Mr Cleese

When I saw the announcement I wasn't that sure if going was a good idea. Even after I'd booked my tickets I had my doubts. When I went over to the theatre, I got completely drenched just walking from the tram stop to the theatre. It wasn't sold out, but there were a lot of people there. Students, because it was the college tour recording, but a lot of older fans, fans from the period of Monty Python, the films and "Fawlty Towers".

When it started the lights went off and the theatre went very dark. But that only lasted a minute. For the remainder of the evening the lights were on, both on stage and in the house. Five big cameras, a few smaller ones, but they didn't get in the way. Men in dark clothes with microphones walking round the theatre, looking for those who wanted to ask a question.

Twan Huys did the introduction to camera, in Dutch, and then he was there. John Cleese, master of comedy. He got a huge applause, as expected, sat down, and began the show. The questions were mixed, like the audience. Some good, some terrible, some to show the intellectual or humorous side to the person asking the question. They were all answered by a consummate professional who has done this dozens of times before. He made his jokes about the Germans, the French, the Scandinavians, the Belgians, but not a word against the Dutch. Of course.

They showed quite a few old sketches, the obvious ones like the dead parrot sketch and the ministry of silly walks. Some "Fawlty Towers" and "Life of Brian". Slightly predictable, and maybe not the most interesting bits for the man himself.

The thing is, he was funniest when he was just left to tell the story. He obviously knows exactly how to do that, how to grab and hold on to the attention of the audience. His timing was immaculate, the stories funny, just long enough. It is obvious he´s done this often before. You don´t get a sense he is here for the alimony, though he is. The two men on stage talk for almost two hours, and it doesn´t get boring at all. I could happily have sat there a little longer, listening to the stories.

The end was as sudden as the start. He decides it´s time to call it a day, gets up, takes a bow and disappears. The applause doesn´t get him back, he just walks past behind the scenery, waving, and won´t come back to join the audience in singing `The Bright Side of Life`. So we get to do it by ourselves.

After the song Twan Huys returns to the stage. Cleese won´t come back. The last words are `Tell them I´ve had a heart attack`.

Cycling Holiday

10 Things I learned while on vacation

1. You never stop playing yellow car.
2. There are more museums dedicated to the Second World War than I had ever imagined possible.
3. Sometimes you really should not visit a town you sense to be totally uninteresting.
4. There is a Kruidvat everywhere.
5. After the war 4000 celebration skirts were registered.
6. I can cycle from one end of my country to the other, though not in one day.
7. It is possible to cycle for a day and not get caught in a thunder storm even though there are plenty around you.
8. There are too many cars.
9. I need to make a few changes.
10. Some places in my country are actually above sea level.

A Bestiary

When I was at university I studied two subjects in great detail . One was Restoration Comedy, those stylish, witty plays full of adultery, double entendre, lechery, and the odd virtuous character. The other was the medieval bestiary, the descriptions of animals often not seen by the author, both in pictures and in words. Ancient language and imaginative pictures.

Last week the actress Isabella Rossellini presented her version of the Bestiary, the Bestiaire d'Amour. Rossellini has been an actress and a model, still is, but she has been interested in biology for a long time. She has taken time to study the subject and has combined it with her work as an actress. This has resulted in a number of short films on the reproduction of all kinds of animals. She plays them herself, the duck, the hamster, the squid, explaining the peculiarities of each animal's sex life. The seduction, the sexual act or absence of one, giving birth, taking care of the babies. She explains the facts with a great understanding and a great sense of humour. The infinite variety of life is illustrated in her stories.

The short films are now part of a live theatre performance. There is a lectern for her lecture, for much of the performance she is dressed in simple, stylish black which does not detract from the films, the stories or the props. The stories are illustrated on stage with various props and one or two costume changes, all carelessly discarded and left on the stage. She tells her story quietly, gently, but with the same sense of humour you see in the films, and with passion.

She is obviously fascinated by her subject, the animals, she knows what she is talking about, and her acting enable her to inhabit the animals rather than just talk about them. Watching her was a joy.