Monty Python interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of "Not the Messiah" at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In June 2011, it was announced that
Monty Python Izzard hosted "The Life of Python" (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as "Live at Aspen"). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on his style of comedy and Cleese has referred to him as "the lost Python". Series director of "Flying Cirus", Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film "And Now for Something Completely Different". Apart from Neil Innes, others