"Loretta" scene being censored from Life of Brian stage remake

[zibzibara]

John Cleese is forced to cut famous Life of Brian scene about men having babies from his new West End show

Cleese told an audience at his one-man show last week that when the scene (co-written with the late Graham Chapman) was performed at a read-through for the new show in New York last year, doubts emerged. 'At the end, I said to the American actors: 'What do you think?' And they said: 'We love the script, but you can't do that stuff about Loretta nowadays.'

'So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that? But I think there were a lot of things that were actually, in some strange way, predictive of what was actually going to happen later.'

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

@RealityFan

I believe he was one of the first well known TV/film personalities happy to be in commercials. Sony Trinitron in late 70s/early 80s. Most stars turned their collective perfumed noses at such demeaning stuff.

As he said in an interview, he made a packet. And he will from this.

Is that 'they made it from 32 bits of a bus' or something like that? Loved it.

[ValuePartnership]

• I want to have babies
• But you don't have a womb. What are you going to use, a cardboard box?

[Tallisker]

Maybe I'm getting it muddled up with Clockwork 😂

[IcakethereforeIam]

I don't know why I remember but Ronnie Barker did those.

[Tallisker]

Did he do Accurist adverts? Accurist (on a wrist), Accurankle (on an ankle) etc

Or have I just made that up?

[QueenBitch666]

twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497?fbclid=IwAR0UVEaVnLO9hXWyeF8vW0wQTDL16nW3JSEAhpsi8LuZyjBemk6xk8fPX3c

No plans to cut out Loretta

[RealityFan]

@SerendipityJane

Sony Trinitron in late 70s/early 80s.

God, I feel old.

Cleese was in his 30s playing Basil Fawlty. Then again, everyone looked old back then, lol.

[SerendipityJane]

Sony Trinitron in late 70s/early 80s.

God, I feel old.

[RealityFan]

I believe he was one of the first well known TV/film personalities happy to be in commercials. Sony Trinitron in late 70s/early 80s. Most stars turned their collective perfumed noses at such demeaning stuff.

As he said in an interview, he made a packet. And he will from this.

[SerendipityJane]

@RealityFan

Can I afford him?

No idea. I saw one in the 80s at Uni - it was very funny and very educational. About business efficiency. I suggested it to the L&D team when I started in corporate employment and was taken aback that it was out of their price range. I suspect you had to buy/licence the whole package and it was £00,000s

But then as he mentioned in his one man show a few years back, his ex wives do need the money.

[RealityFan]

@SerendipityJane

Cleese is a HELL of a businessman

Have you seen the prices for his business videos ?

Can I afford him?

[SerendipityJane]

Cleese is a HELL of a businessman

Have you seen the prices for his business videos ?

[Xenia]

Well done to JC. "and that all the actors - several of them Tony winners - had advised me strongly to cut the Loretta scene. I have, of course, no intention of doing so So someone in the audience had called a journalist and misreported me. Amazingly none of the British media called to check"

In my view the tide is starting to turn in that it is becoming slightly easier to have a view other than the ONE RIGHT PATH view on the trans issue. However it will take a lot of people objecting to what people who live in an echo chamber of others of their view are saying.

[EdithStourton]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

Oh GOOD.
Well done, John. Carry on with the the good work.

[Backstreets]

Good man! I would have been bloody cross if he'd gone all in on his anti woke curmudgeon act in later years only to cave in on this!
And now a hell of a lot more people know there's a Life of Brian play coming...

[RealityFan]

Cleese is a HELL of a businessman, and totally worthy hero in this battle.

Can you imagine the headlines otherwise:

"Monty Python team face down Christianity only half century later to capitulate to the blue hairs on Twitter"?

[nilsmousehammer]

@IcakethereforeIam

Perhaps he is the Messiah?

According to some, he is definitely a very naughty boy...

Bravo John. No kowtowing to bullies.

[SerendipityJane]

Not sure about the films, but I know Monty Python were very protective of their work and their contract with the BBC stated that the BBC couldn't distribute the programmes without their permission.

This ended in a US court case (may have got to the supremes) where ABC were sued for bawdlerising the TV show in the early 70s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python_v._American_Broadcasting_Companies,_Inc.

I mention this, because I wonder if Cleese's need for money rather affected his artistic purity ?

[IcakethereforeIam]

Perhaps he is the Messiah?

[RoyalCorgi]

If you read the Mail article, the quote it gives about what Cleese said seems to be a faithful reporting of his conversation with the US actors.

The journalist and headline writer have extrapolated from that conversation (where the actors say the scene will have to be cut) and concluded that the scene is being cut.

Obviously they should have checked with Cleese first, though.

[OneMorePlant]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

"and that all the actors - several of them Tony winners - had advised me strongly to cut the Loretta scene.

I have, of course, no intention of doing so So someone in the audience had called a journalist and misreported me.

Amazingly none of the British media called to check"

Came to post this. I knew it John Cleese would not do that.

[RealityFan]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

Cleese returns to comedy hero status.

And tbh, this has helped him no end in his appointed role as older man pissed off with cancel culture.

I wouldn't be surprised if he made the story work out this way.

[puffyisgood]

I was reflecting the other day that probably the one aspect of the original show that genuinely would be unacceptable to younger elements of a 2023 audience might be Judith having relatively full pubic hair ?

[Dumbo12]

I'm wondering if "those who wish to ban things" are going to attempt to cancel: Get back (the Beatles) Lola (the kinks) Take a walk on the wild side (Lou Reed) Dude looks like a lady (Aerosmith) Tweeter and the Monkey man ( the travelling wilburys) and I'm sure many more!

[Datun]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

Good. And I, for one, will buy tickets on that basis alone.

There will be loads of Python fans who will flock to this show.

The publicity over attempts to woke wash it, and Cleese's refusal to bow down, will only increase it's appeal.

Can you imagine the reaction of Python fans to a transactivist protest?

There simply won't be enough time in the world, for all the piss taking.