This is a very quirky autobiography of the famous multitalented comedian, born in 1939, best known for his roles in the Monty Python series. But his diverse roles include as a writer, producer, director and journalist for live performances, radio, and TV. Spanning four continents and six decades, he became synonymous with satire, farce, slapstick, parody, the deliberate carefully timed sudden non-sequester, and the loose word association.
His was an only child of rather poor middle-class family in Weston-Super-Mere, England and entered the world of comedy while at Gaston College and while studying law at Cambridge, by joining a comedy troupe there, then playing small roles for the BBC in radio, before breaking into bigger roles with David Frost and Peter Sellers among others.
His insecurity, self-deprecation, and praise of others is noteworthy and admirable. He obviously made friends easily and refused to take the inbred class hierarchy of British society seriously.
There is little about the actual Monty Python series, which he wrote in part, except for their reununion in 2013. There is more about A Fish Called Wanda, which he also wrote in large part. And he only mentions the first of his four wives.
The writing is straightforward with snippets of sketches, and I can appreciate the hard work that writing such sketches entails. But Monty Python is not my favorite type of humour, being largely splapstick, farce, or just plain silliness. I refuse to watch any TV show with a laugh track-no one is going to tell me what is and what is not funny.
There are however, many interesting quotes, among them:
«My legs were so thin I could have played a flamingo. »
Of one of his teacher’s wives: «…anyone harbouring canal thoughts about her would have been taking his life in his hands, because she exuded the air of designer barbed wire. »
«…arguing with him was like trying to pick up mercury with a fork. »
The dust cover of the hard copy portrays Cleese with such striking exophthalmos that any competent doctor would conclude that he has Graves’ disease, (or that the photo has been doctored).
7/10
Thanks, Ross.
Thanks, Ross.
The Passionate Reader 