Monty Python characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film. The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl show were sourced from the 35mm prints, and thus suffered from poor quality due to the tape-to-film recording technology used in 1980 that increasingly became out-of-date. In 2008, the original 1,000 lines 1-inch video tapes were digitised and remastered to create a high-quality PAL DVD release. In Europe, this remastered widescreen transfer is available as a standalone Region 2 DVD. In North America, the film is available only as the older lesser-quality full-frame version taken from the 35mm prints, as part of a two-disc set titled "Monty Python Live", which includes the 1998 "Monty Python Live at Aspen" retrospective and