British Comedic Icon Delighted His Triangle Fans with An Evening with the Late John Cleese

This article was published by Triangle Review on 30 October 2023.

I was beyond excited when I received tickets to Sunday night's performance of An Evening with the Late John Cleese, part of the Forest at Duke Legends Concert & Comedy Series at the Durham Performing Arts Center. John Cleese is best known as co-founder of Monty Python and for his unforgettable work on Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-74), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), Fawlty Towers (1972 and 1975), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises. I considered it a privilege to share a room -- even a huge one like the DPAC theater -- with this comedic icon.

My husband had planned to go with me to the show; but, for a number of (what I consider lame) reasons, he backed out at the last minute. His parents were in town for one of their two visits per year, so I figured that his mother, who has consistently been branded a Monty Python fan over the years, would be delighted to go with me. But, as if part of Cleese's "(Barely) Living" comedy, she declined my invitation -- and said that she needed to get to bed early, because they were driving to Florida early the next morning (they are retired, mind you).

My 13-year-old son overheard our conversation and said, "Is this the guy who did Monty Python? I wanna go!"

I figured that it was Fate. This would be my son's first live comedy experience, and I couldn't imagine one with much more significance or meaning.

John Cleese's daughter Camilla warmed up the audience with quick-witted comedic stories, based primarily on how she has handled her >6-foot stature throughout her adolescence. "She's really good," my son said, between laughs, in the middle of her act. When she was finished, Camilla Cleese introduced her father to grand applause from the multigenerational audience.

Cleese told belly-laughing anecdotes, laced with personal "dad jokes," all while discussing deeper concepts related to his comedy's reliance on anxiety; the appreciation of what appear to be (based on the audience's laughter) valid ethnic and class stereotypes; the relevance of intention (the difference between "nasty teasing" and " affectionate teasing"); and the therapeutic importance of humor and laughter.

The house lights remained on throughout the performance, so that Cleese could see the faces of his fans throughout the show. After one of the (very few) projections of his most well-known sketches, he told us how he enjoyed seeing his audience's often severely different reactions to the same bit.

True to his billing for this show, John Cleese also candidly discussed and laughed about his journey toward death and his lovingly comedic experiences of the deaths of friends and family.

Death is certainly a taboo enough subject for Cleese's brand of comedy (and that of his Monty Python peers), particularly among older people who don't even want to acknowledge its encroaching inevitability. You would think that such a stereotypically dark theme would doom a comedy show from the start. But, for most of the audience, including my son and me, this couldn't have been farther from the truth.

I hope that John Cleese felt the Durham audience's love and appreciation for his place in our world. I certainly did. I found it a blessing to hear his wise and comedic testimony as he looks at his path toward death with one eye and the adoring fans that he's leaving behind with the other. Even better, my teenage son -- who told me several times on the way home how much he enjoyed the entire evening -- got to hear it as well.

As I was pumping myself up the night before An Evening with the Late John Cleese, I read aloud that Cleese is marketing this show as "the last time to see him before he dies." My son's paternal grandfather, whom we affectionately call "Grumps," commented on how depressing that was.

"Not for John Cleese," I said. "He's laughing all the way to the end. He clearly knows something that we don't know. That sweet soul may actually poof! into nirvana this time around."

Grumps scoffed, as he does whenever I make a hippyish comment like this.

"You, on the other hand," I winked at him, "you still have a few more rounds to go."

Click here to catch one of John Cleese's remaining performances this year before they end on Sunday, Nov. 19th: https://www.johncleeselive.com.