John Cleese Discusses Creativity, Political Correctness, Monty Python, and Artichokes
A conversation with the English comedian about artistic inspiration, cultural appropriation, and tabloid journalism.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-cleese-discusses-creativity-political-correctness-monty-python-and-artichokes
As to when do you go off the rails, the answer is when somebody says something that’s really funny. Suddenly you realize there is a comedy idea there that wasn’t there five seconds before, and it’s almost as good as an orgasm. David Sherlock, who was Graham’s boyfriend, would be downstairs, and we’d be upstairs, and suddenly he would hear an enormous amount of noise—shrieking and drumming of feet—and that was the moment when we both saw that there was a great comic possibility.