S Poddar
John Cleese, the comedy icon and John Cleese has sharpened his axe in a long-running battle with his former Monty Python co-star, Eric Idle, by re-openening it once more with a string of potshots this week. The reason for the renewed tension is that Idle stated recently that Cleese had demoted the troupe’s longtime manager, Jim Beach, and replaced him with Holly Gilliam, Terry Gilliam’s daughter and another member of the group.
Idle, now 81, gave vent to his pent-up emotions through social media by saying that he hadn’t seen Cleese for “seven years” and that distance from him finally made him “happy.” Fans reacted to his comments and surprisedly revealed their feelings on the estrangement of the two comedy legends. One of the fans said : “This is terrible to hear. I never knew you guys disliked each other. So very sad. Saw you together in that movie some years ago, Splitting Heirs. I thought you were friends in real life.” To this, Idle replied candidly that things had gone so sour between him and Cleese since the managerial change.
Clearly rattled by the revelations from Idle, Cleese was swift to take to Twitter to clarify the situation. He called Idle’s claims an “invention” and went on a little spree highlighting his personal association with Jim Beach, which goes back to his Cambridge University days. He let on that Beach, who had been working with Monty Python since the O2 show four years ago, had suffered a serious stroke and so had resigned. Gone is Beach, and the management role has been taken over by Holly Gilliam-pretty obviously not something that has suited Idle.
This is not the first public spat the two have had on the subject of Holly Gilliam’s engagement. Early this year, Idle was venting frustration with her management, blaming her for the company going broke. He said, “We own everything we ever made in Python, and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously. But I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager, you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.
Idle’s reaction indeed reveals that he has been defeated by his situation. He appears to have accepted the estrangement and made it evident that he does not really care about it at all. For him, the chasm was more than a personal agenda; it is also a business issue, which even reeks of the complications of dealing with such a grand legacy as Monty Python’s.
As both men have remembered their past, Cleese has even shared how the financial realities of careers have not been easy to navigate. He expressed frustration at the oft-publicized notion about the boodle amassed from Monty Python, saying, “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living.”. Far from easy, especially at this age.” Such candid admission shines light on mostly unexplored challenges even legendary faces in comedy have to fight.
Though Monty Python’s original team comprised of men brought happiness to millions with their pioneering work, there is much more to the tale of personal dynamics among its members. The legacy they created lives and breathes, but the relationships it is built on are fraught with tension and misunderstandings. In their movements toward each other in all this, they remind us that even legends have their share of discord and that the bonds of creativity can fray under time and circumstance.
