Posted on 04/20/2009 1:10:57 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
ITHACA, NY--Nearly six months after the Presidential election, former Monty Python star John Cleese needs some new material.
According to the Cornell Daily Sun, Cleese, in an appearance on campus, turned serious and launched into an attack on former President George W. Bush:
Americans... are “much too respectful to the president,” said Cleese, who went on to say that George W. Bush would not be able to survive a single press conference in England.
“It’s pathetic!” he exclaimed. “This is the most important country in the world ... It’s embarrassing because we want America to be great. There is emotion when I said that that because in the 60s we looked up to the U.S. as a beacon, because it was a smart place.”
“Eight years of this rubbish,” he continued. “The Brits were asking, “where is the American’s sense of outrage?”
According to the article Cleese's talk was part of his duties as a visiting professor:
Cleese has been Cornell’s A.D. White Professor-at-large for eight years since 1999 — two years longer than the normal term. In 2006, he was re-appointed as the Provost’s Visiting Professor. Fuchs yesterday said that Cleese had just verbally agreed to extend the three-year term.
BDS is an ugly thing to see.
In any case, Bush sounds like Cicero compared to Bambi without TOTUS.
Another Leftist Actor fabricating tales for his Marxist cause.
)
I know a guy who saw his act in person. As a fellow Monty Python fan he was highly disappointed. Just a disconnected stream of political rants, punctuated by some markedly unfunny scatalogical humor. Mr. Cleese has really come far off his game since his heyday in the 70’s (and yes, you probably need to be suffering hard-core Bush Derangement to hold down a chair at Cornell these days)
Agree 100% with this. However I wonder how does he think Obama would fare on the receiving end of "Prime Minister's Questions". It would be a disaster. No teleprompter or subservient press in that room.
I always thought at least in England, he was a Tory.
These entertainers are so much funnier when they stay out of politics. And doesn’t this wanker live in the UK?
Another Brit taking himself too seriously- even for an elitist school.
warning: if you're a fan of the Andy Griffith Show, this will surely sicken you...
Ron Howard's Call To Action:
Ron Howard wants to talk about the election. So does Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler
http://www.funnyordie.com/ron_howard
Mr. Cleese, attend one of the numerous "tea parties" taking place across America . . . all right, maybe not Ithaca.
Where’s our OUTRAGE.. JOHN ... where’s your sense of HUMOR.. we’ve given you 8 years of (albeit bad) ... MATERIAL!!
BE GRATEFUL and SHUT UP!!
As I understand it, he’s been a bit off his rocker for awhile now. Used to be clever and funny but now comes across as a bitter, raging moonbat.
Pity as I used to be such a fan.
Eric Idle is also reported to be a doddering old sot as well.
Isn’t Winkler’s real name something like Fawn Lebowitz?
1 completely agree with your post. Let’s hope Cleese updates his act. Give the chance, the British press would shred 0. 0 knew this while at a G-22 press conference when he avoided follow-up questions from the British press.
A lot of comedians are suffering from BDS. They’re so afraid of being called racist for making fun of Obama. Almost every joke that makes fun of Obama gets tied back to Bush somehow. The Daily Show and Colbert Report are the worst offenders.
**”tea parties” taking place across America . . . all right, maybe not Ithaca.**
I wasn’t able to get away to join them .. but we had a 15 member tea party.. I didn’t know we had THAT MANY here!!
-------------------------------------
warning: if you're a fan of the Andy Griffith Show, this will surely sicken you...
Ron Howard's Call To Action:
Ron Howard wants to talk about the election. So does Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler
http://www.funnyordie.com/ron_howard
Bush has replaced Nixon!
Seriously, most of Monty Python was only funny if you were stoned out of your gourd.
I own the box set of the Flying Circus. Paid 200.00 bucks for it. I sat watching it wondering what I found so funny.
Hey, Cleese: I fart in your general direction.
(I loved Holy Grail, by the way.)
I have the same set -
any bids?
John Cleese has lived in the US for some time now (which again, raises the question why you would want to live here if we are all bloody stupid rednecks). He is or was married to Connie Booth, his co-star from Fawlty Towers, who is from Wisconsin. Disappointing as so much of the humor on Monty Python had a decided Tory angle to it, particularly as it pertains to taxes.
My husband and I bought the set at Half-Price books for $4.99 last year.
I still find them hilarious (watching the “Flying Circus” was one of the things that brought my husband and I together) but, unlike some of the team, I have retained my sense of humor. Although I must admit that it is difficult to maintain in these “Obamanation” times.
That Andy Griffith info is going to break my momma’s heart as she loves both him and former President Bush. She is definitely not fond of “That One”, to say the least.
Wow! I’m happy I was mistaken. The tea party in New York’s city hall park surprised me too. Silent majority? I hope so.
He is or was married to Connie Booth,
Was. That's long over. He and a subsequent wife have or are divorcing.
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/nes/faculty/bernal.html
Mr. Cleese has (or is going) through his 3rd divorce. Married American all three times. I can only suppose that Mrs. Cleese III is taking him to the proverbial cleaners.
He made the news last January when his 27-year old ex-paramour (she turned out to be 40-something) revealed a bit too much to the tabloids.
No wonder he’s a bitter old f@r+.
I don't think so. If I remember correctly, Fawn Liebowitz was killed when a kiln exploded.
Oh yeah, she was making me a pot.
Crap damn..... I hate learning that favorite entertainers are lefties and moonbats...I cannot enjoy their work at all afterwards. Basically I’ve only got Bugs Bunny reruns, and Ted Nugent....
(don’t anyone DARE tell me Bugs Bunny is a moonbat!!)
Bugs does tend to dress in drag a bit.........
Just sayin. :)
I guess my sense of humor has changed.
>.Bugs Bunny
But he does kiss Elmer Fudd on the mouth a bunchoftimes.
I got the same set on sale at Amazon for about $130, but I agree with you, to a degree. I've come to the realization that Brit humor can be hilarious, as long as it's taken in small doses at a time. I found that if I try watching more than about 2 episodes of any Brit comedy at a time, I find it becomes less and less funny. This includes Monty Python, Hitchhikers Guide, and Fawlty Towers.
If you only watch one or two episodes at a time, I find them to be funny. Though I do have to admit that I really only find about 1/2 of the MP sketches funny any more.
Finally, for some reason I've never been able to explain or understand, to me the funniest Monty Python bit ever was "The Fish Slapping Dance." I don't know why, but it always cracks me up!
Mark
That tends to happen.
To each his own and all. :)
Maybe I just tried to watch too many at a time.
We did get it in half hour episodes on PBS. Maybe one at a time will be better.
John Cleese is better as Nearly Headless Nick anyway.
But of course one is not allowed to criticize the Obamessiah. I love Monty Python, but I certainly don't care for their political or religious views (the commentary on the Life of Brian video was worse than the movie itself in terms of disrespect for religious beliefs).
I know Andy is a big dim. The party tried their best to get him to run for the Senate a few yrs. ago.
I have heard a number of his endorsement commercials but didn't catch an O'Bama one.
Another big dim in North Carolina.. gasp...Dean Smith.
At least that's tempered by Coach K, a repub.
>I have heard a number of his endorsement commercials
>but didn’t catch an O’Bama one.
Here’s the link again: (have a barf bag ready)
http://www.funnyordie.com/ron_howard
I remember “Fawlty Towers” (possibly the greatest sit-com of all time) and “A Fish Called Wanda” being peppered with hostile references to conservatives, Tatcher in particular. Basil Fawlty and Kevin Kline’s character were intentional gross charicatures of conservatives.
Who cares? A drop in the entertainment bucket. Cleese is old news. There are bigger fish to fry.
“Finally, for some reason I’ve never been able to explain or understand, to me the funniest Monty Python bit ever was ‘The Fish Slapping Dance.’ I don’t know why, but it always cracks me up!”
It’s probably because it conforms strictly to the classical formula for humor: set-up followed by punchline. All humor, at its deepest level, is about irony and schadenfreude. ‘The Fish Slapping Dance’ is funny because you don’t see the big fish coming (or you remember back to when you once didn’t see it coming) and Michael Palin (was it?) looks like he gets hurt.
Ironically, the members of Monty Python set out to make no sense at all, and have their program be uncategorizably insane. They hated how traditional sketch shows had to have every scene end with a punchline. And they went a long way toward not ending their sketches, slamming ideas together, and generally making no sense.
Meanwhile, the jokes and sketches everyone remembers (nudge-nudge wink-wink, argument, dead parrot) had killer set-ups and punchlines.
For what it’s worth, my favorite Python scene is in “Holy Grail,” when Cleese thinks he’s coming to the aid of a damsel, repeatedly runs over the horizon, and brutally slaughters an entire castle full of people. The action itself is, but it ultimately works because he finds out it was all for nothing.
“...conservatives, Tatcher in particular.”
That is, “Thatcher”
Not true. There are millions of folks here and around the world, young and old, who love Monty Python. Given the fact that so few people pay attention to or understand politics, a popular personality like him would have a lot of influence.
“Not true. There are millions of folks here and around the world, young and old, who love Monty Python. Given the fact that so few people pay attention to or understand politics, a popular personality like him would have a lot of influence.”
I don’t doubt that he had an influence back then, or that he doesn’t still have some sort of hold on people past middle-age. My point is, Monty Python was 30 years ago. The last time Cleese was actually popular was no less than 20 years ago. I’d worry more about The Daily Show or Saturday Night Live, or anything else people still watch.
“...or anything else people still watch.”
On a regular basis, I mean. People my age might occasionally watch Python on PBS, BBC America, or DVD, but they are the vast, vast minority.
I definitely agree with that, but he still has a large following, both young and old. I've talked to a bunch of young people (under 30) who are big Monty Python fans.
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