John Cleese returns to advocate for what's truly funny and endangered

Comedian, actor and A.D. White Professor-at-Large John Cleese reacts to a question during a news conference at Cornell News Service, April 23. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By Franklin Crawford

As a charismatic and famous wise guy who became a man of wisdom without losing his sense of humor, John Cleese is a powerful advocate for just about anything that suits his fancy. During his third visit to Cornell as an A.D. White professor-at-large, Cleese continued to ply his wit and influence in unpredictable directions -- directions that reflect his abiding concerns about nature, human and otherwise, technology, spirituality, moral character and the pursuit of real knowledge. Not to mention W.C. Fields and network television programming.

"You sit in a room alone with a top TV executive who doesn't think something's funny and you think, 'Well that's funny, because outside this one room, no one would take his opinion over mine as to what is funny,'" said Cleese, referring to his recent efforts to pitch to American networks a half-hour show he originally helped create for the BBC. "But the decision is made in this one room -- the only place in America where anyone will listen to him more than me," Cleese continued. "What you've got to do if you want good programming is get rid of the network executive as control freak."

In what has become a creative trademark of Cleese's approach to his appointment, he presented an eclectic round of public talks and shared the lecture halls with experts on subjects he deems important -- such as human development and wildlife conservation. And God. On Sunday before an overflow congregation at Sage Chapel, Cleese delivered a talk titled "My First Sermon" about his own direct experience with religion. That evening, he joined wildlife preservationist Simon Hicks for a lecture in the College of Veterinary Medicine's James Law Auditorium. On Monday, Cleese also held an hour-long press conference with area media and later in Olin Library's Libe Café, he read passages from Somerset Maugham, Jerome K. Jerome and Neil Postman, among others, and the audience was invited to chat with him about it. On Monday night, Cleese joined his faculty host Stephen Ceci, professor of human development, for a presentation titled "The Human Face."

Cleese is working with Hicks to develop a guide that will enable charitable donors to make informed contributions to specific wildlife conservation groups. Hicks has an international reputation for rescuing animals from the verge of extinction, often on a shoestring budget.

"The idea is, can we get more of the money that is put to conservation actually to saving the animal," Cleese explained during Monday's press conference with Hicks present. "Because you know how human beings are people get together into an organization and soon there has to be a newsletter. And sometimes in conservation, very small quantities of money can go to these tiny lean little units that are terribly good. These are the guys out on the sharp end who make it happen."

But all too often, Cleese pointed out, wildlife contributions go to well meaning but top heavy organizations and very little funding goes to actual field work. Hicks and Cleese are developing their "good conservation organization guide" he said. "So people could come to us and say this is what we'd like to do with our money and we say, 'well, in our opinion, and our latest information ... this organization is very good at this and not so good at that,' etc."

The idea is not to "add another piece of process to the conservation support industry, but to actually make a difference by turning more endangered species from decline into recovery," Hicks said. "That's what we want to see."

In future visits, Cleese said he would like to give a series of lectures on W.C. Fields, a great American comedian whom Cleese feels has been neglected and forgotten. Cleese said he would also like to do more work with the theater arts department and hinted that actor Kevin Kline might -- might -- come along with him during one of his future jaunts as Cornell professor-at-large. But don't tell anyone.