This Monty Python Alum Lets Woke Daughter Censor His Jokes
John Cleese stands up to woke mob while Eric Idle obeys its rules
John Cleese is a one-man army against the woke scolds crushing comedy.
The “Monty Python” alum rages at attempts to censor classic TV shows and films, as well as limits on what topics can be broached and comics who self-censor their material.
I think I recently realized I was a hypocrite for complaining about censorship but was also self-censoring. I posted this clip from my podcast making fun of Tim walz going to China (over?) 30 times (feel free to drop a link to correcting me if I’m wrong) and got crushed for even… pic.twitter.com/ccycR49UuX
— Whitney Cummings (@WhitneyCummings) January 3, 2025
Bill Burr admits that his wife censors his jokes pic.twitter.com/FlIK7ZqZWE
— Rivelino (@alpharivelino) November 12, 2023
Eric Idle sees it differently.
Cleese’s “Python” brother abides by the woke bylaws. At 82, Idle may not understand exactly what triggers a Millennial snowflake, but he’s got a crack team behind him to teach him the ways of the woke.
His daughter and goddaughter.
Idle is about to embark on a new UK tour dubbed “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live!” The Times of UK, quoting an upcoming BBC Radio 4 interview, revealed just how far Idle will go to appease modern sensibilities in his act.
“Sometimes I’ll ask my daughter [Lily, a 35-year-old artist] or my goddaughter … I’ll say, ‘Can I say these things?’ And they’ll say, ‘Yeah, that’s OK’, or not. But I don’t worry about [being cancelled]. I’m not saying terribly controversial things; I’m trying to make them laugh. You can’t sing some of my songs [now] … so I write new ones.”
He won’t be canceled if he toes the woke line, of course. That may explain why former comic minds like Jimmy Kimmel and Howard Stern went 100 percent woke. Both previously trafficked in “problematic” jokes that could get them canceled if enough people resurfaced them.
It’s hard to know if that’s Idle’s intention. It’s still sad to see a comic legend bow to such a toxic cultural movement.
What’s worse?
Cracked.com, a site ostensibly covering the world of comedy and entertainment, is cheering Idle’s comments. The site, spun from the decades-old print magazine that competed against Mad and Crazy in their prime, is hopelessly progressive.
The site’s scribes promote woke bylaws and skewer comics who dare to think for themselves. Like Cleese.
Cracked mocked the “Fawlty Towers” alum for standing up for comedy while showering Idle with praise for censoring his art.
So long as the Left is the American Establishment, they will be less funny than the Left. Comedy depends upon surprise, and dogmatism is intolerant of surprises. Given its extreme social heterogeneity, the American Left requires ideological rigidity and disciplined enforcement of such in order to remain united politically. They have created a cultural trap for themselves.
Disappointing. Clearly not Toto’s best work here. And I resent the clickbaity-ness of it, especially coming from someone I usually respect.
Nearly every performer solicits feedback, from vocal coaches, acting coaches, stylists, preview audiences, etc. Is that inviting “censorship?” Or is a way to refine your material and improve your presentation?
Appreciate your diplomatic critique but I still disagree. The interview makes it very clear that he’s letting his family members censor existing material if it’s now considered problematic or offensive. Here’s a direct quote from the source material: Eric Idle has revealed that he runs some of his more risqué jokes past his daughter to ensure he does not offend modern audiences.
Liberal white women. It can usually all be traced back to liberal white women. They always seem to be the Patient Zeros.