Suzy Eddie Izzard Saves (Possibly Nude) Monty Python Statue

Good news for fans of comedy and/or public displays of gratuitous nudity: The GoFundMe campaign dubbed “A Python on a Prom” has finally met its goal. As we’ve mentioned before, the crowdfunding effort was all in the service of erecting a statue of late Monty Python member Terry Jones on the promenade in Colwyn Bay, Wales, where he spent his early childhood. 

While the plans haven’t been finalized, a not insignificant number of fans have suggested that the statue should depict Jones as the Pythons’ nude organist character.

The campaign, which began last fall, raised public awareness through an exhibition of Terry Jones’ archival materials, and also by enlisting the help of every single surviving member of Monty Python. Amazingly, this one project may be the one thing that these guys have all managed to agree on in the past decade. 

According to The Daily Post, the target of £120,000 was met, and exceeded, thanks to a generous donation from comedian and Python superfan Suzy Eddie Izzard. While the funds were slightly shy of their goal, earlier this week, Izzard donated a whopping £6,000.

“We are absolutely stunned that we’ve hit our target and want to thank everyone who has made a donation or bought a campaign T-shirt,” read a statement from Terry’s daughter Sally Jones and her brother Bill, who led the campaign. “We have had donations from all over the world, and everyone has been so overwhelmingly positive about having a statue of our old Dad. Just like us, we are sure he would have been blown away by the response.”

It’s perhaps no surprise that Izzard is one of the heroes of this story, considering her history with the troupe. Izzard once called Monty Python “the most influential comedy group in the entire history of the world,” adding that “Monty Python's Flying Circus didn’t just do comedy — they changed the nature of comedy by making it an art form.”

And that admiration was a two-way street. John Cleese called Izzard the “lost Python,” and that designation was more or less confirmed when Izzard joined the Pythons for a reunion event at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 1998 — until she was escorted off of the stage by Michael Palin and Eric Idle.  

And Izzard clearly has a deep admiration for Terry Jones. After Jones passed away in 2020, Izzard wrote in The Guardian that “Terry was the guardian of the Python spirit. He saved the tapes that were going to be wiped by the BBC for new recordings. And he was such an energy behind them, directing the main films the team produced, including Life of Brian, which is a masterpiece.” Izzard also noted that Jones was “fun and kind and curious: a good person to spend time with.”

Now, Izzard has ensured that one of her comedy heroes will be immortalized in bronze — possibly with their bare bottom out for everyone to see.