Those of you who have read my blog for a few years know of Bryan’s love of Arthurian legend in movies and written lore, be it serious or comedic. He’s been a staunch believer of the story for many years, especially after having traveled to Glastonbury Abbey in England, purported site of King Arthur and Guinevere’s final resting place.

Last year, Bryan’s birthday present included a rare metal sculpture of King Arthur which Uncle Brad had bought him while in the U.K. At the same time, we purchased tickets to see “Camelot” on Broadway, also for his birthday last year.

When we picked Bryan up a few weeks ago to fulfill one of his birthday gifts from THIS year – a ticket to the Doylestown County Theater’s Monty Python Fest, he was very excited, sporting his Holy Grail shirt and carrying an immense bag full of notebooks, books and pens.

“Buddy, why do you need to drag along all of that stuff?”, I asked rather impatiently. “I need something to do on the trip to the show.”, he replied. “Hmmm”, I thought. “What does that mean?” I let it slide while he gobbled down a Mexican dinner of sizzling fajitas, which he expertly constructed and consumed. During dinner, he asked, “How long will it take to get there?”. I laughed and told him “Probably two minutes.” He did a double take and exclaimed, “What?!”

I came to find out that Bryan thought we were once again traveling to New York City for the Monty Python extravaganza. Explaining that we were traveling down State Street to the movie theater, I detected a note of disappointment on his face. No NYC? Bummer! An ice cream treat following dinner quickly changed his mood in a positive direction.

Once we entered the theater, he received a Monty Python quote t-shirt and two coconuts. This after galloping down State Street to the theater, right hand aloft, feet mimicking the trotting members of King Arthur’s round table from the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. I didn’t stop him. There were plenty of fans already crowding the sidewalks waiting to enter the County who “got it” and cracked up at his antics.

The whole evening prior to the movie had been one of nonstop Python quotes from the movie which we bantered back and forth while laughing, continuing into the theater where we found good seats, watching some Flying Circus shorts, most of which Bryan didn’t understand. But no matter, once the feature film started Bryan was fully engaged. The best part was that every time Arthur and the knights would trot on their fake horses with ‘Patsy’ clicking his coconut shells, the whole largely-filled auditorium would, likewise, click their shells as the movie rolled. It brought a giggle every time.

Bryan, laughing as he clicked, didn’t miss a beat. Ed and I were surprised that, as he performed a coconut solo following the film, he was right on the rhythm and kept a steady beat with the shells, something that had always escaped him.

As he galloped back to the car clicking away, I was pleased to see that he wasn’t too disappointed not to go to NYC for this birthday gift. He had a great time right in his own backyard!