One of the greatest comedians to grace our tiny island arrived in Liverpool on Tuesday 1st June at the prestigious Liverpool Empire. The theatre has hosted British wonders such as The Beatles and Julie Andrews with visiting stars such as Frank Sinatra. This epic theatre therefore was the perfect host for one of Monty Pythons tallest, John Cleese. I have always enjoyed everything the Pythons have produced, finding their comedy some of the most surreal and hilarous pieces of madness around. Their wit and stupidity intertwines so that even the grumpiest of people laugh hysterically. It is with this knowledge of Cleese that I wondered what his very independent show would consist of. It worried me somewhat that perhaps the show would be self indulgent and that Cleese would be far removed from his audience. I was pleasantly surprised that the show was one that highlighted Cleese as an 'everyday man' who simply needed a tour to earn money to pay off his cruel ex-wife, a story he so readily informed us of. Starting the show in this way did seem a little odd as most stars appear to love being on stage without any other purpose. However cleese's honesty did him justice. After a few anecdotes about his family, who were orginally named Cheese, John moved on to discussing some of his favourite work. This felt far more personal after hearing such in depth details about his heritage.
Cleese has an easy nature about him which draws the audience in and makes you feel as if the theatre is his living room and you're discussing old times over a bottle of red. It is this mixed with some wonderful clips of his work that make the two hours literally fly by. You could hear the sighs from the audience as Cleese announced the end of the first act. A personal highlight was watching a clip from Graham Chapman's memorial service in which Cleese stretched the boundaries in a funny and moving way, which only he could pull off. His well timed swearing shakes everyones silence and grief and turns it into fits of laughter, proving Cleese's comedy genius.
Overall this was one of the funniest and most moving events that I have had the opportunity to attend and I thoroughly reccomend it to anyone, particularly those who have seen any of John Cleese's brilliant comedy and laughed so hard they thought they might burst.
For those of you who want to see John Cleese perform check out: www.the johncleese.com
In memory of Graham Chapman have a peek at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsHk9WC7fnQ
No comments:
Post a Comment