Harris falters, Trump rises: And now for something completely different



Those of us who grew up laughing at the antics of British comedy troupe Monty Python remember the film “And Now for Something Completely Different,” which compiled some of the best sketches from their hit TV series.

The humor throughout “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and their various films was inventive, original, and often unexpectedly off-the-wall.

For better or worse, this election season has followed that quirky formula.

None of us “of a certain age” has ever witnessed political antics like those unfolding since the disputed close of the 2020 election season. Up until that year, we had never seen anything like what happened leading up to — and beyond — Nov. 3, 2020.

But just when it seemed “safe to go back in the political waters” (to borrow a line from a 1978 “Jaws 2” movie poster), something “completely different” would surface.

The Democrats, in particular, seemed ready to outdo their last incredible “Gotcha!”

How surprised should any of us be if the Democrats, out of total desperation in the waning days of the 2024 election, come up with something ... completely different?

These are the same shysters who claimed the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history”; who locked up citizens for peacefully protesting what they saw as an obvious steal; who, by omission or commission, allowed an assassin to target a presidential candidate and former president; who insisted they are the party on the side of good and suggested that if you believe “Jesus is Lord,” you’re “at the wrong rally”; and who repeatedly used "Hitler" to describe the president who once leaned through a McDonald's window and asked, "Would you like fries with that?"

Now, with just days to go, the “Hitler candidate” has surged in popularity, like the TV series “Seinfeld” in its prime. Everyone seems to be watching, eagerly awaiting the next episode. It’s a stretch, but imagine Trump as Jerry, with an intriguing new cast: RFK Jr. as George, Tulsi Gabbard as Elaine, and, yes, the wild and unpredictable Elon Musk as Kramer.

All and all, this cast of characters is fun to watch.

But the other show that just could not quite get it in gear, “Harris” (whose working title was “Build Back Biden”), is now bleeding ratings and is about to be canceled. So what do they do?

They go back to what got them on the lineup in the first place. They are the anti-Trump cast. And they trot out old have-beens or never-were “stars” with thread-bared storylines; nefarious characters like Hillary and Obama who badly deliver their never-could-stick lines chalk full of accusations of racism, sexism, and Hitlerism.

You can almost see the deep state, which is storyboarding this particular "last episode," calling in the star of the show, Kamala Harris, and laying it on the line with her.

[Door opens: Harris ENTERS]

D.S.: Ah, Ms. Harris. Come in. Sit down.

K.H.: Yes, I will sit down on this chair that was made for sitting and on which I will then sit.

[Harris SITS]

D.S.: OK, look. Whatever it is you’re doing it’s not working ...

K.H.: Yes, working is what we want to work here so I am working to make it work.

D.S.: Shut up. Here’s what's going to happen. You are going to keep calling Trump “Hitler.” You are going to keep repeating that since we know you are good at repeating everything.

K.H.: Yes, repeating what needs to be repeated —

D.S.: Enough! Listen. The last time we repeated “Trump is Hitler,” we had at least two assassination attempts on his life. That means we can gin up more attempts using the same strategy. That way, by Election Day, Trump’s name may still be on the ballot but the man himself will be in the funeral home.

K.H.: [Cackles]

D.S.: And if Trump is not gone from this planet in the next few days — someone will be taking a shot at you.

K.H.: [Stops Cackling]

D.S.: You heard us. But don’t worry, we will make sure — fingers crossed — that they just nick you on the arm ... or something. Then, we will blame Trump and his MAGA crazies and say that their hateful rhetoric led to one of their own trying to destroy our Democracy. And to save our Democracy, we will disqualify Trump, jail him and anyone wearing a red hat (whether it says MAGA or not). And while you are recuperating (if you’re lucky) in the hospital, we will declare Hillary our candidate. She will win, and we will continue to fundamentally transform America and finally complete the directive initiated in 2008.

K.H.: [Long pause] But ... but ... but ...

D.S.: You may go.

[Harris STANDS up from the chair she has been sitting in that was made for sitting in and EXITS.]

This scenario is a stretch. No doubt about it.

But how surprised should any of us be if the Democrats, out of total desperation in the waning days of the 2024 election, come up with something ... completely different?

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared previously at American Thinker.

John Cleese refuses to remove 'Life of Brian' joke about a man becoming a woman and having a baby that critics call 'transphobic'



John Cleese refused to bend the knee to the outrage mob who called for a joke to be removed from an upcoming stage version of Monty Python’s "Life Of Brian." The controversial scene features a man claiming that he is a woman and he can have a baby.

Cleese is working on a stage production of Monty Python's "Life of Brian," a 1979 movie about a man who is mistaken for Jesus Christ. However, actors allegedly told Cleese that one scene would need to be cut out of the reproduction for it not to be offensive in today's social environment.

The scene in question features a character named "Stan" – who wants to become a woman and have babies.

"I want to be a woman," Stan declares. "From now on, I want you all to call me Loretta."

Cleese's character Reg bewilderedly asked, "What?"

Stan fires back, "It's my right as a man."

When asked why he wants to be a woman, Stan explains, "I want to have babies."

Reg quizzically replies, "You want to have babies?"

Stan shoots back, "It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them."

When Reg informs Stan that he "can't have babies," Stan plays the victim, "Don't you oppress me."

Cleese's character notes, "I’m not oppressing you, Stan, you haven’t got a womb. Where’s the fetus going to gestate? You gonna keep it in a box?"

Other characters agree that Stan can't have babies, but argue that he should have the "right to have babies."

Reg responds, "What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?"

Another character says, "It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression."

Reg quips that Stan has a "struggle with reality" for thinking he can give birth to a baby.

Monty Python - "Loretta" www.youtube.com

Critics claim the scene in the movie from 44 years ago is "transphobic."

Despite the controversy, Cleese confirmed that he would not be removing the questionable scene from the upcoming stage show of "Life of Brian."

Cleese wrote on Twitter, "A few days ago I spoke to an audience outside London. I told them I was adapting the Life of Brian so that we could do it as a stage show ( NOT a musical ). I said that we'd had a table reading of the latest draft in NYC a year ago and that all the actors – several of them Tony winners – had advised me strongly to cut the Loretta scene. I have, of course, no intention of doing so."

Cleese slammed the media for "misreporting" him about cutting the Loretta scene from the new version, "Amazingly none of the British media called to check."

Cleese said of the actors in the upcoming production, "These were absolutely top-class Broadway performers and they were adamant that we would not get away with doing the scene in NYC! I asked them, 'Are Python fans not going to come because we're doing a scene they've been laughing at for 40 years.'"

The Monty Python comedian said, "Producers tend to be scaredy-cats, and they don't remember that the protests in NYC when 'Brian' was released meant we never needed to do publicity!"

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BBC’s ‘Cunk On Earth’ Mockumentary Is Brilliantly Stupid

The death of human culture, as laid out by 'Cunk on Earth,' is the desire to talk about something more cheerful, or maybe to skip talking altogether.

Anti-woke, anti-cancel culture comic John Cleese to debut show on TV channel one critic calls the 'British Fox News'



Monty Python's John Cleese — a legendary comic who's become an outspoken opponent of woke culture and cancel culture in recent years — is debuting a TV show in 2023 on a United Kingdom channel that one critic has called the "British Fox News."

What are the details?

Cleese's new show on GB News will be a collaboration with satirist Andrew Doyle that will encourage "proper argument," BBC News reported. Doyle hosts "Free Speech Nation" on the channel, which launched last year, the network said.

Cleese warned GB News watchers that they "may not be used to hearing the sort of things I'll be saying."

Former GB News chairman Andrew Neil told the BBC last year, via the Guardian, that one of the reasons he exited the network was because he didn't want to be a “minority of one” at a “British Fox News.”

Cleese apparently doesn't feel similarly about GB News.

"I was approached [about the new show], and I didn't know who they were," Cleese told BBC News. "I don't know much about modern television because I've pretty much given up on it — English television."

Cleese further explained that he then "met one or two of the people concerned and had a dinner with them, and I liked them very much. And what they said was, 'People say it's a right-wing channel, [but] it's a free-speech channel.'"

GB News launched in June 2021, BBC News said, becoming the U.K.'s first TV news start-up in 30 years.

As for any possibility of returning to the BBC in the future — "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and Cleese's "Fawlty Towers" comedy series are both BBC properties — Cleese told the network, "Not on your nelly."

Why? "Because I wouldn't get five minutes into the first show before I'd been canceled or censored," he told BBC News.

What else has Cleese been up to?

In July, Cleese told an audience at the FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas that "woke attitudes" are having a "disastrous effect" on comedy and that he has seen writers and comics censoring themselves over fear of getting canceled.

In November 2021, Cleese actually canceled himself from a speaking gig at Cambridge University after he learned that an art historian at the school had been canceled over an impersonation of Adolf Hitler that reportedly offended students.

In 2020, Cleese ripped keyboard leftists, refusing to bow to them in the wake of their "transphobia" accusations after he signed a letter of solidarity with author J.K. Rowling, who herself has come under fire for statements challenging transgenderism.

"I hope they fry in their own sanctimoniousness and narcissistic posturing," Cleese said of the woke mob. "Until they get a sense of perspective, that is."

Way back in 2016, Cleese declared that political correctness would lead to a "1984" society and cautioned against hypersensitivity to anything and everything deemed hurtful and offensive.

"All humor is critical. If we start saying, 'Oh, we mustn’t criticize or offend them,' then humor is gone, and with humor goes a sense of proportion — and then, as far as I’m concerned, you’re living in '1984,'" Cleese said in a video, referring to George Orwell's classic dystopian novel. "So the idea that you have to be protected from any kind of uncomfortable emotion is one I absolutely do not subscribe to."

John Cleese says 'woke attitudes' are having 'disastrous effect' on comedy; fearful writers are censoring themselves: 'The death of creativity'



Legendary comedian and original "Monty Python" member John Cleese said "woke attitudes" are having a "disastrous effect" on comedy, and that he's seeing writers and comics censoring themselves over fear of getting canceled.

What are the details?

Cleese — a keynote speaker at last week's FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas — said during an interview with Fox News Digital that it's all spelling "the death of creativity."

Asked if comedians in 2022 feel free to be funny, Cleese told the cable network "no."

"Why, you go to Molière and Louis XIV. I mean Molière had to be a bit careful. And there will always be limitations," he revealed to Fox News. "I mean in England, until some ridiculous late date like 1965, all plays had to be submitted to ... the Lord Chamberlain, and he would read it, and there were hilarious letters ... saying, 'You may only say f*** once' ... ‘and you cannot say bugger. But you can say...' this sort of ridiculous negotiating ..."

Image source: Fox News video screenshot

The 82-year-old added to the cable network that "a lot of comedians now ... when they think of something, they say something like, 'Can I get away with it? I don't think so. So and so got into trouble, and he said that, or she said that.' You see what I mean? And that's the death of creativity." He added that "at the moment, this is a difficult time, particularly for young comedians; but you see my audience is much older, and they're simply not interested in most of the woke attitudes. I mean, they just think that you should try and be kind to people ... no need to complicate it, you know?"

Cleese — a longtime opponent of woke culture and political correctness — also told Fox News that as a result of wokeness, criticism interferes with creativity, and they're "definitely in opposition to each other."

"You can do the creation and then criticize it, but you can't do them at the same time," he explained to the cable network. "So if you're worried about offending people and constantly thinking of that, you are not going to be very creative. So I think it has a disastrous effect."

Cleese added that "everything is more ... politicized now," including American late-night comedy television, Fox News said, adding that while he "adores" Stephen Colbert, the far-left host's audience is "more obviously politically aligned than it used to be."

"It wasn't like this when I first got to America," Cleese recalled to the cable network. "When I first got to America in the 60s … two things happened. First of all, I very much admired the cross-the-[political]-aisle friendships and thought, 'We don't have that in England.' We have real battles between the Tories and the Labour ... and [in America] this was destroyed by Newt Gingrich, quite deliberately, for purposes of power. I think that's a tragedy."

The comedic veteran also acknowledged to Fox News that he doesn't even watch comedy anymore.

"I don't go to comedies much because when you spent your life in comedy — by the time you get to 55 years in comedy — you've heard most of the jokes," he told the cable network. "And you watch people, you think, 'Yeah, that's funny,' but I have better things to do this evening than to watch comedy. I don't need to be entertained. I'd rather read a book."

Anti-woke comedian John Cleese blasts 'deception, dishonesty and tone' of interview, says he was painted as 'old-fashioned, uncaring and basically harmful'



Legendary comedian John Cleese blasted the "deception, dishonesty and tone" of a recent BBC Asia interview that he said focused on cancel culture and the Dave Chappelle controversy rather than on the agreed-upon topic — his upcoming "Why There Is No Hope" tour in Singapore and Bangkok, the Daily Mail reported.

The 82-year-old Monty Python alum also said the interviewer — whom he identified only as "Karishma" — tried to portray him as "old-fashioned, uncaring and basically harmful," the outlet said.

In response, Cleese said he ended the interview early and would be making a formal complaint to the BBC — which subsequently defended the interviewer, the Daily Mail added.

What are the details?

Cleese took to Twitter on Wednesday, outlining in multiple posts what took place from his perspective. Cleese said when he was asked about cancel culture rather than about his upcoming shows, he "replied courteously and in full" and noted that overprotective parents don't "prepare children well" for the "real and often not-very-nice world."

He said the interviewer followed with a "disjointed question, clearly trying to portray me as old-fashioned, uncaring and basically harmful." After answering one aspect of her question by pointed out that many therapists who help young people with anxiety and depression do not adhere to "woke principles," Cleese said the interviewer ignored his answer, then went on to question why he was coming to Asia amid the pandemic, "apparently blaming me for making the situation worse!"

Then once she asked Cleese about the Dave Chappelle controversy, Cleese said he took off his headphones and ended the interview.

"The media will no doubt report that I 'stormed out.' I didn't. Nor did I lose my temper. But I was depressed that this kind of presenter-ego crap is so prevalent now," the comedian added in a final tweet.

Chappelle has been attacked as transphobic over the last few months over some jokes he told in his comedy special "The Closer," and leftists far and wide have been savaging him and pushing for his cancellation ever since.

As it happens, Cleese's fellow Python alum Terry Gilliam has been dealing with fallout after recommending that his Facebook followers watch "The Closer." In fact, a small group of staffers at London's famous venue the Old Vic reportedly influenced their bosses to cancel an upcoming musical Gilliam is co-directing due to his support of Chappelle.

What did the BBC have to say?

The BBC responded to Cleese's claims by saying the interview was "fair and appropriate" and that it "touched on topics that John Cleese has previously been vocal about as well as themes within his new tour. Our presenter is an excellent and experienced journalist who conducted the interview entirely within our editorial guidelines," Metro.co.uk reported.

What else has Cleese been up to?

Last month Cleese canceled himself from an upcoming speaking gig at Cambridge University after he caught wind that an art historian was canceled there over an impersonation of Adolf Hitler that reportedly offended students.

"I was looking forward to talking to students at the Cambridge Union this Friday, but I hear that someone there has been blacklisted for doing an impersonation of Hitler," Cleese wrote on Twitter. "I regret that I did the same on a Monty Python show, so I am blacklisting myself before someone else does."

He added, "I apologise to anyone at Cambridge who was hoping to talk with me, but perhaps some of you can find a venue where woke rules do not apply."

Over the summer Cleese highlighted a documentary series called "Cancel Me," in which the comedian questions why the new woke generation is trying to censor everyone, even for harmless jokes.

And last year Cleese ripped keyboard leftists and refused to bow to them in the wake of their "transphobia" accusations after he signed a letter of solidarity with author J.K. Rowling, who herself has come under fire for statements challenging transgenderism.

"I hope they fry in their own sanctimoniousness and narcissistic posturing," Cleese said of the woke mob. "Until they get a sense of perspective, that is."

Monty Python star Terry Gilliam rips 'humour-averse ideologues' who got his musical canceled after he endorsed Dave Chappelle's 'The Closer'



Actor and director Terry Gilliam — who gained fame as part of the Monty Python comedy troupe then later as a director and filmmaker — blasted The Old Vic theatre in London and some of its staff after his production of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into The Woods" was canceled, Yahoo Entertainment reported.

What happened?

Gilliam, 81, was to co-direct the show next year at the historic venue, the outlet said. But last month, The Old Vic said it was canceling the production amid reports that some staffers were unhappy about "controversial remarks" Gilliam made, Yahoo Entertainment noted.

And Gilliam took aim at those responsible on his Facebook page Monday:

Gilliam wrote: "It is very sad that a great cultural institution like The Old Vic allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production of Into The Woods by a small group of closed-minded, humour-averse ideologues on their staff who, absurdly, call themselves 'The Old Vic 12' ... as if they are the victims of some cruel injustice desperately fighting for their freedom!"

He added: "My unspeakable crime was recommending my Facebook followers to watch a Netflix special by a brilliant and provocative American comedian, and then share with me their opinions. They did and civilisation did not collapse! However, The Old Vic's artistic credibility certainly has."

Gilliam concluded by saying, "Freedom of Speech is often attacked, but I never imagined that Freedom of Recommendation would be under threat as well."

Who's the comedian Gilliam recommended?

Yahoo Entertainment said Gilliam recommended to his nearly half a million Facebook followers that they watch comedian Dave Chappelle's controversial Netflix show "The Closer."

As readers of TheBlaze know, Chappelle has been attacked as transphobic over the last few months over some jokes he told in his comedy special, and leftists far and wide have been savaging him and pushing for his cancellation ever since.

What did Gilliam say about Chappelle?

Gilliam in October went on Facebook to endorse Chappelle and "The Closer":

"I'm encouraging all of you to watch Dave Chappelle's new show, The Closer, on Netflix," he wrote. "To me, he's the greatest standup comedian alive today: incredibly intelligent, socially aware, dangerously provocative, and gut-wrenchingly funny. There is a storm brewing over Netflix's support for the show. I'd love to hear your opinions."

Reactions were mixed with respect to both of Gilliam's Facebook posts — his recommendation of Chappelle and "The Closer" as well as his criticism of The Old Vic and some of its employees for his own show's cancellation.

Here's a sampling of reactions from the latter post:

  • "The Great Cancel Witch Hunts of the 2020s, as they may be remembered, will recede into history, just as did the McCarthyism of 1950s America," one commenter wrote. "Freely-discussed ideas, opinions, and unfettered creativity are essential to a healthy society. Love your films Terry Gilliam!"
  • "Terry I have the utmost respect for you and your work, if someone can't take a joke then they are missing out," another commenter said.
  • "Terry, you are better than this. Chappelle is a great comedian, too, but he went after a whole community that really needs our support in that special, and you recommending it is just adding fuel to a fire that is already out of control," another commenter argued. "The Trans community needs our support and acceptance. They are just normal people, trying to live their lives in peace like everyone else. If we can stop promoting material that tears them down and encourages prejudice, that would be amazing."
  • "Thanks for reminding me that I needed to unfollow you," another commenter said.

Anything else?

Gilliam, in his post about The Old Vic cancellation, noted that his "Into the Woods" production "has found a beautiful and welcoming new home, the Theatre Royal in Bath. The show will open August 19, 2022."