The Fish-Slapping Dance is a comedy sketch written and performed by the Monty Python team. The sketch was originally recorded in 1971 for a pan-European May Day special titled Euroshow 71. In 1972 it was broadcast as part of episode two of series three of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which was titled "Mr & Mrs Brian Norris' Ford Popular". Overview The sketch stars John Cleese and Michael Palin in safari outfits and pith helmets at the side of a lock (Teddington Lock in west London to be more specific). Both are facing each other and light orchestral music plays while Palin dances towards Cleese, lightly slapping him in the face with two small pilchards, and returning to his starting spot. After Palin does this four times, he returns to his starting spot and stands still. In traditional British folk dancing, of which this is reminiscent, one would now expect the other dancer to repeat these steps. Instead, the music stops, Cleese reveals his fish – a much larger trout – and clobbers Palin on the head with it, knocking him into the water several feet below. Palin has discussed in various interviews how on rehearsal, the lock was raised, however, when the filming took place, it was lowered and he had to dive a frightening height on his jump. In the 1972 Python episode the scene then changes to a Terry Gilliam animation in which a cartoon-version of Palin's character sinks into the Canal until eaten by a giant German fish with a swastika on its body, then that fish is eaten by a bigger British one with a Royal Air Force roundel, and then that fish is eaten by an even bigger Chinese fish with a red star on its head. The music is "Merrymakers Dance" from "Nell Gwyn suite" by British composer Sir Edward German (1862–1936). The sketch is about 20 seconds long, but its situational non-verbal portrayal endears it to the audience. It remains one of Michael Palin's favourite routines on the show, and he made it the centrepiece of his own choice of sketches for his Monty Python's Personal Best miniseries episode. Palin has stated that the sketch summarizes concisely what Python is all about. In popular culture In the Monty Python-derived Broadway show Spamalot, written by Eric Idle, there is a song called "The Fisch Schlapping Song", sung by pseudo-Finnish people, before the historian abruptly