December 20, 2005

John Cleese presents the U.S. premiere of his show
Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• John Cleese
• Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot
• U.S. premiere
• A new one-man show, with several people in it, from the comic genius
• Saturday, January 28 / 4 pm (very limited availability)
• Monday, January 30 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $60
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

Brilliant comedian John Cleese will present the U.S. debut of his new show Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot on Saturday, January 28 at 4 pm and then perform a second show on Monday, January 30 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Cleese—Monty Python madcap madman, tower of comic terror Basil Fawlty, reluctant romantic hero of A Fish Called Wanda and Montecito resident—calls Seven Ways “a one man show, with several people in it, which pushes the envelope of acceptable behavior in new and disgusting ways.” The show is directed by noted Australian actor/director and Royal Shakespeare Company alum Bille Brown and also features Cleese’s daughter Camilla.

The All Movie Guide hails John Cleese as “an instigator of some of the more groundbreaking developments in twentieth-century comedy.” On the Monty Python website (www.pythonline.com) Cleese describes himself as “the most spiritually advanced, intellectually gifted, and professionally distinguished of the Monty Python group” as well as “the tallest and fifth nicest Python.” He also grouses about being assigned the job of writing all the biographies for the troupe.

It would be hard to underestimate the influence of Monty Python on contemporary comedy. Smashing any distinction between high and low humor, the group on its groundbreaking BBC series Monty Python’s Flying Circus and a series of films (MP and the Holy Grail, MP’s Life of Brian, MP Live at the Hollywood Bowl and MP’s Meaning of Life) achieved an outstanding range from the silliest slapstick to Wildean wit. At the heart of the group’s antics was the 6'4" Cleese, often doing a slow boil from proper to pissed off Englishman, as in the infamous Cheese Shop sketch. But he just as easily mocked his own lankiness as the Minister of Funny Walks. No absurdity seemed too outré for Cleese and the Pythons.

Cleese moved on to the series he created with his then-wife Connie Booth, Fawlty Towers, beloved for its mere 12 episodes, each a kind of comic perfection. As Basil Fawlty, Cleese not only ran one of the worst hotels in England, but managed to be worth rooting for and viciously rude. In 2000, the British Film Institute’s poll of television industry professionals and critics judged Fawlty Towers Britain’s greatest TV show of the 20th Century.

In addition to these comic landmarks, Cleese established a production company Video Arts that creates clever business training videos in which he generally stars, and which were, and continue to be, enormously successful. He continues to act prolifically in movies, including in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda (which he also co-wrote), in the Harry Potter series as Nearly Headless Nick, and in the James Bond series as the new Q. Cleese also supplies his voice to numerous animated and video projects, and frequently does commercials.

Cleese has shared with the Monty Python troupe a Special Jury Prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for an episode of Cheers in 1987, and received the 1994 Jack Oakie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy from the Screen Actors Guild.

John Cleese is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent and Buttonwood Wines. Tickets are $60 for the general public. Ticket prices are subject to convenience fees. Tickets are on sale now.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.