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1993-09-01
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RAH Humor Review: John Cleese on How to Irritate People
by Dave Bealer
This month the RAH Humor Review turns a critical eye towards a video
tape entitled, "John Cleese on How to Irritate People." The obvious
intent of this video is to parody John Cleese's little known second
career as an actor in, and narrator of, humorous corporate training
films. The effect is, ironically enough, more irritating than
humorous.
Although this video tape bears no date it is obviously from the late
1970s. The cast, apart from Cleese, includes Michael Palin, Graham
Chapman, Connie Booth, and Tim Brooke-Taylor. The production quality
is uneven, with some scenes suffering from bad sound. A couple of
the sketches have an almost home movie quality about them. This is
especially surprising since David Frost is listed as the executive
producer.
Most of the material that was written specifically for this video is
pretty lame, especially when judged by this group's usual standard.
Out of the entire 65 minute running time, there are only two actual
high points.
The first is a rehash of the one of the Python's greatest hits, the
"Management Training Course Interview" sketch. John Cleese reprises
his role as the sadistic interviewer, complete with ringing bells.
This remake is marred by the irritating casting decision that places
Tim Brooke-Taylor in the role of the interviewee. Mr. Brooke-Taylor
is a competent comic actor, but he does not have the presence,
especially in this role, of the original interviewee, Graham Chapman.
Weirder still is the fact that Graham Chapman was obviously available
when the sketch was filmed since he appears as one of the judges at
the end of the piece.
The second high point, and the real gem of the whole video, is the
never-before-seen Airline Pilots sketch written by Graham Chapman.
Nasty Monty Python humor at its best, this sketch involves a brace of
airline pilots (Chapman and Cleese). Said pilots deliberately try to
panic the passengers on their plane by making mysterious and
troubling announcements over the public address system while the
steward (Palin), keeps them informed of the passengers' reactions.
All in all, this is a video that only die-hard Monty Python fans will
want to bother with. The availability of this video is likely to be
limited. I received it as a gift, and apparently the person who gave
it to me found it in one of those mail order catalogs featuring
dozens of silly items. A Castle Communications PLC Release. Under
license from David Paradine Productions Limited. The video box does
sport the following address for the American distributor: White Star,
121 Highway 36, West Long Branch, NJ. 07764 USA {RAH}