when you think of an embarrassing memory try and remember this:
think of one person, it could be your best friend or a random classmate/ coworker
now try and remember two embarrassing things they’ve done in their lives
if you cant, chances are no one can remember yours!
if you can remember, do you really care? probably not. how often do you reflect on other peoples lives? probably not often. no one reallycares about your embarrassing moment either! they’re too busy thinking about theirs.
“I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free… Why am I so changed? I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.”
This whole bit is made all the funnier by knowing that all of the guards were just random extras who weren’t told what was going to happen only that they weren’t allowed laugh at any cost as they wouldn’t be payed if they did.
At uni I took a screenwriting course from THIS VERY GUARD EXTRA (who went on to contribute to some of the Python stuff), who confirms this and also that Michael Palin would use different ridiculous names in every take, so they couldn’t even prepare themselves for hearing it.
if it happened at all, it happened like that 