Admin Rodney Posted February 3, 2012 Admin Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't always care for John Cleese's sense of humor but despite this fact I've always liked John Cleese. I believe this video (posted at www.onanimation.com) demonstrates why. John Cleese is a very smart (and talented) guy. http://www.onanimation.com/2012/01/30/a-le...-on-creativity/ Here's another one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGt3-fxOvug (There are other interviews and lectures by him online as well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyGormezano Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 http://www.onanimation.com/2012/01/30/a-le...-on-creativity/ Wow. Excellent. Well worth the 35+ minutes. I love John Cleese, especially when he's being his most Cleesiness. I shall go watch some more...thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted February 3, 2012 Author Admin Share Posted February 3, 2012 I watched his presentation a few times through last night. He has such an impressive mastery of the Anglish language... it's rather spellbinding. Cleese represents a very particularly interesting mixture of intelligence and humor. (I suppose it could be considered a Brutish... er... British thing, but it is more than that as well) For my tastes, I find many humorists progress nicely through what might be called the initial stages of communication but it is at that point where they often seem to stumble and fall victim to their intelligence (perhaps it's the script they are reading that fails them or perhaps they haven't taken the time to properly assimilate the material.) It's almost like they can find humor in everything... absolutely everything... except themselves. While Cleese is not immune to this (who is?) he seems to fare much better than others in significant ways. In the terms of the video just linked, he seems to understand that he is still (if only momentarily) playing at this and he uses humor to masterfully punctuate his ideological phrasings. This approach represents a constructive form a humor that is rare in that humor is more often than not a destructive force for change. Cleese appears (repeatedly and intentionally) to approach the brink of a decision point but then backs off and ponders once again the matter at hand (and the audience then becomes a beneficiary of that delay). He is also fully articulating and demonstrating the core of his message on several levels simultaneously. This is an evidence that he actually believes what he is relating whereas I'm not as sure that other humorists could always make that same claim. In other words if he is pretending he has completely convinced himself. Significantly, Cleese has realized that the most important decisions in life can and often should wait to be made. Why rush to destruction? Where it comes to destructive action it's more often than not going to be ideal to insert at least a momentary delay. This allows everyone to prepare (and to recover from any actual or unintentional damage in a timely manner). The animator should recognize in this the important element of anticipation as well. Therefore, due credit to John Cleese for masterfully weaving his gift into a framework of creative intelligence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimblepix Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Useful, thanks for posting. (He also does a great job reading The Screwtape Letters.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petokosun Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 He is a great guy, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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