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`.