Amanda Robles and Cast Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

One of their most recent efforts (spearheaded primarily by Python member Eric Idle, who wrote the music along with John Du Prez) is the musical Monty Python's Spamalot, which premiered on Broadway in 2005 and is once again on the boards in a national tour, opening this week at ATG San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre. "Lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot follows the basic plot line of the film, includes many of its most famous scenes and, for good measure, also draws from other elements in the Python oeuvre.

A warning: If silliness is not your thing, best stay far, far away from Spamalot, for it's likely one of the silliest musicals ever to hit any stage. How else to describe a show that begins with an historian (Steven Telsey) informing us we are going back to England in the year 932 AD, only to have the curtain rise to reveal singers and dancers in garishly colorful costumes belting out "Finland, Finland, Finland" as they slap each other with fish in the opening number, "Fisch Schlapping Song"? And it only gets sillier after that.

Once the cast is reminded that the action takes place in first millennium England, the story begins. King Arthur (Major Attaway) roams the countryside with his fair steed, Patsy (Blake Segal), who is not a horse but a diminutive man burdened by a load of valises/trunks on his back and using a pair of coconut halves to simulate the sound of horses's hooves. He first meets Robin (Sean Bell), a collector of bodies ("Bring out your dead!"), and Lancelot (Chris Collins-Pisano), who has a corpse he wants disposed of. One problem–the corpse, true to his name in the show's program, Not Dead Fred (also Steven Telsey) is not yet dead, a condition celebrated in the song "I Am Not Dead Yet." No worries, for Lancelot, who has a rather wide murderous streak, finishes off Not Dead Fred with a shovel blow to the head.

Once Arthur convinces Robin and Lancelot to join his court at Camelot, he moves on to find other would-be knights, beginning with one Sir Dennis Galahad (Leo Roberts), who is living in an "anarcho-syndicalist commune" and mercilessly mocks Arthur's claims of kingship due to his having been given the sword Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake. "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government," Galahad informs Arthur. "Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!" But when Arthur summons the Lady of the Lake (Amanda Robles) and her Laker Girls, Galahad is convinced and joins the Lady in the hysterical send-up of Broadway ballads, "The Song That Goes Like This."

Along with another knight, Sir Bedevere (Ellis C. Dawson III), Arthur's troupe assembles in a Camelot reimagined as a Vegas knockoff, and Arthur is soon tasked by God himself to embark on a quest to find the Holy Grail, the cup Christ allegedly used at the Last Supper.

On their travels, they will face ever-sillier challenges, including The Knights Who Say "Ni!," the French taunters ("Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"), the Black Knight ("'Tis but a scratch"), and Tim the Enchanter. Fortunately for those of us in the audience, the cast embrace the silliness fully, and perform their parts with tremendous comic aplomb and not-insignificant vocal chops. To wit, as The Lady of the Lake, Amanda Robles takes every opportunity to scat and perform wild runs that are simultaneously in perfect pitch and wildly over-the-top. Perhaps the most surprising voice in the cast comes from Leo Roberts, whose comedy skills are so precisely honed that I was shocked someone so funny could also have such an amazingly resonant baritone, and a range that can also soar into tenor territory.

The cast is clearly having a fantastic time with the show, embracing the silliness, and adding some contemporary references to the classic Python elements, including jokes about George Santos, a reference to Snoop Dogg's and Dr. Dre's "Nothin' But a 'G' Thang," and the mysterious tween slang term "6-7." Sean Bell has a wildly expressive mug, making his portrayal of Sir Robin a highlight of the evening. Attaway's King Arthur is delightfully officious, and his commanding stage presence provides a sort of lodestone for the knight's quest.

Python fans who haven't yet seen Monty Python's Spamalot should immediately get themselves to the Golden Gate. Non-fans should likewise purchase tickets and join the ranks. It's a crazy world out there at the moment, but this megadose of silliness is a perfect two hour and 20 minute escape into the joy of laughter.

Monty Python's Spamalot runs through March 22, 2026 at SHN's Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor Street, San Francisco CA. Tickets range from $62.01-$193.05. For tickets and information, please visit broadwaysf.com or call the box office at 888-746-1799. For information on the tour, visit spamalotthemusical.com/