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When the target audience is American teenage kids, you can have problems. My generation prized really fine acting and writing. Sometimes you have to go back to the basic principles which underpin great visual comedy.

John Cleese

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John Cleese
Age: 85
Born: 1939
Born: October 27
Actor
Autobiographer
Comedian
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Voice Actor
Writer
Weston-super-Mare
Somerset
John Marwood Cleese
Really
Acting
Basic
American
Generation
Kids
Generations
Underpin
Problem
Problems
Prized
Back
Fine
Teenage
Sometimes
Principles
Visuals
Great
Comedy
Visual
Writing
Audience
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More quotes by John Cleese

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It’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve.
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If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.
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I tend to have an odd split in my mind: I tend to look at it as a writer and when the writing thing is OK and I'm happy with it, then I put on my actor's hat.
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I think that the real religion is about the understanding that if we can only still our egos for a few seconds, we might have a chance of experiencing something that is divine in nature.
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We need to be in the open mode when we are pondering a problem, but, once we come up with a solution, we must then switch to the closed mode to implement it.
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I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are.
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Basil Fawlty was an easy character for me. For some reason, portraying a mean, uptight, incompetent bully comes naturally to me.
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The thrill I got discovering Buster Keaton when I was growing up was so exciting. He was one of the greats.
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I'm struck by how laughter connects you with people. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you're just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy.
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The sad thing about true stupidity is that you can do absolutely nothing about it.
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Sense of humor is so much more subjective than anyone believes.
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There are 3 basic differences between we British and you Americans. One, we speak English, and you don't. Two, when we have a World Championship, we invite teams from other nations. Three, when you meet the British head of State, you only have to get down on one knee.
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The Americans all love 'The Holy Grail', and the English all love 'Life Of Brian', and I'm afraid on this one, I side with the English.
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What's the bleedin' point?
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This is the extraordinary thing about creativity: If just you keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious.
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Filming is like a long air journey: there's so much hanging around and boredom that they keep giving you food.
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If I like chocolate it won't surprise you that I have a few chocolates in my fridge, but if you find out I've got 16 warehouses full of chocolate, you'd think I was insane. All these rich guys are insane, obsessive compulsive twits obsessed with money - money is all they think about - they're all nuts.
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The Americans are just more enthusiastic and more likely to engage in hyperbole.
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I think it takes a long time, as you get older, to realize just how crazy the world is, just how ridiculous it all is.
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Don't let anyone tell you what you ought to like... Some wines that some experts think are absolutely exquisite don't appeal to me at all.
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