Pop & Pop: A father's fondness for Monty Python

Note: This essay is part of "Pop & Pop," a two-week series where readers celebrate fatherhood and pop culture. It was written by Jacqueline Delibes in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dad was born in Holland and educated there, France and England. He was fluent in six languages, his outlook was morose and he drank too much.

But boy, did he love outrageous British humor. What a relief to witness and share his laughter, usually via something we watched on TV.

By the time I was born, Dad was already well into middle age. He'd been through the war and had fought as a teenager in the Dutch underground during World War II. He was a quiet guy; he stayed pretty shut down, and understandably so.

One exception was when Mom made dinner and I'd sit at the front of the bed while Dad relaxed against his pillows and we'd watch reruns of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It made Dad laugh in such a gratifying way, and his wild appreciation for the show's absurdism helped me embrace its gallows humor and general social mockery.

An unexpected side benefit emerged from our comedy viewing: Being able to pop off Monty Python references in ninth grade kept me in an esoteric category that, at an all-girls convent school, protected me from the taunting that can come with the territory.

Friends and I re-created Python's famous fish-slapping dance and "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketches the minute we got a break from earth science. If we got a few blank looks, we didn't notice.

I got such joy watching Dad collapse at anything really silly, and he was the first influential force to sculpt my offbeat taste. Today, I write humorous short scripts and am a comedic actor and improviser. Dad never got to see my work. I wish he could, and maybe I'd hear him giggle like a mischievous 7-year-old.

I think Dad liked living in the States; the optimism was good for him. I tried to get him to walk in the sun, but he would grumble. He got most of his light from watching TV with me, laughing at progressive comedic geniuses like Monty Python and inspiring me to dare to emulate my heroes.

Previously:

- Growing up with a cool, music-loving dad

- A reader shares her father's love of Yakky the duck

- A father's passion for The Price is Right

- A reader attends a Pavement show with Dad

- Read our "Mom & Pop" series about motherhood and pop culture