"Extremism" -- A funny takedown by John Cleese

Why a comical 1987 video by the ex-Python is so relevant today

In 1987, former Monty Python farceur John Cleese—tall, lanky, and wearing a mustache that could dominate a small nation—decided to tackle extremism in a video that’s since become the stuff of legend, or at least among the archives of dusty YouTube uploads with 17 views.

John Cleese

The premise? Extremism, on the right or left, is bonkers. Cleese, being the sensible bloke he is, points this out with all the subtlety of a parrot whacking you over the head. (A live one, mind you—not the ex-parrot of Monty Python fame.)

Picture the scene: Cleese, in a suit that screams “I’ve just come from arguing with a bank manager,” stands before the camera, his eyebrows arched like suspension bridges, and subsequently dismantles the lunacy of fanatics.

“Extremism,” he wonders in his crisp and faintly exasperated tone, is what happens when you take a perfectly sane idea, become completely unhinged and irrational about it, and then broadcast to the world what you think. It’s not hard to imagine him pausing for effect, letting the absurdity sink in before adding:

“Why? Because it makes you feel good!”

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Timeless Wit

The brilliance of Cleese’s 1987 takedown lies in how he doesn’t just mock the extremists with the thickest of irony — he mocks the very idea that anyone could take themselves that seriously. By the bit’s end, you’re unsure whether to laugh or check your email for manifestos.

The brilliance of Cleese’s 1987 takedown lies in how he doesn’t just mock the extremists—he mocks the very idea that anyone could take themselves that seriously. By the bit’s end, you’re unsure whether to laugh or check your email for manifestos.

What makes the video so prescient today is how it skewers the universal traits of extremism: the shouting, the spittle-flecked rants, the unshakable belief that your way is the only way. Cleese, with his Cambridge-educated sarcasm and faux righteous indignation, points out the sheer absurdity of it all.

The video’s humor also thrives on Cleese’s knack for playing the straight man surrounded by imaginary lunatics. You can almost see him glancing at the camera as if to say, “Can you believe these people?” while describing some poor sod who’s taken a stand against gravity because it’s oppressive to the vertically challenged. It’s a masterclass in deadpan, with Cleese wielding logic like a shiv against the ballooning idiocy of ideological zealotry.

Of course, being 1987, the production probably had that glorious low-budget charm—grainy footage and audio that sounds like a Casio keyboard’s cry for help. But Cleese didn’t need fancy effects. He had timing, a posh accent, and the ability to make you feel faintly embarrassed for humanity.

“Extremists,” he might’ve concluded, “are just people who’ve mistaken volume for virtue.”

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A World of Wingnuts

In the end, Cleese’s 1987 video isn’t just funny—it’s a reminder that the world’s always been full of wingnuts, and the best way to deal with them is to laugh … preferably while sipping a cup of tea (milk first, of course). Maybe blowing up the planet over a parking space, or better yet, firebombing Teslas, is a tad excessive.

(click to play … 2:13 total)

Thank you, John Cleese, for permitting us to giggle at the apocalypse.

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Jim Geschke was inducted into the prestigious Marquis “Who’s Who” registry in 2021.