John Cleese, not quitting after all, returns to Edmonton
John Cleese is just about the coolest old guy we know.
Aside from his abundant post-Python fame playing hilariously unpleasant dad characters in sitcoms like Speechless, he’s proven himself a potent liberal voice on social media – tearing apart stupidity and cruelty with his keen yet subtle wit. Just one example: On the current trend of calling people “snowflakes,” he Tweeted, “Yes, I’ve heard this word. I think sociopaths use it in an attempt to discredit the notion of empathy.”
There’s plenty more.
Never mind that Cleese is a filthy liar. He’s back performing stand-up, Monday, May 27 at the Jubilee Auditorum – five years after mounting his “Farewell Tour,” which he called “Last Chance to See Me Before I Die.” Not true! (Demand was so great that he kept adding shows until he was doing a week-long residency at the Myer Horowitz Theatre in 2013). Perhaps he got his second wind, perhaps his post-Python fame has increased beyond his expectations – but fans are always eager to give supposedly retiring entertainers a pass when they say they’re going away and then change their minds. Just call it the “First Farewell Tour.”
On this run, the Dean of Silly Walks is doing a little talk. The topic: “Why There Is No Hope.” A lot of old people talk like that – Cleese is 78 – assuming the world is going to hell at the rate of their own bodies, but from this amazing and compassionate wit we can assume there’s a fair bit of irony, and, maybe, hope after all.
Tickets to the show start at $90, and are on sale now.
