John Cleese webchat 17 October

Hello everyone,

Nice to be here at GNHQ. Looking forward to answering all of your questions.

John

nancy22

John ,what has been the one thing in your life that you are most proud of work wise? and how do you keep your audience still laughing after all these years. I think you are totally brilliant

The thing I'm most proud of comes in the Duck episode of Fawlty Towers. It's when Basil lifts the lid of the silver platter and finds their is a ghastly raspberry mousse instead of the duck. He then feels about in the mousse to see if there might be a duck there.

henetha

Hi John,
I'm a big fan, especially because of Faulty Towers as I lived in Torquay for 50 years....... but escaped eventually!
We don't see enough of you on t.v. these days. Any chance of writing and starring in a new sitcom, please?

Hi Henetha,

I used to visit Torquay because my best friend at school used to live there. I even became a Torquay United fan.

You're right about TV, they don't seem to want the programmes that I would like to make, and the ones they suggest to me seem very boring. One problem is that the budgets are so small now that they try to save money on everything so only very simple ideas, like quiz shows, really appeal to them.

saraband

John, how much input did you have in your part as Sir Cadwell the Undaunted (Elder Scrolls Online)? There is a lot of gentle humour in the game, but Cadwell definitely has your stamp firmly upon him.

Hi Saraband,

I agreed to do Sir Cadwell because I thought the script was so good. It was much subtler and more amusing than most of the ones I see. They usually let me make a few changes but this script didn't need it.

grannyactivist

Not having a TV for most of my adult life means that my introduction to John Cleese has primarily been through his Training Videos (Video Arts).

My question is: Both as a trainer and the recipient of training courses I thought some of these videos were worth their weight in gold and yet it seems this aspect of your professional life is little known; why do you think this is - and do you care?

You're right. Most people don't know about the Training Videos.

I'm rather proud of them. They were clever and the humour in them, while quite gentle, was very well-observed. We use the best actors and writers in television. But they are known only by the business community because there is no other way to view them than by hiring or buying them.

It's a shame but there's nothing much I can do about it.

ladybird9

would love to have you for a dinner party, no, no not to eat you but, for the hilarious conversation that I am sure you would generate !!!! my little "shoobox" of a flat would, I am sure come alive, if you decide to take up my invite, maybe you could invite Colin Firth to make up a 3some, dinner and conversation ..... only X

many thanks for you wonderful sense of humour over the years, let us have some more.......please Mr Cleese

meemee

Hello John I would also like to thank you for many years of wonderful entertainment.

I was lucky enough to see one of the live Monty Python shows at the O2 recently. Was this something you were keen to do or did you take some persuading? And did it feel like you'd never been away once you all got together to perform the classic material?

We all thoroughly enjoyed getting together for the O2, mainly because Eric Idle did the hard work of producing the show after we had all suggested material. But it became much more ambitious because of Eric's use of song and dance (and filth) so it took more rehearsal than expected. But the audience were the best ever and that made it lovely to do.

pat66

I loved Fawlty Towers (actually I love it still)

It's so funny - I wondered how did you keep a straight face when you were filming? Or did there have to be a lot of takes because you all kept laughing?

Hi Pat,

Most of the time we kept a straight face because when we were doing the TV shows (FT and MP) we had very little recording time so we were always terrified we would get to the end of the recording without having taped the whole show. So we couldn't afford to fool around.

But when we got on stage we did a lot of breaking up especially Michael and me and Eric and me, because the atmosphere was so relaxed.

Fawltyfilly

Hello John,

I'm a huge fan (as is my mother aged 96!)
I once read you were a teacher for a while and I wondered if at any point in your career you had regretted leaving teaching. Or if you expected to return to it some day?
FFx

Tell your mother that mine got to 101! Yes, in the book I write about being a teacher for two years and it's the funniest chapter in the book! Since then I did a kind-of teaching with the management training films. Also, I am sort-of phoney professor at Cornel University in the States- one of the Ivy League ones. I do like understanding something and then being able to explain it interestingly and that's why enjoy writing more than I do acting.

Elderflower1

You have done so much in your career it was really tricky to think of just one question but I do wonder what one moment would you say you were most proud of in your career or is there one line or joke you wrote which to this day you're most proud of?
Thank you for answering (in advance )

My favourite joke was at the end of the O2 show when I told Michael Palin that I had heard that Paul Dacre (Editor of Daily Mail) had had an arsehole transplant. But Michael said he'd just heard that the arsehole had rejected him. The Pythons despise the Daily Mail!

chocaddict

Do you still have a hamster?

Yes I still have the hamster that I write about in the book. I bought it in the autumn of 1960, and it's not as lively as it was.

joytotheworld

have you ever thought of running for parliament? Looking at what's going on these days we could do a lot worse than being governed by the ministry of silly walks

I think MPs' have absolutely miserable jobs and I can't imagine why anyone would want to be one. I would be interested if parliament became a proper democracy but there is no hope for that.

ninkynonk

I just saw this on twitter and am so excited to have the chance to ask you a question.

Do you think your comedy career has benefitted from your being tall?

No, but I think that being tall has benefited from my comedy career.

rose314

Is it true that your father's name was originally Cheese not Cleese. Cleese is obvioulsy a very nice name but I would have though Cheese would have had more comedic potential. Do you like cheese?

Yes, when Dad was born in Bristol in 1893 his name was Reggie Cheese but he changed it when he went into the army in 1915. It's a good story in the book. I wish he hadn't changed it. Then I could be Jack Cheese.

Doreen2

Is it true that the actor that played Manuel was regularly injured during filming of Fawlty Towers? If it is - did he mind?

When you are doing physical comedy you're always going to pick up a knock or two, especially if you have as little rehearsal time as we did.

granamia

Hi John,

I did a bit of digging and discovered that you're also a grandpa - do your grandchildren watch Fawlty Towers? My granddaughter is 11 and it's one of the programmes we love to watch together when she comes round (she's showing me how to watch it online). It's such a funny, good natured show and I think it's lovely having something to enjoy with my granddaughter.

I love the fact that children enjoy Fawlty Towers so much. The only worrying thing is that they all identify with Manuel. Do all parents behave like Manuel and Sybil?