Dick Cavett Show - John Cleese (19791012)

[@CoreaKixx420]

Cavett has a brilliant sense of humour...it's Dick's dry delivery that is often over most peoples heads. Marvelous!! And thank you to Mr. Cleese. You're genius is unsurpassed. WOW!!! 1979. John was just turning 40. In his prime for sure. Thanks, from Tim in Ontario, Canada.

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Ontario... You wouldn't happen to know any local VHS collectors? It's a bit of a change of subject, sorry about that! But I've been trying to find a TV program last aired by TVO in the 1980s. Just trying my luck!!

[@BassicVIC]

I find the Dick Cavett Show the only American interview programme worth watching.

[@DonLusher]

hashtag me too

[@stewartjones5624]

you find correctly

[@flowerbedmusic2674]

Joyous interview. Dick is SUPER comfortable with his guest, a fellow comedy writer, and they establish a great wavelength for the whole hour. John, as usual, is modest, precise but never ever dull. Great stuff.

[@therealzilch]

Simply wonderful. Two of our funniest and most intelligent entertainers.

[@GrumpyVickyH]

What a really enjoyable interview. Dick cavett obviously has a sense of humour too.

[@gozorak]

Well, Mr Cavett was a writer on The Tonight Show for both Jack Parr and Johnny Carson. He was good friends with Groucho Marx and he also briefly had a go at stand up comedy so yeah, he definitely had a sense of humor

[@anneroy4560]

and as for importing too much British culture ... they took to the English language quite readily ... aside from a few odd spelling errors ...

[@tukkek]

Imagine if even half of people talking nowadays would care to have a respectful, genuine conversation like this. Yes, it sounds like an old cliché but you cannot find me one instance of such an exchange in any major television network, I'll bet. It's funny that we live in the age of communication yet it has only enabled us to exhibit our worst instincts to each other (such as tribalism) rather than discover, connect and learn, if you look at the big picture in any general-access platform.

[@zapkvr]

@@anneroy4560 and yet turned their back on hundreds of years of common law. Odd.

[@zapkvr]

@@tukkek Civility is a much maligned value of late

[@chinesejohn812]

When I took the Advanced Placement English exam I was required to defend something controversial. I chose to defend this movie since I said it was not about religion but about the environment at 33 AD. So I got the top score 5 even though I had not actually seen the movie but I just heard a lot about it.

[@zapkvr]

Obviously very lazy markers. There wasnt an awful lot that was historically accurate about LoB t6he same as there isnt in the bible. The gospels arent history. The fact they are flagrantly at variance with one another is a hint.

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Fun fact: Some of the evangelists weren't even apostles. Somehow I find that weird.

[@galesito1733]

Cleese's comments about offending people are more relevant than ever.

[@sandrastone7019]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you from Sydney, Australia.

[@garetcrossman6626]

I almost never looked at these comments because i thought most of them would make reference to the height difference, which i find cheap and pathetic. (I'm talking about the difference of well over a foot, perhaps a foot and a half.) You get that sort of thing so often-the moment the host shakes hands with the guest eclipses the hour-long talk that follows. Surprisingly, there's no mention whatsoever of the diminutive Cavett looking like a boy being taken to his first day at school by his dad. My faith in humanity has been restored.

[@ChrisWalker-fq7kf]

It's good that no one mentioned it. Well you mentioned it once but I think you got away with it...

[@zapkvr]

This is what an interview show should be like. Michael Parkinson should have been taking notes. Cavett was a master of his craft, and it really was a serious craft for him.

[@MrPbizzle1]

What was wrong with Parky?

[@AnjektusStudio]

​@@MrPbizzle1Well! From this interview. The diffrent is that Parkingson are not as intellectuall.

[@joe-vz6hx]

Two very funny and intelligent men...thanks for this

[@KekeElBecko]

Dick Cavett always brings out the best in his guests

[@cjp592]

Because I find him immensely funny and intelligent, he’s super sexy to me and even sexy now even. My dad was sooo right some women “fall in love” through their ears. 😂

[@OeditpusRex]

That sort of attraction to intelligence is called "sapiosexuality." I'm quite sapiosexual myself. A woman who might not be conventionally beautiful is extraordinally attractive to me if she's well-spoken and knows of what she speaks or writes. There's almost certainly a similar term for physical attraction to one with a well-developed sense of humor, but I don't know it.

[@99bimmer]

The fact that they eventually started parodying each other is the most brilliant shit I've ever heard

[@BeesWaxMinder]

I'm halfway through this and I have to say as entertaining as it is there ARE some parts that are depressingly relevant even today!

[@BassicVIC]

Yeah! The earth-flat believers and the new generation that finds offence at everything…

[@BeesWaxMinder]

@Bebtelovimab 🤭👍

[@zapkvr]

Theres nothing depressing about depression. Embrace the misery.

[@byculla6]

Brilliant discussion! So intelligent and funny!

[@bruceandt]

John talks about a point in history that has come around today.

[@joanosborn6772]

These two are fun and entertaining to listen to

[@jagheterhopp]

Thank you for uploading

[@lauriefrancisco1084]

What a terrific convo. I think that’s the most subdued and serious that I’ve ever seen John Cleese, and Dick Cavett did a great job interviewing him. BTW, The Ministry of Silly Walks is one of my favs and it disappoints me that he won’t demonstrate! Oh, well.

[@sporkfindus4777]

I think that a lot of interviewees respected Cavett because he was well-read, did his research into his interviewees' work, asked thoughtful questions, allowed a whole per guest and let his guest speak without interruption.

[@TheGwydion777]

One of the big parts they cut was Otto the Nazi Jew. One of the most important bits of footage looking at the world today. Astonishing to say the least.

[@clydebear6914]

Dick Cavett was the American version of Michael Parkinson. Effortlessly smooth and relaxed and illiciting honesty and humour from his guests perfectly.

[@zapkvr]

Flying circus was the name of a pop combo in Australia in the 70s

[@ThePossumone]

Funny isn’t it they were saying the same thing that we are all saying now and that Ricky Gervais still says If you don’t like what they are saying - scroll on and stop listening

[@donaldcarletonjr.9047]

Bloody BRILLIANT!

[@HMinot]

And let’s not forget The Firesign Theatre.

[@minoutv7347]

Heavy on the 30 weight!

[@jerry8405]

So relevant bow

[@EannaButler]

23:40 - Dorsal!! Hilarious!! John Cleese - you da man...

[@vnrjn8]

Cleese is superb.

[@flowerbedmusic2674]

Terry Gilliam DOES indeed talk like that (around the 40 minute mark). Great impersonation. I like Terry a lot, he has lots to say and Brazil is a fantastic film but behind the scenes, contributing to a Python meeting, i can just imagine what John says! ha ha

[@37Dionysos]

"So many touchy people get offended by MP, but what do you guys think of, say, US preachers on TV?" "Punishable!"

[@felixthelmocevallosmorales41]

John Marwood Cleese (Somerset, 27 de octubre de 1939) es un actor y comediante británico, conocido por haber sido uno de los seis miembros del grupo cómico Monty Python.

[@lingolarker9318]

John…Marwood😄…Cleese.

[@Requiredfields2]

Funny how Cleese moves his chair such that he looks even larger in relation to the diminutive Cavett. It's as if he's about to envelop him.

[@anneroy4560]

Cavett is 5'4" ...

[@felixthelmocevallosmorales41]

Richard Alva Cavett 19 de noviembre de 1936 86 años (87)

[@diedertspijkerboer]

If people are offended by something silly, I always tell them that they have every right to feel offended. Or to be offended.

[@garethnvgbe]

I always tell people that taking offense when I did not intend to give offense is stealing and stealing is wrong.

[@joe-vz6hx]

Really? I tend to tell them to f off.

[@josephgreen2824]

Wow, how profound 😂😂

[@dandyhiphop]

2 Scorpios having a good gab

[@zapkvr]

Explaining the Peter Principle, named for Professor Parkinson. Everyone gets promoted to their level of incompetence (well, unless you push back of course)

[@Conn30Mtenor]

Dick Cavett hosts a Force of Nature.

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

His joke about how we cannot try and not offend flat earthers aged like fine wine. Back then who would have imagined such idiots would actually try and be taken seriously today.

[@anneroy4560]

And they do not even have a website where one can purchase mugs / t-shirts etc. I so want one ... laughing like mad here ...

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

In Canada, a single complaint can have a song banned from airplay.

[@Lampshade51]

Other talk shows seemed to have hosts who simply trotted their guests out as celebrities and never discusses their work. Cavett does an actual interview.

[@pressureworks]

The "Celebrities are only there to promote their latest work, so actually aren't interesting in talking about anything else.

[@edscmidt5193]

I really didn’t think he was gonna mention Biggus Dickus when he was going over the characters, and then he just glossed over it and the audience didn’t laugh, they didn’t know what was so funny about the name Biggus Dickus

[@Bjowolf2]

Flat Earth Society - a global movement :-)

[@zapkvr]

All this was before Kazantzakis book was turned into the the movie "The last temptation of Christ". Caused quite the stir iirc

[@sleep_now...]

So it's always been like this, only now is more amplified and weaponized.

[@Hughes500]

Dick cavett has such a unusual interview style that I think is great. Really great to watch. John Cleese is possibly the best comic ever however Michael Palin could be better (Mr Pither, Mr Gumby, Fish Slapping Dance and the list goes on)

[@hueyiroquois3839]

17:35 Is that why the phrase "skin cancer" was overdubbed with "myxomatosis" in the sketch about black spots? (Or is it spots of color?)

[@scottcaldwell7480]

Hilariously ironic that everyone cheering Mr. Cleese for saying it is ok to offend now have their panties in a wad because he offended them.

[@whatshisname3304]

its funny, he said it would be sad; men dressed as chickens in their old age. they did a special python show at the O2 venue in their old age. it was nt sad it was excellent.

[@alanbarker7923]

How topical!

[@BeesWaxMinder]

42:14 - did "video arts" do well? Is it still going, even?

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Yes it did, they made training videos for decades, the company still exists, but I think Cleese eventually left/sold it.

[@BeesWaxMinder]

@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline thanks👍

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

@@BeesWaxMinder PS The ultimate irony is that they later re-made several of those training videos to be more inclusive - in the oldest programs the women just served the tea etcetera. John is dead set against any of that now, but I don't think he ever realised that he was being woke very early on.

[@nedludd7622]

One of the Monty Python was American.

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

He was cured of his unfortunate condition many years later. :p

[@jayaybe1]

@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline It's people like you what cause unrest 🤭.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline Somebody boil up a bunch of water!

[@pressureworks]

Is

[@CraigMaxwell-gz3vw]

Is this just me being weird but you never see the interviewer on the left with the interviewee (if that’s a word) on the right……🤔

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

What about interviews from countries where the writing direction is opposite?

[@CraigMaxwell-gz3vw]

I’ve never seen one. What about countries where the writing is vertical? That would be a challenge….

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

@@CraigMaxwell-gz3vw I suppose that would give new meaning to the term "upper class".

[@RumBuboe]

What about all the desky ones? Letterman, O’Brien, Jimmy Kibble et Al?

[@zapkvr]

Very prescient 23:02

[@gplunk]

Perhaps Cleese should've opened a cheese shop; or at least done a sketch about one....

[@todd3563]

Cleese picking at his fingers was disrtacting buti it was a good interview.

[@pressureworks]

He's never asked about nor does he mention I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, in any interview i've heard, read, seen or imagined. Go Away.

[@sunray4389]

23:59

[@jorgefiguerola1239]

There was a time some 40 years ago as a boy gradually absorbing all that PBS had to offer. Seems to have gone from beyond to understood to irritating to watch because of lack of preparation and research. So much praise in these comments for a Nebraska boy that seemed so desperate to be respected by the New England intelligentsia.

[@3zan6bel9]

I'm offended

[@zejaguar]

MP was considered tasteless & offensive? Shows how comedy has changed.

[@oldtimer7635]

Funny how Cleese is referring to Fawlty Towers couple of times, but they leave it there.

[@notheotherklaus]

Cleese was one of the best comedians of all time and 100% British. Later he would loose the comic spark

[@contrarian8870]

My, how the "perpetually offended" switched from the right to the left since then... Any time a conservative tries to speak at a US campus it's canceled by threats or you need 100 cops

[@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline]

Is that so? How about book banning then? That particular part of the right wing movement doesn't care too much about freedom when it comes to books.

[@contrarian8870]

​@@TheMontyPythonMuseumOnline No, it's the left wing which bans books and entire science papers. 1. When science papers show that most ["between-legs conversions"] are a social fad, the papers are WITHDRAWN (Brown U, 2018, Virginia Tech 2023). Not because of science, but because they "upset" people. We're back to the times of Galileo, where "upsetting" science is shut down, except now by lefties :) 2. Amazon, with a lefty mgmt has banned all books & items featuring the South flag, books that question [between-legs conversion] and anything that may "encourage" [light color] nationalism (very vague) 100s of books banned by lefty Amazon, far more than anything in US school libraries :) 3. Lefty sites now shut down ALL their comment sections because people contradict the state-sanctioned official lefty "narrative" :) 4. I, and many others, must use workarounds in YT comments (see above) because lefty YT will delete anything challenging lefty views. Did you know any of the above? Of course not. You live in a lefty media bubble, where lefty censorship is just ignored. As you're a loyal supporter of the lefty political and cultural establishment, and you hold all the correct, state-approved views, the lefty censorship will never affect you, so you'll never "see" it :)

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

What does a 'conservative' wish to speak about?

[@ww-bp9el]

The movie does not make fun of Christ, much less the teachings. Many cultural critiques and challenges were and are dismissed, degraded and intentionally taken out of context. Love has allways been difficult.

[@veritas6335]

It doesn't matter who gets made fun of. Religion is superstition. All religions, including your own. And as such is fair game.

[@simac3880]

I think the Flat Earth Society has now crossed the Atlantic.

[@garywheeler60]

A baby ....? Where are you going to gestate the fetus..? You gonna put it in a box?.

[@wayneyadams]

John Cleese is very funny, especially in Fawlty Towers, but as for Monty Python, I can take it or leave it. Maybe it's difference between the British senso of humor and ours, but it just wan't that funny to me.

[@spiffydigs]

Zero to cringe in 20 seconds. Nobody beats Dick Cavett at awkwardness.

[@Mor10b]

its incredible to now watch this and understand just how much of dimwit of an man Cavett realy were. And how people with intelect would stump\destroy his planed ordeal.

[@christoph404]

Dick Cavett wasn't a dimwit, he was pretty sharp, his interviews with people like Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier are very good, I don't think John Cleese is a great intellect, don't be fooled by his English accent, it makes him sound smarter than he really is.

[@garycoates4603]

@@christoph404 I think you mean his English pronunciation. England has myriad accents. I have a Teesside accent and am not a great intellect, just a humble genius.

[@anneroy4560]

Cleese attended the University of Cambridge ... you need to be quite intelligent to get a place there ...@@christoph404

[@anneroy4560]

Cavett attended Yale & Cleese the University of Cambridge ... neither place is careless deciding who can attend to study ...@@christoph404

[@OeditpusRex]

​@@christoph404How do profess to know the extent of John Cleese's intelligence? To whom do you compare him, and by what criteria?

[@michaelisaacson9735]

Cavett is always a year or two behind the times and quite the dullard as far as interviews go. Really obvious questions, old points of view...juts a really old man, even when he was 30.

[@Rapture_Ready_Rabbit]

++++++ TIME HAS RUN OUT !! John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Don't ignore this message... REPENT NOW !! TRUST that God raised Him from the dead !! By FAITH accept JESUS's blood alone as payment for your sins unto Salvation, to escape what's about to happen !!

[@OeditpusRex]

Mythology is amusing.

[@BrianKruger]

I think he said, "Blessed are the cheesemakers"

[@fisherguzzi]

2000 years and counting.

[@JosephScott-ct9sw]

Let's not go at @camelot507.

[@veritas6335]

Oh get a grip.

[@JakobSeidl]

41:00