Dead Parrot

To mark the very last Monty Python live show on UKTV Gold this Sunday, a 15 metre high sculpture of a Norwegian Blue parrot hanging upside down from a crane has been unveiled on Southbank. The painted fibre glass sculpture, designed by Dave Crosswell, Iain Prendergast and Toby Crowther, captures the comedy value of the dead parrot, “the hero of Monty Python’s most celebrated sketch,” says Croswell. Commissioned to commemorate the 45^th anniversary of the first screening of the comedy group’s Pet Shop scene in which John Cleese plays an infuriated customer trying to get his money back from Michael Palin, a tenacious pet salesman, having been voted their best sketch by 45% of TV channel Gold’s viewers. On Sunday the sculpture is being taken to the O2 for fans to see it at the final broadcast of Monty Python Live (Mostly): One down, five to go.