Monty Python's Spamalot Serves Up Surprises

"Spamalot" seemed like the logical entertainment choice. I don't gamble. We were in Las Vegas an entire week. And after all, the word "spam" in the "unsolicited bulk electronic advertisement" sense of the word, is derived from the 1970 Monty Python sketch of the same name (Spam). So our decision seemed fitting.

Now you'd think that connecting the chipper Monty Python musical and the annoying unsolicited advertisements used as social engineering tools by profiteers and the cyber underground might be a bit of a stretch. But I'll take a crack at it.

Here's the story: King Author and his compatriot Patsy are galloping around the country, trying to gather a band of knights in a quest for, you got it, the Holy Grail. Along the way they, they attempt to gather a merry band of rag tag knights, and find Sir Lancelot, Sir Dennis Galahad, Sir Bedevere and Sir Robin. Paralleling the film, the Knights of the Round Table pass through a mud village ridden with Bubonic plague victims, challenge the Black Knight to a duel, and get in a battle of wits (and livestock) with taunting French knights guarding a castle.

Other scenes are familiar. The mortician wheels his cart through the mud village calling "Bring out your dead." (Although in "Spamalot" the plague victims wake up and dance in their own music number. And you'll see knights dancing Kozak-style on tables, and chanting monks hit themselves on the head with two-by-fours. The Knights of the Round Table make their way through the "very expensive forest" where they encounter the knights who say "Nee."

A lot of the musical numbers are familiar -- the catchy "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life," "Knights Of the Round Table," and "Brave Sir Robin" being some of the most memorable.

However, Spamalot offers up more than a few surprises. King Arthur meets up with the Lady of the Lake, and her posse of Grail Girls, who dazzle the knights in a flurry of glittering, feathery costumes.

Sir Lancelot discovers he's strangely attracted to the poor young Prince Herbert yearning to be rescued from a forced marriage by his avaricious father, who has arranged the marriage presumably to increase his landholdings. Not surprisingly, it's safe to say that the attraction is not entirely one-sided, opening doors for new relationship possibilities for King Arthur's prized knight.

Meanwhile, Sir Robin discovers that the knighthood isn't really his cup of tea and, upon realizing some hidden musical talent, decides to pursue a career on Broadway, while lamenting the fact that he's not Jewish. And while I wouldn't want to give away the ending, I was the only audience member who caught the bouquet.

The takeaway? Spam (or spamalot for that matter) is random and chaotic, often surprising you with a journey that takes you to places that you'd never otherwise though you'd go.

Okay, maybe it would have been easier to talk about how Spamalot and spam are, well, not alike. But, anyone staying on the Strip, for a conference or otherwise, is guaranteed to have a welcome break from the frenetic pace of a Vegas conference after attending this show.

And as I wiped away tears away from laughing so hard, I can honestly say that "Spamalot" provided me and my colleagues, one of the most enjoyable evenings we have ever had in Vegas.