John Cleese Brings Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot to U.S.

By Ernio Hernandez
January 26, 2006

While Broadway audiences can hear the voice of John Cleese nightly in Monty Python's Spamalot, California theatregoers will enjoy the actor live as he performs the American debut of his Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot.

Following a tour in New Zealand late last year, the work penned by Cleese with daughter Camilla Cleese now comes stateside for a tour of West Coast venues. The previous title was His Life, Times, and Current Medical Problems. The plan is to head back Down Under to Australia afterwards. Bill Brown, a Royal Shakespeare Company alum, directs.

The "one-man show," announced through his personal website, "will also feature various Cleese underlings, flunkeys, retainers, daughters, side-kicks, minions, catspaws, and cronies (and probably a few hangers-on too), so it should really be called a 'several-person show.'" At the time of the announcement, Cleese quipped they had "written the first four minutes and first impressions are that the show is going to be very, very violent."

Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot will play as follows (subject to change):

Jan. 27-30 - University of California Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall
Feb. 2 - Humboldt State University's Van Duzer Theatre - Arcata, CA
Feb. 4 - California State University Chico's Laxson Auditorium
Feb 8 & 9 - UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall - Berkeley, CA
Feb. 11 - Sunset Center - Carmel, CA
Feb. 12 - CA Polytechnic State Univ.'s Cohan Center - San Luis Obispo, CA
Feb. 14 - Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre - Malibu, CA
March 7 - UCSD's Price Center Ballroom - La Jolla, CA
March 10 & 11 - Scottsdale Center's Piper Theater - Scottsdale, AZ
March 18 - UCLA's Royce Hall - Los Angeles, CA
March 24 & 25 - CA State Long Beach's Carpenter Center - Long Beach, CA

Cleese rose to fame with his British co-horts (Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin) on television's "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and the comedy troupe's subsequent films. He also created the popular Brit hit TV show "Fawlty Towers." Other credits include "A Fish Called Wanda," "Shrek 2," a recurring guest role on "Will & Grace," as Q in recent James Bond films and playing Nearly Headless Nick in the "Harry Potter" movies.

For more information, visit www.thejohncleese.com.