'Ridiculous questions only': John Cleese set for Q&A after Hanover 'Holy Grail' screening

Legendary Monty Python's Flying Circus co-creator John Cleese will return to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. June 9 for a screening of the uproarious 1975 comedy "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," followed by a conversation and Q&A with the audience.

The appearance comes with one proviso — "Absurd and/or ridiculous questions only are requested, please."

Cleese has previously entertained audiences at The Hanover Theatre with a showing of the film and a Q&A in 2017 and early in 2020 just before the pandemic shut down theaters. Moderating the 2020 Q&A was Cleese’s daughter Camilla Cleese.

The first "Monty Python's Flying Circus" shows aired on television on the BBC in 1969. One of the show's catchphrases was, "And now for something completely different."

In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the group's second movie, King Arthur (played by the late Graham Chapman) and his knights brave such perils as the dreaded, "Knights Who Say 'Ni'" and the Deadly Rabbit of Caerbannog. The film would be "lovingly ripped off" by Monty Python member Eric Idle for the musical "Spamalot."

Cleese played Sir Lancelot the Brave, a French Taunter and the Black Knight (who gets his arms and legs cut off but keeps fighting) among other roles.

He is also famous for co-writing and starring in the classic BBC comedy series "Fawlty Towers," about an irritable owner of a small hotel in the English holiday resort of Torquay.

Tickets for the June 9 event will go on sale to Hanover Theatre members at at 10 a.m. Wednesday and to the public at 10 a.m. Friday. Tickets prices are $52.75, $62.75, $74.78 and $102.75 and a limited "VIP" post-show photo opportunity for $253. For more information call 877-571-7469 or visit www.hanoverthatre.org.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: John Cleese brings 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' to The Hanover