“Today, more filming for the May Day show, including one gag involving John and myself—in the Grimsby Fish-Slapping dance—which ends up with my being knocked about eight feet into the cold, green, insalubrious waters of the Thames. However, once the waiting is over, this kind of stunt is quite pleasurable—it should almost certainly look funny and you are immediately fished out, undressed and given brandy, which is better treatment than most who fall in the river. Also you experience this pleasant feeling that, just by jumping into the river, you have justified you existence for that day and can relax into a state of quiet euphoria.”
Michael Palin; Monday, March 29, 1971; Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years
