John Cleese: Why There Is No Hope review – we’re all idiots, says Mr Gloomy | The Guardian – on August 3, 2020 at 11:11 am

Cadogan Hall, LondonIn a global livestream, the former Python delivers alimony gags, a bit of PC-baiting – and an amusingly grumpy lecture on how nobody knows anythingThe decision to postpone lockdown easing scotched plans to admit a socially distanced audience to John Cleese’s first ever global livestream. So the event, booms Cleese across rows of unoccupied seats in London’s Cadogan Hall, resembles nothing more than the annual convention of the Michael Palin fan club.The latter might be a jauntier affair. Cleese’s show is called Why There Is No Hope, and is less comedy show than lecture on people’s, and society’s, inescapable idiocy. None of us know what we’re doing, argues Cleese. Even clever people are profoundly irrational. And the people who seek and gain power are the worst of all. This gloomy thesis is footnoted with stats and choice quotes from a host who clearly knows – and cares – whereof he speaks. It’s also handed down to us by Cleese as if on tablets of stone – ironically, given that we’re being urged to feel less certain in our certitude. Continue reading…

Cadogan Hall, London
In a global livestream, the former Python delivers alimony gags, a bit of PC-baiting – and an amusingly grumpy lecture on how nobody knows anything

The decision to postpone lockdown easing scotched plans to admit a socially distanced audience to John Cleese’s first ever global livestream. So the event, booms Cleese across rows of unoccupied seats in London’s Cadogan Hall, resembles nothing more than the annual convention of the Michael Palin fan club.

The latter might be a jauntier affair. Cleese’s show is called Why There Is No Hope, and is less comedy show than lecture on people’s, and society’s, inescapable idiocy. None of us know what we’re doing, argues Cleese. Even clever people are profoundly irrational. And the people who seek and gain power are the worst of all. This gloomy thesis is footnoted with stats and choice quotes from a host who clearly knows – and cares – whereof he speaks. It’s also handed down to us by Cleese as if on tablets of stone – ironically, given that we’re being urged to feel less certain in our certitude.

Continue reading…