Whats the name of the head of the Spanish Inquisition, anyway?
Cardinal Ximinez (pronounced him-EEE-neth). The real Cardinal was a nasty type and leader of the real Inquisition. Michael Palin, who plays the cardinal, wrote the sketch himself in a stream-of-consciousness way, throwing the odd colloquialism “I didn’t expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition!” into an otherwise normal sketch and then getting a famously absurd idea from it. The other Cardinals are Terry Gilliam as Fang (named for a humor magazine he once edited) and Terry Jones as Biggles (from a British children’s book hero). Q: Who is Biggles, anyway? A: A very straight-laced aviator type who starred in a slew of British children’s books during the 40s and figured in many Python sketches. Q: What is the name of Michael Palin’s character in the “Barber/Lumberjack” sketch? A: Bevis the Barber. As in, “Oh Bevis, I thought you were so rugged!” Q: What is the German word for “Lumberjack?” A: “Holzfeller.” Q: Mugga mugga mugga? A: Eee dinky decky doo! Munnuah? Munnuuaahh!! YARB! YARB! YAAARRR
