John Cleese and I

On the weekend I went to "A Night With John Cleese".  He sat on a stage and talked about his life, where he came from, who his family was and how Python and other great collaborations came about.  It was an excellent night.  I really enjoyed seeing his skill in manipulating an audience and talking about some personal material.  He talked about the death of his mother and father.  Graham Chapman and David Frost's death as well as his progression from school right through to falling into writing and acting.

I lucked into a great seat about 8 rows back, had a
clear view of him all night!

I have my humour set heavily in the British side of comedy.  Irony, sarcasm, dry humour that is full of silliness.  In fact, I realised during the concert that my humour is not only influenced heavily by Python, it practically is Python humour.  It is then no wonder that I have idolised these old skits and movies to this very day.  If you asked me my favourite comedy movie it would invariably wander from Holy Grail or The Meaning of Life largely dependent on my mood at the time.  If you asked me which skits I liked the best it would probably be The Secret Policeman's Other Ball although Little Britain comes a close second.

I have also been a great fan of the Goodies and I always thought that they kind of grew out of the Python craze.  I was amazed to find out on the night that both Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie were both all tightly involved with the group largely before they became Python!  John Cleese showed us the Fish Dance skit which the Monty Python crew voted their most silly skit of all time and I recognised the Goodies quite clearly in it.

My son, Ethan, is also hanging on to the same style of humour.  While he is not into Python as yet (he is a bit young) he is deeply enamoured by the Goodies and much darker humour.  This makes me very happy.  In fact, my whole trip to see John Cleese has made me a lot happier too.  It has gotten me in touch with my inner self again, when I was a lot happier in general.  It made me realise again that life is for living and laughing just as much as it is for working, bill paying and the intrusion of the darker things in life.

So, there you have it.  To the readers of this blog, try to work out what style of humour really works for you and visit it often.  Do not let a chance to catch up with a laugh or two ever as it is just as important to you as it is to those around you to see you laugh and have a good time!  Thanks for reading!