WILKES-BARRE — What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

The question isn’t just bar room trivia, it’s also a famous line from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” John Cleese, the multifaceted entertainer and co-founder of the Monty Python comedy troupe, plans to divulge the swallow’s secrets – and maybe some of his own – during a Jan. 28 question-and-answer session at Wilkes-Barre’s F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. Cleese’s opening act is a screening of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which he said brings in exactly the type of crowd with whom he likes to spend the night.

“Python audiences are lovely because they’re nice people, Python people have got a sense of humor,” Cleese said. “They don’t take things so deadly seriously. They’re good-natured people and, when you have an audience like that, you relax. You become more spontaneous, you sort of become like you do when you’re having drinks with friends.”

Topics also hover in drinks-with-friends territory, with recent sessions focusing on everything from America’s new president to the uncertainty of death. Cleese said he asks the audience to write their questions on pieces of paper and he uses his dark humor and years of comedic training to dive into the most interesting ones. In fact, Cleese said comedy is the best way to dive into most things.

“There have even been physiological tests that show that laughter is actually good for us,” Cleese said. “Physiologically laughter relaxes people, makes them less confrontational. When people are laughing they can have new ideas. It makes our minds more flexible.”

Cleese has a stated interest in psychology and has contributed to two books that combine the discipline with his comedic sensibilities, “Families and How to Survive Them” and “Life and How to Survive It,” co-authored with late family therapist Robin Skynner. Performers may say comedy is a science, but it has yet to receive official accreditation — Cleese has years of experience with the medium though, and looks at it from both the psychological and historical standpoints. As far as the art of comedy goes, Cleese said he sees a change due to the psychology of modern society.

“It’s got to do with technology, people’s shortening attention span,” Cleese said. “The business of structuring something of length is extraordinarily interesting, but difficult and complicated. You never know you got it right until you put it in front of an audience. That, to me, is, the most interesting thing, but it hardly exists now because everybody’s doing the short form.”

Cleese said that method rang true with fan-favorite Monty Python bits including the dead parrot and the silly walk — when they were performed for a television audience they were met with mixed results, but when they were adapted for a theater setting they became “an obsession with the Python fans.”

Will Cleese silly walk onto the stage at F.M. Kirby Center?

That’s to be seen, but one thing is for sure — the audience will come away knowing more about unladen swallows.

John Cleese has a number of credits in film and television — one of which, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ will show at F.M. Kirby Center Jan. 28 before Cleese’s question-and-answer session.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_Cleese-1-untoned-1.jpg.optimal.jpgJohn Cleese has a number of credits in film and television — one of which, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ will show at F.M. Kirby Center Jan. 28 before Cleese’s question-and-answer session. Submitted photo

Even if John Cleese’s face isn’t immediately familiar, his voice may be. Cleese has voiced characters in a number of animated films, including ‘The Croods,’ ‘Planes’ and ‘Trolls.’
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_Cleese-2-untoned-1.jpg.optimal.jpgEven if John Cleese’s face isn’t immediately familiar, his voice may be. Cleese has voiced characters in a number of animated films, including ‘The Croods,’ ‘Planes’ and ‘Trolls.’ Submitted photo
Multi-discipline entertainer John Cleese will take part in a question-and-answer session following a screening of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’

By Gene Axton

gaxton@timesleader.com

IF YOU GO

Who: Actor, author and co-founder of the Monty Python comedy troupe John Cleese

What: A screening of the 1975 film ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ followed by a question-and-answer session with Cleese

When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Where: F.M. Kirby Center, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre

How Much: Tickets are $79 and can be purchased at the venue’s on-site box office, by calling 570-826-1100 or by visiting KirbyCenter.org.

Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts