Posted on August 4th, 2021 by Matthew Hennessey

We were delighted to welcome icon of British comedy, John Cleese, as our guest on the inaugural Hatchards Podcast.

He discussed his recent book Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide – a brisk, insightful challenge to the idea that creativity is an inherent trait that cannot be taught or acquired.

Drawing on personal experience from his long and illustrious career, and peppered with anecdotes about his own (and others) creative process, the book is an unpretentious, accessible, breezily companionable primer for anybody who has ever wondered about the mysterious nature of inspiration, or how ideas are formed, shaped and turned into art of any kind. His practical, unfussy advice should give solace to anyone who has ever struggled over a blank piece of paper or wondered just how their heroes do it.

Extract from Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide:

“The first time I discovered I was a bit creative, it came as a surprise. I was at Cambridge and I had got to know a very nice group of people who had a small club room near my digs, as they were part of a society called the ‘Footlights’. They put on little shows on the club-room stage, performing sketches and monologues and musical items.

I didn’t join the Footlights because I thought I might want to go into show business. Not at all! I was going to be a lawyer! I joined the club because its members were the nicest bunch of people I met at Cambridge. They were good company – of course, since they were all in one way or another funny – and they were also an interesting mixture of social classes and academic interests. For some reason – maybe because they had a sense of humour – they weren’t stuck up, or show-offs, or in any way impressed with themselves.

To become a member of the Footlights you first had to write something. I therefore came up with a couple of sketches to perform, and was accepted. Each month, I discovered, they organised what was known as a smoker’ – short for the old-fashioned phrase ‘smoking concert’. This was a show put on in the Footlights’ club room in which all members took part. Because everyone had to get up and do something, we all had an interest in creating a nice friendly atmosphere, so it was the perfect environment if you were performing for the first time.

And it was during the course of writing sketches – the first imaginative thing I was ever conscious of doing – that I realised I could be creative…”