John Cleese - Creativity: How Modern Culture Has Stifled Comedy & What Is "Funny" | London Real

Oct 29, 2020

John Cleese, the legendary British comedian and Monty Python member, discusses the state of modern comedy amidst censorship and cancel culture. He shares his experiences navigating humor's complexities, stressing the importance of open dialogue on contentious social issues. Cleese also delves into the challenges of funding iconic films like 'Life of Brian' and reflects on the confidence crisis plaguing today’s creative media. With wit and wisdom, he emphasizes nurturing creativity and the playful mindset needed to overcome societal pressures.

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ANECDOTE

George Harrison Funding "Life of Brian"

John Cleese recalls struggling to secure funding for "Life of Brian".
George Harrison saved the project after reading the script and loving it.

INSIGHT

Decline of UK Media

Cleese believes the UK's media landscape has declined, becoming less intelligent and civil.
He attributes this shift to Murdoch's influence and the rise of tabloid culture.

ANECDOTE

Censorship on the Michael Aspel Show

After criticizing the press on the Michael Aspel show, Cleese's segment was removed.
This highlighted the media's power to suppress dissenting voices.

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John Cleese is an iconic British comedian, actor, screenwriter, author, and founding member of Monty Python and now he returns with his new book ‘Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide’, which explores the skill of imaginative thinking and explains how we can all develop our creative unconscious.

John’s early success came from Monty Python’s movies such as ‘Life Of Brian’, and ‘The Meaning Of Life’, and ‘Monty Python and The Holy Grail’.

He also starred as a host of characters in Monty Python’s Flying Circus; a sketch show which went on to tour across the world with some of John’s stand-out characters featured in ‘Argument Clinic’, ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’, and ‘Dead Parrot sketch’.

One of John’s stand-out pieces of work was ‘A Fish Called Wanda‘, a comedy heist film which John won a BAFTA for in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1988.

Following the success with his university classmates, John went on to create one of the most iconic characters in British comedy in Basil Fawlty from ‘Fawlty Towers’, for which he won the 1980 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance.

With a television career spanning six decades, John has had his fair share of run-ins with censorship and cancel culture to a point where the BBC recently removed his Fawlty Towers episode titled ‘The Germans‘, originally aired back in 1975, because it contained a so-called racial slur.

Another incident included Monty Python’s ‘Life Of Brian’ being banned from cinemas in the UK in 1979 because of its blasphemy where a passionate debate unfolded with the Bishop of Southwark on BBC’s ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’.

John is an advocate for writing jokes about anything, but believes it is becoming much harder to be creative with political correctness – a subject he believes has gone too far to where any form of criticism of an individual or group is labeled as cruel.