Video Rewind: John Cleese: A cheerful guide to creativity

8 snips

May 7, 2025

In this engaging discussion, John Cleese, the legendary comedian behind Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, shares insights from his book, *Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide*. He emphasizes the importance of playfulness and humor in fostering creativity. Cleese reflects on the dynamics of creative collaboration and how to navigate ambiguity. He also delves into the psychological aspects of creativity, contrasting different modes of thinking. Expect laughter and wisdom as Cleese inspires listeners to embrace their own creative journeys.

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ADVICE

Create Boundaries for Playful Creativity

Create uninterrupted space and fixed time to play with ideas for about an hour and a quarter.
Avoid criticizing too soon; let ideas grow to get in touch with your unconscious creativity.

ANECDOTE

Childhood Solitude Fostered Creativity

John Cleese spent much of his childhood alone, learning to amuse himself and develop creativity.
Schools often fail to recognize creativity, as the system doesn't encourage or reward it.

ADVICE

Effective Creative Collaboration

Collaborate best with two or three people for comedy to allow spontaneity and feedback.
Avoid larger groups unless someone guides and balances dominant and quieter personalities.

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Hi everyone!

We recently surveyed our audience and learned that many of you would like to see more video. So, we’re kicking off a new run of video episodes, beginning with our interview featuring John Cleese—actor, writer, comedian, and author of Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide.

You can watch the interview on our Substack, or on Youtube. Enjoy!

Original intro

The Ministry of Silly Walks. The Cheese Shop. French Taunting. If you haven’t seen any of these Monty Python sketches before, do us a favor and go watch one or two of them. You’ll discover—or re-discover—why our guest for this episode is a creative comic legend.

John Cleese starred in and co-wrote the award-winning series Fawlty Towers, was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay of A Fish Called Wanda, and even has a species of lemur named after him (Cleese’s wooly lemur, Avahi cleesei). He’s also an expert on the creative process, and so if you’re looking for a new framework to level-up your own workflow, his book Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide is a great resource.

We talk with John about his new book, and also about creative collaboration in the midst of friction, how to be comfortable with ambiguity, and creating boundaries of space and time to get in a creative mode. We also get to ask him a question that’s been bugging us ever since we first watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

These days, we can all use a little more laughter in our lives. We hope our interview with John sparks some joy, and leaves you with some new creative tools. Thanks for listening.

Bio

John Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films, And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life.

In the mid-1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. He also starred in Clockwise, and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films, two Harry Potter films, and the last three Shrek films. He is also the author of Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide.

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