Most Popular Books by John Cleese

And now for something completely different. Professor at Large features beloved English comedian and actor John Cleese in the role of Ivy League professor at Cornell University. His almost twenty years as professor-at-large has led to many talks, essays, and lectures on campus. This collection of the very best moments from Cleese under his mortarboard provides a unique view of his endless pursuit of intellectual discovery across a range of topics. Since 1999, Cleese has provided Cornell students and local citizens with his ideas on everything from scriptwriting to psychology, religion to hotel management, and wine to medicine. His incredibly popular events and classes—including talks, workshops, and an analysis of A Fish Called Wanda and The Life of Brian—draw hundreds of people. He has given a sermon at Sage Chapel, narrated Prokofiev''s Peter and the Wolf with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, conducted a class on script writing, and lectured on psychology and human development. Each time Cleese has visited the campus in Ithaca, NY, he held a public presentation, attended and or lectured in classes, and met privately with researchers. From the archives of these visits, Professor at Large includes an interview with screenwriter William Goldman, a lecture about creativity entitled, "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind," talks about Professor at Large and The Life of Brian, a discussion of facial recognition, and Cleese''s musings on group dynamics with business students and faculty. Professor at Large provides a window into the workings of John Cleese''s scholarly mind, showcasing the wit and intelligence that have driven his career as a comedian, while demonstrating his knack of pinpointing the essence of humans and human problems. His genius on the screen has long been lauded; now his academic chops get their moment in the spotlight, too.

What makes people tick? What about families, organizations such as schools and businesses, or societies? By understanding them, can we make them tick better? Where does religion fit in? In this entertaining book, England''s odd couple--psychiatrist-scholar Robin Skynner and comic John Cleese--answer these provocative questions and others, as they embark on a fascinating, mind-stretching search for what really matters in life. Cartoons throughout. Media publicity.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “John Cleese’s memoir is just about everything one would expect of its author—smart, thoughtful, provocative and above all funny. . . . A picture, if you will, of the artist as a young man.”—The Washington Post The legendary writer and performer of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame takes readers on a grand tour of his ascent in the entertainment world John Cleese’s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected now seem written into comedy’s DNA. In this rollicking memoir, Cleese recalls his humble beginnings in a sleepy English town, his early comedic days at Cambridge University (with future Python partner Graham Chapman), and the founding of the landmark comedy troupe that would propel him to worldwide renown. Cleese was just days away from graduating Cambridge and setting off on a law career when he was visited by two BBC executives, who offered him a job writing comedy for radio. That fateful moment—and a near-simultaneous offer to take his university humor revue to London’s famed West End—propelled him down a different path, cutting his teeth writing for stars like David Frost and Peter Sellers, and eventually joining the five other Pythons to pioneer a new kind of comedy that prized invention, silliness, and absurdity. Along the way, he found his first true love with the actress Connie Booth and transformed himself from a reluctant performer to a world class actor and back again. Twisting and turning through surprising stories and hilarious digressions—with some brief pauses along the way that comprise a fascinating primer on what’s funny and why—this story of a young man’s journey to the pinnacle of comedy is a masterly performance by a master performer.

The legendary comedian, actor, and writer of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and A Fish Called Wanda fame shares his key ideas about creativity: that it’s a learnable, improvable skill. “Many people have written about creativity, but although they were very, very clever, they weren''t actually creative. I like to think I''m writing about it from the inside.”—John Cleese You might think that creativity is some mysterious, rare gift—one that only a few possess. But you’d be wrong. As John Cleese shows in this short, practical, and often amusing guide, creativity is a skill that anyone can acquire. Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, Cleese shares his insights into the nature of creativity and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing. What do you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind? When do you know that you’ve come up with an idea that might be worth pursuing? What should you do if you think you’ve hit a brick wall? We can all be more creative. John Cleese shows us how.

''It achieves what it set out to do- explaining in ordinary language to ordinary people just how relationships work.'' -Sun

Personal ancedotes, humorous reminiscences, and more than 1,000 photographs and illustrations celebrate the comedy troupe''s thirty-fourth anniversary.

Get ready for Superman as you''ve never seen him before, in an uproarious new graphic novel from Monty Python and Fawity Towers legend John Cleese and The First 28 Years of Monty Python scribe Kim ''Howard'' Johnson! In this hilarious twist on a familar tale, the infant Superman''s rocket ship crash lands in an English town even smaller than Smallville. Adopted by the kindly Clarks, young Colin is taught to hide his powers, as nobody likes to stand out in a crowd. But when a grown-up Colin - now a mild-mannered reporter for The Daily Smear - uses his powers publicly, the question on everyone''s lips is: what will the neighbours think?

What did Basil Fawlty fail to avoid mentioning? Why did Sybil keep snagging her cardies? Where was Polly on the night of the great wedding anniversary disaster? And what is the Spanish word for "donkey"? The answer to all these questions can be found in this, the complete and unexpurgated scripts of Fawlty Towers--the most celebrated "Brit-com" of all time, and the show was voted the top UK television series ever by the British Film Institute. The snobbish, manic Basil . . . his over-coiffeured, domineering wife Sybil . . . the hopeless but ever-hopeful waiter Manuel . . . the calm and capable Polly . . . and of course the steady stream of abused guests--all live again in the pages of The Complete Fawlty Towers. Gahan Wilson in the New York Times has called John Cleese "arguably one of the funniest people now living." And as one British periodical (Literary Review) put it, the book is "superbly well written. If you''re on a bus and can''t see Basil Fawlty thrashing his car with a large branch, it is some compensation to read it happening." Or as one anonymous fan put it online: "Yes, it''s all here, all the comedy, the frustration, the dead body, even the rat."

By the author of Money and the Meaning of Life comes a popular guide to experiencing time more purposefully and meaningfully....

In a new twist on the legend of Superman, the future superhero (Colin Clark) is raised in a small English town by adoptive parents who teach him to hide his powers, but his job as a tabloid reporter may be in jeopardy unless he chooses to go public.

(Applause Books). Complete screenplay from this outrageous comedy. " Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition." Time "The meanest, most consistently hysterical film in ages ... the writing is sharply pointed and delightfully irreverent." Gannett Newspapers

The Monty Python team''s first feature film is a mock-heroic tale set in Medieval Britain.

This is the definitive, the official, the most lavish, the completely-different-to-anything-done-before Pythons'' autobiography, reissued to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated live shows. Over forty years ago, a group of five Englishmen - and one wayward American - rewrote the rules of comedy. MONTY PYTHON''S FLYING CIRCUS, an unheralded, previously unseen half-hour show of sketches, hilarities, inanities and animations, first appeared on the BBC late one night in 1969. Its impact has been felt on the world ever since. From its humble beginnings, it blossomed into the most influential movement in modern comedy. THE PYTHONS'' AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY THE PYTHONS is a unique look at arguably the most important comic team of the modern age, with 64 pages of photographs, many culled from the team''s own personal collections, many more seen for the first time. This is the definitive word on all things Pythonesque.

Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Monty Python comes this book that celebrates the incredibly popular British comedy phenomenon. Color photos throughout.

Join King Arthur, Sir Galahad, Sir Lancelot, and brave Sir Robin on their holy quest from 1974.

The essential gags, sketches, and songs, handpicked and introduced by the surviving members of the Python team. The book features full-color pages of Monty Python classics in a brilliant paperback format and includes gems such as Spamalot, The Meaning of Life, and many more enduring classics.

Available for the first time in paperback, Monty Python''s Flying Circus: All the Bits includes every script from every episode of the innovative, hilarious, and absurd series--one of the most influential of all time--plus hundreds of annotations, behind-the-scenes stories, profiles, and more, as well as photographs, drawings, and Terry Gilliam''s iconic artwork. Monty Python''s Flying Circus is one of the most popular, important and oft-quoted comedy series of all time. Python''s influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles'' influence on music. This landmark work collects the complete scripts for every one of the 45 episodes of Flying Circus: every silly setup, every clever conceit, every snide insult, and ever saucy aside from these classic skits, including "The Ministry of Silly Walks," "The Dead Parrot," "Banter in the Cheese Shop," "Spam, the Funniest Joke in the World," "The Spanish Inquisition," "The Argument Clinic," "The Fish-Slapping Dance," "The Lumberjack Song," and all the rest. Every script is thoroughly annotated with notes that cover the plethora of cultural, historical, and topical references touched upon in each sketch. Sidebars and commentary throughout include profiles of the principles -- Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and John Cleese -- fascinating facts about technical concerns, set design, and shooting locations; insider stores from on and off the set, including arguments, accidents, and practical jokes; goofs and gaffes; and much more. Also included are thousands of stills and artwork from the shows.

John Cleese, britisk humors ''grand old man'', fortæller om vejen fra en barndom i efterkrigstidens England til 1970’ernes balstyriske Monty Python-succes på et tidspunkt, hvor britisk teater, radio og tv udklækkede en helt ny form for humor.

L''autobiographie du fondateur des Monty Python ! Ou comment un petit garçon malingre et timide est devenu l''un des plus grands comédiens britanniques ! Avec un humour pince-sans-rire et un sens du burlesque à toute épreuve, John Cleese, cofondateur des mythiques Monty Python, raconte son histoire, de son enfance en pleine campagne anglaise avec des parents incapables de rester plus de 6 mois au même endroit à la création des Monthy, en passant par son expérience catastrophique d''enseignant. Ponctué de réflexions sur la vie, le criquet mais aussi le ski nautique, cet ouvrage, qui se lit d''une traite, est un condensé de drôlerie so british !

En esta pequeña guía, el actor y cómico británico John Cleese se basa en su experiencia para contarnos, de un modo práctico y con el humor que le caracteriza, cómo generar las circunstancias adecuadas para darle espacio a nuestro genio creativo. ¿Cómo podemos llegar al estado de ánimo que necesitamos para crear? ¿Cómo saber si nuestra idea es suficientemente buena y merece la pena seguirla? ¿Qué hacer si nos topamos con un muro que parece insalvable? Ante todas estas cuestiones, John Cleese nos ofrece un sinfín de consejos tan útiles como originales, a la vez que nos desvela cuál es el funcionamiento de la mente en los momentos en los que tratamos de buscar la inspiración. Una oportunidad única de aprender sobre la creatividad de la mano de un gran maestro.

There are six billion faces; yours is unique. The Human Face traces the development of the face in evolution, and using real case studies, it reveals our conceptions of the face in our social and psychological worlds. We have been enchanted by the face for a very long time. Even as tiny babies we are drawn to faces. Thirty minutes after being born, when our eyes can barely focus, we prefer to gaze at faces more than at any other object. Our fascination with them is inbred, and continues all through life. We fall in love with people we find beautiful, and we are endlessly intrigued by the faces of the famous. The Human Face tells the fascinating story of the evolutionary, social and psychological development of the human face. Divided into six chapters on origins, identity, expression, beauty, vanity and fame, the book takes us on an intriguing journey of self-discovery. The face is such an intimate part of our lives that understanding its origins, how it works and what it means, is a way of understanding who we are. Fully illustrated with 400 stunning photographs, this book explores the development of the human face and provides an illuminating insight into the self.