John Cleese and the Holy Grail

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About John Cleese and the Holy Grail

"John Cleese and the Holy Grail" is a live stage presentation built around the actor and comedian John Cleese, pairing a theatrical screening of Monty...

"John Cleese and the Holy Grail" is a live stage presentation built around the actor and comedian John Cleese, pairing a theatrical screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with an extended onstage interview. The production was created to mark more than fifty years since the film's original release, with Cleese introducing each screening before taking audience questions.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released in 1975, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones and written by all six members of the Monty Python troupe, including Cleese. Cleese appears in multiple roles, among them Sir Lancelot the Brave, the Black Knight, a French taunter and Tim the Enchanter. The film's absurdist medieval satire and endlessly quoted dialogue made it one of the most enduring comedies in English-language cinema, and Eric Idle later adapted it into the Tony Award-winning stage musical Spamalot.

Each stop on the presentation follows a set format: Cleese opens with a short introduction, the film is screened in full, and a roughly forty-five-minute Q&A follows, with a local host and audience members questioning Cleese about the making of the film, his years working alongside the rest of the Python ensemble, and the troupe's broader legacy in comedy.

The presentation has toured internationally, with engagements across the United Kingdom and the United States extending the format to new audiences as part of the film's ongoing anniversary celebrations.

Sources

• Chortle
• Montypython
• Wikipedia