John Cleese returns to the spotlight, and back to the US with his show, “Why There Is No Hope.” The show premieres on Oct 7 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. The actor and comedian has not performed live for nearly two years due to widespread event cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cleese, together with Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam formed revered comedy troupe Monty Python, and helped to pioneer a unique style of irreverent humor and art that has gone on to influence generations of comedians. Mike Myers, John Oliver and Russel Brand all have drawn inspiration from Monty Python’s unique brand of absurdist humor.
The group initially found success with their show “Flying Circus,” an irreverent sketch comedy that aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1973, and went on to release several critically acclaimed films, such as “The Holy Grail” (1975), “Life of Brian” (1979), and “The Meaning of Life” (1983), which would mark the final appearance of founding member Graham Chapman before his death in 1989. The troupe dissolved in 1983 as the members pursued other projects, but the surviving members of the group would reunite for occasional performances several times between 1989 and 2014. Just four Pythons are still alive after the death of founding member Terry Jones in 2020.
Outside of his work with Monty Python, Cleese has starred in a number of films and television series including “Time Bandits” (1981), “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988) and “Rat Race” (2001). Cleese most recently made headlines when an episode of the show “Fawlty Towers” which Cleese starred in from 1975 to 1979, was pulled from UKTV’s streaming services, sparking a debate in the media about censorship, context and free speech.
Cleese’s team says his upcoming tour is, “Cleese’s cynical and funny look at the dysfunctional world we live in.”
Check back here next week for a review of Cleese’s performance, as well as the answer to the question all our readers have been asking: “will John Rieg get a picture with John Cleese?”
Information and tickets for John Cleese’s upcoming performances can be purchased at ticketmaster.com and uniquelives.com.
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