British comedian John Cleese decries cancel culture and "crummy, corrupt" England

Record ID: 1563467

  • Title: British comedian John Cleese decries cancel culture and "crummy, corrupt" England
  • Date: 21st July 2020
  • Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (JULY 10, 2020) (REUTERS VIA ZOOM) ***WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMEDIAN AND ACTOR, JOHN CLEESE, SAYING: "This very small group of people who are super-sensitive, maybe they should be working on their emotions because as my mentor Robin Skynner, the psychiatrist, once said 'If people can't control th
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2020 19:50
  • Keywords: John Cleese Why There is No Hope cancel culture comedian culture money performance politics show
  • Location: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS; SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA; LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS; SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA; LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Theater
  • Reuters ID: LVA007CNR7ZV1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: CONTAINS PROFANITY IN SHOT 8
    John Cleese doesn't have much time for political correctness or cancel culture, and as for the state of the world? It's completely hopeless, the former "Monty Python" star says.
    Instead Cleese, 80, is promising "a short selection of Peruvian burial ditties," when he presents a comedic live-stream plus Q&A session from London next month.
    "Why There is No Hope" is described as part lecture and part comedy standup livestream. Cleese describes it as an experiment in front of the small audience required by social distancing in the coronavirus era.
    The British actor is perhaps best known as rude hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the 1970s British TV series "Fawlty Towers," and the man from the Ministry of Silly Walks in the absurdist sketch series "Monty Python's Flying Circus."
    Cleese last month called the BBC "cowardly and gutless" for temporarily taking down an episode of "Fawlty Towers" that made fun of Germans and World War Two and also featured a character using a racial slur.
    Cancel culture "misunderstands the main purposes of life which is to have fun," Cleese told Reuters, referring to the trend in which people are ostracized because of behavior or remarks seen as objectionable.
    "Everything humorous is critical. If you have someone who is perfectly kind and intelligent and flexible and who always behaves appropriately, they're not funny. Funniness is about people who don't do that, like Trump," he said, referring to the U.S. President.
    The problem with political correctness, he added, is that comedians "have to set the bar according to what we are told by the most touchy, most emotionally unstable and fragile and least stoic people in the country."
    As for the Aug. 2 livestream to be held at London's Cadogan Hall, Cleese says he expects to perform for about 50 people seated at social distance.
    Cleese says he's not bothered at playing in front of such a small crowd. "I played to an audience once in New Zealand where I did not get a laugh," he said.
    However, returning to England may be the most difficult thing for Cleese. He said "My biggest disappointment in England is that it is now far more corrupt than I believe it used to be. There's always an element of corruption because the rich and greedy will always use their power to become richer and more powerful. There's always going to be an element of that but I now admire places like Scandinavia and Holland where I think they have genuine democracies. I don't think we do in England. I think we're quite a crummy, corrupt little country."
    (Production: Rollo Ross)
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