The London cast of the musical Monty Python's Spamalot joined with over five thousand of members of the public, to break the world record for the "largest coconut orchestra".

Two former Pythons - Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam - led the 5,567-strong coconut orchestra in London's Trafalgar Square last Monday night, singing and clopping their way through the Monty Python classic song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

Their effort smashed the previous record of 1,789 set in March 2006 outside Broadway's Schubert Theatre. (That performance celebrated the one year anniversary of the New York production of the hit musical Spamalot).

The West End cast of Spamalot, including Hannah Waddingham (Lady of the Lake) and Tim Goodman-Hill (Sir Lancelot), taught members of the public how to 'clip-clop' in time to the well-known song. In the show, King Arthur's servant Patsy (played by David Birrell) uses coconut shells to make the noise of horse hooves clip-clopping during the show.


Monty Python's Terry Jones explained to the crowd the idea of a coconut orchestra originally came about during the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail... "About halfway through filming we realised we couldn't afford horses and had to stick to coconuts".

The unusual achievement was recognised immediately after the performance by the people from Guinness World Records, for the "most people gathered in one location playing coconuts." ;-)





* Whatsonstage.com: Pythons & Spamalot Fans Smash Record
* Reuters: "Spamalots" smash world coconut orchestra record
* BroadwayWorld.com: UK Spamalot Breaks Coconut Orchestra Record