Split into two halves, the show takes the form of a question and answer session between Cleese and Cape Talk's John Maytham in the first half. It's in this half that we learn a few little-known facts about this prolific actor, comedian and writer, including the fact that his grandfather's surname was originally Cheese and how his mother suffered from many obscure phobias, including the unusual fear of church bells, goats and Belgians. Covering the early years, Maytham probes Cleese about his family and school life, and how he came to end up in showbiz (abandoning his earlier ambition of becoming a lawyer). From working as a sketch writer for BBC Radio's Dick Emery Show to finding recognition in the darkly humoured skit group Monty Python, Cleese explained how he fell in love with the liberating act of breaking all those traditional comedy rules and creating something truly bizarre and uniquely funny. Unfortunately, as interesting as this first half was it felt terribly scripted and forced; the teleprompters for both Johns not going unnoticed.
Luckily, the second half took more of a traditional stand-up format, allowing a seemingly more relaxed Cleese to regale us with stories later on his career. The black humour of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the fast-paced wit of Fawlty Towers and the darkly wacky film A Fish Called Wanda were all explored with a few snippets of each of the films and episodes shown. We were even treated to footage of Cleese's eulogy for fellow Python Graham Chapman - a speech that he initially struggled with became a wonderfully irreverent homage to the wonderfully irreverent man.
Cleese also discussed the beauty of black humour and tried to define what exactly it is about it that intrigues, amuses and sometime offends. Sex, religion and death is often the subject matter of black comedy, he explained, taboo subjects that can make us feel anxious and when we can laugh about these subjects we can relinquish our anxiety around these seemingly touchy taboos. Great examples of this form of comedy were illustrated in the "dead dog" scenes from A Fish Called Wanda. As Cleese explained, these nearly cut scenes were only funny because the dogs that died were "nasty yappy" Yorkshire Terriers, while the death of a dog such as a German Shepherd would have been extremely offensive and definitely not instil the same reaction. Another example of black humour that adeptly walks a very fine line between comedy and offense is the Monty Python film The Life of Brian, originally entitled Jesus Christ's Lust for Glory, a title noted by Cleese that perhaps would have seen the Python team fall somewhat from their fine-line tightrope.
The last section of the second half was opened up to the audience, allowing them to ask Cleese any burning questions. By far the most bizarre and funny request was from a young Portuguese chap who felt the need to celebrate his birthday by telling an incomprehensible joke about a burglar up on stage. Cleese kindly obliged and proceeded to piss himself with laughter during the set-up of the joke while the young man slowly lost his steam and confidence and eventually shuffled back to his seat. A bemused Cleese then announced "How on Earth am I gonna top that?" and that was that - a rather abrupt and strange ending to an otherwise interesting show. The punch line of the burglar joke remaining forever un-punched.
Catch John Cleese live in on 21, 22 and 23 June at the Teatro at Montecasino in Joburg and on 25 and 26 June at the ICC Hall 1AB in Durban. Tickets on sale now from Computicket and bigconcerts.co.za.
