because I didn't want to read his final words.

~~~
vmarshall23
Same. Read every other Adams book at least a dozen times. That one sits on the
shelf untouched.

------
Razengan
One of the best "morbid motivations", from Terry:

[https://i.imgur.com/5J0AH6T.mp4](https://i.imgur.com/5J0AH6T.mp4)

------
presiozo
If you’ve already watched Holy Grail, Life of Brian and Meaning of Life so
many times, you know them by heart. You should watch Monty Python’s Flying
Circus - Season 4 next. It’s the one they did without John Cleese. Some of the
stuff in there is so surreal and out there, that it feels different from the
other stuff they did as a group.

It’s a great way to remember this beautiful man.

------
clSTophEjUdRanu
Years of living in a shoebox in the middle of the road will do that to you.

Rest in peace.

~~~
neilwilson
If you love the Four Yorkshiremen sketch you'll love Capstick Comes Home

[https://youtu.be/I2AcJSkUw6M](https://youtu.be/I2AcJSkUw6M)

They are only slightly exaggerated from the war stories you got as a kid.

~~~
jaclaz
Just in case, adapted to computing:

[https://tinyapps.org/blog/200702250700_why_in_my_day.html](https://tinyapps.org/blog/200702250700_why_in_my_day.html)

------
Angostura
No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'!

So long Terry and thank you for making the world a better place.

~~~
alexgmcm
He's pining for the fjords!

------
growlist
Worth pointing out that the current political climate at the BBC would render
Monty Python impossible to make today, and apparently this is considered
progress.

~~~
tajd
Not entirely sure about that.

I enjoy listening to the shows "Dead Ringers" and "The Now Show" on Radio 4
which provide pretty accurate satire of current politics. Other enjoyable
comedy sketch shows include "That Mitchell and Webb look" and "Harry and
Paul".

There remains hope.

~~~
growlist
Well...

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2018/08/04/bbc-
wouldnt-d...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2018/08/04/bbc-wouldnt-dare-
make-comedy-like-monty-python-today/)

[https://metro.co.uk/2018/07/05/monty-python-actor-terry-
gill...](https://metro.co.uk/2018/07/05/monty-python-actor-terry-gilliam-
criticises-bbcs-move-towards-diversity-calls-black-lesbian-7687186/)

[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5898519/BBC-boss-
sa...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5898519/BBC-boss-says-reject-
Monty-Python-today-privileged-white-men.html)

~~~
nemo
Tabloids and opinion pieces in deeply partisan papers are what they are, but
they aren't at all reliable for establishing truth.

Sadly, many Pythons got old, lost their edge, and wound up wealthy entitled
out-of-touch conservative old men - their complaints reflect their own
shortcomings more than anything else.

Terry Jones was one of the exceptions, which makes his loss all the sadder.

~~~
farazbabar
Its not what the tabloid said, it is what the senior leadership of bbc said.
Specifically saying this sort of combination (regardless of talent or
chemistry) is not going to happen today. Sad, that is.

~~~
nemo
My takeaway from the Telegraph opinion piece is a bit different, and the
opinion writer's conclusions don't follow from the premises, but if you'd like
to believe it, feel free.

------
goda90
SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM...

And hence we now call unwanted emails Spam. RIP Terry

------
pfdietz
Turing Award winner Robert Floyd also died of a form of FTD, Pick's Disease.
He was only 65.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Floyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Floyd)

------
mmusson
I was thinking that giant foot finally caught him.

------
Graham24
He's not the Messiah, he's...

~~~
BuildTheRobots
... the actor that played his mum.

~~~
coldtea
I think the grandparent was just quoting what Jones (as the mum) said in the
movie tho, not saying he played the Messiah: "He's not the Messiah, he's a
very naughty boy".

~~~
quirkafleeg3
cant tell if you dont get the joke, or if i dont get your joke

~~~
coldtea
I don't think there's much of a joke to get.

My reading is:

1) Someone (person A) said "He's not the messiah, he's..."

2) Another (person B) thought A meant that Terry Jones played the messiah
(Brian) and corrected them by writing "...he's the actor that played his mum".

3) I stepped in to say, I don't think A implied Terry did was the messiah in
the movie, he just referenced one of Terry's lines from the movie.

Makes sense?

Was there some joke I've missed?

~~~
SalientBlue
Yes. The joke was that Person A's comment, replying to an article about Jones,
makes it seem as if the 'he' in the line is referring to Jones, not the baby
Messiah from the movie. B then subverted the expected conclusion of Jones'
line "...he's a very naughty boy" with a fact about Jones himself: "he's the
actor that played his mum". Person B was aware of Jones' line and played off
it.

~~~
BuildTheRobots
This was indeed the joke I was aiming for - though in reality it was probably
as funny as coldtea thought...

~~~
SalientBlue
I dunno, I liked it. Every joke sounds bad when someone breaks it down like I
did.

~~~
Lio
I liked it too.

 _“Analysing comedy is like dissecting a frog. Nobody laughs and the frog
dies.”_

\- Barry Cryer

------
Carpetsmoker
The real question now is what will happen to his two sheds.

------
dundercoder
He’s on his way to deliver the Spanish Inquisition!

Thanks for the laughs, Terry!

~~~
anon463637
The devil will never expect it and beg God to get rid of this ruffian,
troublemaker layabout.

------
raverbashing
RIP

It's funny how Monty Python humor seemed to have struck a chord with a
technical audience (of course, not only them).

I wonder what the former-BDFL of Python has to say about it.

------
ravenstine
I'm sad to hear this, but also glad for him because he lead a very
accomplished life.

For those of you who haven't seen Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, there are
episodes on YouTube. Highly recommended.

------
tempodox
May Brian welcome him at the threshold of whatever comes after. He will not
soon be forgotten here.

------
redleggedfrog
Just guessing, but he probably made people laugh millions of times. I know I
did my part.

What a great gift to humanity. I'll revisit his works for the rest of my life.

------
jaimebuelta
:____(

------
devpts11
I hope they dressed him in a women's costume for his part in the hereafter.

------
throwawaymanbot
He is now an ex Terry Jones!

------
lr4444lr
Wow. Hope this gets a black bar.

