Mr Praline

Mr Eric Praline is a fictional character from the television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, played by comedian John Cleese.

The Monty Python team consciously decided to avoid recurring characters. Along with Terry Jones/Terry Gilliam's nude organist, Michael Palin's "It's" man, the Gumbys and Graham Chapman's Colonel, Mr Praline was one of the few deemed popular and useful enough for multiple appearances. Praline's initial appearance was in a first series episode during a vox pop segment, to announce that he would be appearing later in the show. This he did as a Police Inspector, following up on the case of Whizzo's Chocolates (hence his name, praline being a kind of hazelnut candy), which produced such gems as Cockroach Cluster, Anthrax Ripple, and the titular Crunchy Frog.

Praline's defining moment came in three episodes later, when he attempted to return his recently purchased dead parrot to the pet shop from which he had bought it, not half an hour ago at that very boutique. This segment has been called the comedy team's single best-known sketch, and it led to Praline's appearance in the team's first theatrical release, And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) which included a remake of the sketch.

In a second series episode Praline had more pet trouble, this time trying to buy a fish licence for his pet halibut, Eric. In this sketch, he mentions that he also has a cat and a dog named Eric among others and has acquired a (fraudulent) licence for the cat. This final sketch led to Praline singing the song "Eric The Half-A-Bee" on the Monty Python's Previous Record album.

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