The Gumby in Monty Python's Flying Circus
"My brain hurts!" - A. Gumby
Monty Python's Gumby character is instantly recognisable anywhere - round, wire-rimmed spectacles, wellies, rolled-up shirtsleeves, braces (or suspenders, for the Merkin readership) and a tank-top (sweater vest). The element that really defines the Gumby is, however, a knotted handerchief on the head - surely a symbol of ultimate Britishness.
Not overly-bright, a Gumby may have many hobbies, including flower arranging and hitting people (or himself) with bricks. I dread to think how Gumbys would vote, unless for the Silly Party. A sudden cry of "My brain hurts!" is a sure sign of Gumbyness. He makes several appearances in the show, which include:
Series 1 (Episode 9) The Gumby Crooner
Series 2 (Episode 25) Gumby Flower Arranging
Series 3 (Episode 32) The Gumby Brain Specialist
To give an example of the Gumby approach to life, I give you the Flower Arranging sketch:
(Superimposed caption: 'FLOWER ARRANGEMENT' - the camera pulls back to show a Gumby in studio with piles of flowers on a table)
Gumby: Good evening. First take a bunch of flowers... (He grabs flowers from the table.)
Gumby: Pretty begonias, irises, freesias and crymanthesums (sic - very bad pronunciation), then arrange them nicely in a vase. (He thrusts the flowers head downwards into the vase and stuffs them in wildly; he even bangs them with a mallet in an attempt to get them all in) Get in! Get in! Get in!
http://www.users.muohio.edu/mathusjb/crunchy-frog/gumbyflower.html
If they are a seperate species, I am at a loss to explain to work out how they breed - all the Gumbys I have ever seen are male. Perhaps their
womenfolk are in hiding. Not suprising, really.
I am indebted to thebigdb for pointing out (below) where they were all along.