★★★☆☆“John Cleese at his funniest” reads the tag at the top of the screen of this comedy lecture, which was livestreamed from an almost empty Cadogan Hall — for obvious health and safety reasons — in London on Sunday night. At the age of 80, Cleese is long past the point of false modesty, but surely even he would agree that this was an optimistic claim. Especially because John Cleese at his funniest is about as funny as funny gets. Especially because Why There Is No Hope is a merrily abrasive yet unabashedly erudite lecture inspired by the idea that most people vastly overestimate their abilities. So don’t be misled by the title of a show already performed on tour.

Source: The Times August 03, 2020 11:03 UTC