Monty Python transformed my life in high school, and beyond -- I was on track team and the only one running the 440 meters, a brutal race where you're almost sprinting the entire time. I always placed 3rd place between two super tall, fast dudes with huge strides that I would never catch, and the pack which grew faster each week. It was hell, and the day I saw a track shoe in my peripheral I thought, "what is the point of all this?"
When I discovered I could trade that 3rd place torture for 3rd place or better on the speech team doing Monty Python sketches and traveling and flirting with the cute/nerdy girls in school (way more fun than the others) -- well...that was a no-brainer. It's definitely one of the things that led to performing for a living.
I'll be forever grateful to Terry and the Circus.