Feast of Saint Graham

Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,

This week we celebrate the feast of Saint Graham. It would have been Graham Chapman's 66th birthday last Monday. In addition to being King Arthur and Brian, he appeared in innumerable sketches in Monty Python's Flying Circus including my personal favorites "Colin 'Bomber' Harris vs. Colin 'Bomber' Harris" and as the bookshelf climbing mountaineer in "Kilimanjaro Expedition," and the instructor in "Flying Lessons."

Despite the fact that in Flying Circus sketches he often played the straight man, in real life he wasn't. Graham Chapman was one of the first major public figures to come out of the closet, revealing his orientation in 1972, and became a well-known voice in Britain's gay rights movement.

A medical doctor by training, he sadly sacrificed his own health to alcohol and tobacco, ultimately contracting throat cancer which took him up with Saint Shecky. If you have never seen the eulogy John Cleese delivered at his funeral, it is well worth the look.

We close this week's sermon with a central teaching of Comedism. Quoting from Saint Graham,

"You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody. You've got to think for yourselves. You are all individuals. You're all different. You've got to work it out for yourselves. Don't let anyone tell you what to do."

Now, piss off.

Live, love, and laugh

Irreverend Steve