Patsy (Monty Python) Patsy (Monty Python) Patsy is a character in the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the musical "Spamalot". He is played by Terry Gilliam in "Monty Python and The Holy Grail". Serving as King Arthur's assistant, he only has a few simple tasks throughout the entire film, such as using two halves of a coconut to simulate the hoofbeats of Arthur's nonexistent horse. He also announces King Arthur's arrival by trumpet, as when Arthur's group approaches a castle inhabited by French soldiers early in the movie. Patsy has only one line in the film: "It's only a model,"
Monty Python performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts. Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary "Live at Aspen" during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a legendary British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they