KDTN PRESENTS JOHN CLEESE GETS THE LAST LAUGH

CROWD 50 MILLION PEOPLE onto an island the size of a West Texas ranch and what do you get?

claustrophobia

England

people too civil and apologetic to show anger

Margaret Thatcher

John Cleese

Well, forget the claustrophobia. John Cleese isn’t talking about that.

But he will tell you that the British can’t handle anger. Which is why they elected a prime minister who got angry and stayed angry when she wasn’t merely hostile or irritated or piqued. And why there’s a British comedian named Cleese who turned to humo(u)r because his anger scared him.

It’s all on A Conversation With John Cleese, a 30-minute special produced by KDTN Channel 2. Interviewed by Bob Ray Sanders, who occasionally manages to control his laughter, the star of Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda talks about comedy, creativity, politics and family therapy.

“It’s an inside look at the man – how he feels about humor and how he feels about family, ” says Suzanne Dooley, who produced the special. “Cleese is certainly one of the comic geniuses of our time – without seeming, in the least way, to be genius-like. “

Along the way, Cleese talks about the hard work of being funny. (The screenplay for Wanda went through 13 drafts. ) About being in therapy. (He’s now been in therapy so long, he’s bored by it. A healthy sign, his therapist says. ) About what makes him weep.

Interviewing Cleese, Sanders says, “was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of my career in journalism – to interview somebody I really considered to be a genius. John Cleese was talented and he also turned out to be a good person.

“It was a challenge for me to prepare for the interview. But, because of his openness, he made it very easy for me. “