Monty Python’s John Cleese once again called Awakening a destructive force, noting that it had a “detrimental effect” on comedy and served as an enemy of artistic creativity.
The British artist spoke about this in an interview with Fox News at the FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas.
When asked if comedians have the freedom to be funny in 2022, Cleese replied “No”.
“There are always restrictions on what they are allowed to say,” Cleese said, referring to government censors from centuries ago.
“But I think it’s particularly troubling right now because you can only create an environment of freedom where you don’t critically evaluate everything you say before continuing. All you have to do is build without knowing where you’re going because you haven’t been there yet.”
He continued, “This is creativity – you have to let it build. And a lot of comedians are sitting around right now and they’re thinking something, “Can I get out of here? I don’t think so. So-and-so got in trouble and he said, oh. You know what I mean? And that’s the death of creativity.
Cleese said alertness and creativity are inherently hostile.
“You can create and then criticize, but you can’t do two at the same time. Therefore, if you are worried about hurting people and constantly thinking about it, you will not be creative. That’s why I think it’s harmful.”
Cleese said late-night comedy shows in the US are now overly politicized.
According to him, the audience in the studio is “more political than ever.”
When Cleese asked the name of the last great comedy she watched, she named two Steve Martin movies from the ’80s: Roxana together dirty rough ones.
As Breitbart News reports, Cleese has repeatedly denounced the revival cancellation culture as anathema to comedy.
Source: Breitbart
