Listen free for 30 days

  • So, Anyway...

  • Written by: John Cleese
  • Narrated by: John Cleese
  • Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (188 ratings)

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
So, Anyway... cover art

So, Anyway...

Written by: John Cleese
Narrated by: John Cleese
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $39.48

Buy Now for $39.48

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

John Cleese's huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp, irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected with Monty Python, on Fawlty Towers, and beyond now seem written into comedy's DNA. In this rollicking memoir, So, Anyway..., Cleese takes listeners on a grand tour of his ascent in the entertainment world, from his humble beginnings in a sleepy English town and his early comedic days at Cambridge University (with future Python partner Graham Chapman) to the founding of the landmark comedy troupe that would propel him to worldwide renown.

Cleese was just days away from graduating Cambridge and setting off on a law career when he was visited by two BBC executives who offered him a job writing comedy for radio. That fateful moment - and a near-simultaneous offer to take his university humor revue to London's famed West End - propelled him down a different path, cutting his teeth writing for stars like David Frost and Peter Sellers and eventually joining the five other Pythons to pioneer a new kind of comedy that prized invention, silliness, and absurdity. Along the way he found his first true love with the actress Connie Booth and transformed himself from a reluctant performer to a world-class actor and back again.

Twisting and turning through surprising stories and hilarious digressions - with some brief pauses along the way that comprise a fascinating primer on what's funny and why - this story of a young man's journey to the pinnacle of comedy is a masterly performance by a master performer.

©2016 John Cleese (P)2016 Random House Audio

What the critics say

" So, Anyway... ambles along in loose fashion, taking its time, stopping to admire the view here and there, dispensing a little social commentary...and otherwise taking the scenic route through a mostly sunny landscape. The effect is a bit like having a long lunch with an amiable, slightly loony uncle. Who also happens to be John Cleese." (Michael Ian Black, The New York Times Book Review)
"John Cleese's memoir is just about everything one would expect of its author - smart, thoughtful, provocative and above all funny...a picture, if you will, of the artist as a young man." ( Washington Post)
"Give John Cleese points for candor.... Give him additional points for graceful writing and sly humor...." ( Philadelphia Inquirer)
"No one else could perform this work by John Cleese. His presence, his voice, his speaking style are hilarious and hypnotic. You'll listen to it for hours and want more.... The audiobook leaves Python fans begging for a sequel." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about So, Anyway...

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    126
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    147
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    105
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent, as expected.

I'm Canadian, and I'm not a critic so I won't shit on it. loved it.

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

John is a great narrator!

I loved that they did not edit out when John broke with laughter when reading his own book. Make the book more human and like you are listening to a friend tell you a story about what happened to them once.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A book you need to listen to

You could read this book but Cleese brings his own skill to this wonderful recording.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

And Now for Something Completely Different

I really enjoyed the book and rekindling my interest and love for everything Monty Python and their amazing comedy. It was also interesting to learn about John's early days and everything that led up to MP. Waiting for volume II so I can hear about what came next.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

John Cleese is awesome, but the book is a snooze

There's no underlining message or focus to the book. The first few chapters about his early life are very interesting, but the book quickly becomes a drag. This biography is more of a "and then this happened, and this happened, and this...etc."

It's a shame, especially as a big Cleese fan myself.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun and interesting

For fans of John Cleese this is an interesting autobiography and of course Monty Python fans will enjoy hearing about its origins. To hear it in Cleese’s voice is imperative

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Rob
  • 2023-05-12

Cleese makes me laugh

As he states I wanted to know how he learned his craft while having some laughs. Enough personal information to help me understand a little about his life and more importantly his terms of reference. He learned it well…left me wanting more!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Second Listen

Just finishing listening to this after a six month gap … it’s still fresh funny and enjoyable. Offers great insight into John’s life. I remember seeing those sales training films in the mid 90’s! They were good fun and breath of fresh air at the time.

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very good, amusing

I’d been looking for something light to listen to, so I certainly thought John Cleese’s bio would be a good pick. It was. Lots of insights into comedy and his learning of the craft, including how he got over his own nerves. I enjoyed the Monty Python history and reunion stories. And, for L&D folks, his involvement with Video Arts (his corporate training videos).

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fine swan song

Not as good as Eric Idle's audiobook, but quite good nonetheless.
One found oneself laughing out loud on several locations. Chuckles were had at a rate of at least three per chapter.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Barry
  • Barry
  • 2017-03-14

Too many people reviewing the man, not the book.

Like anyone else who bought Say Anything, I am a fan of Mr, Cleese and his work. However this "Autobiography" is not very good. Even though nothing is said about it, this book effectively ends when Cleese turns thirty, and Monty Python is writing their first sketch. You want to know about Monty Python? Not in this book. You want to hear about Fawlty Towers? Barely a word about it. A Fish Called Wanda, or Harry Potter or James Bond? No way. Its almost amusing how far Cleese goes to AVOID talking about anything interesting. He was in Footlights, a Cambridge theater troupe. He never once mentions that future fellow Python Eric Idle was in the same troupe, only a year behind himself and Graham Chapman. I am not sure if Idles or Terry Jones name is ever mentioned in the 16 chapters given here.. To be fair, quite a bit is written about Graham Chapman, who was Cleeses most consistent writing partner in the period before and during Python, but I never felt like Chapman and Cleese ever connected as real friends, and I know very little about Chapman that I didnt know before I listened to this book. (And I didnt know much) In fact the only people that make any sort of impact on Cleese for his first thirty years are his mother, (Whom he loathes) and his first wife, Connie Booth, whom he seems to still be fond of. Otherwise, no friends, no people who are there as mentors, no real connections of any kind. Its a bit sad, but the book seems to be a protracted therapy session, except we the audience is paying Cleese for the privilege of him telling people we never knew that they were mean to him in 1956. I did like that Cleese narrated his own work, but that was the best part of this missive. BEWARE TO EVERYONE WHO IS THINKING OF GETTING THIS. It ends in 1969, on the day Python is producing their first sketch. Nothing you care about happened to John Cleese before 1969. Its like reading a book about Albert Einstein, that ends when he gets a job as a patent clerk. There is so much you want to know about, but you will not find it here. To those people giving this such glowing reviews? You are doing your fellow readers a disservice to not warn them that this is a very partial autobiography.

139 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for G. Beauchamp
  • G. Beauchamp
  • 2017-01-15

Cleese, the early years, in his own voice

This is a really fun autobiography, but before you buy, you do need to take note of one thing: The book more or less ends when Monty Python is formed. Things like Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda are mentioned often, but they are not really covered.

The book is joy to listen to, as Mr Cleese recalls his childhood, education, and early work, both in the U.K. and U.S. There are a few actual clips of old routines, and he often has to pause to laugh as he relates funny episodes from his past.

My personal hope is that he decides to do a follow-up, covering the years from Monty Python to present day.

79 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Kent Curtis
  • Kent Curtis
  • 2016-12-31

Missing a few chapters

I would have give the book five stars but he quit just as he gets to Monty Python! This maybe a bit mean but it might be compared to a bad sexual experience where the foreplay is great but the lover quits and leaves just as things really start heating up. I loved everything that was written. If only he'd written a few more chapters! He wrote about the foreplay but said nothing about the sex, so to speak.

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for rob
  • rob
  • 2017-01-20

A lovely memoir

If you're reading this, chances are that you're a Python fan already. Cleese delivers exactly what you'd expect. It's very funny, full of trivia for the fans, and his performance is absolutely genuine.

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Luvtallships
  • Luvtallships
  • 2017-01-10

John Cleese! Need I Say More?

Loved it so much that I listened to it twice in a row just in case I missed anything. His talent for timing paired with his unique gift of storytelling elevate this memoir of a uniquely British humorist to an absolute must- listen for the connoisseur of absurd Pythonesque comedy.

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Greg P.
  • Greg P.
  • 2016-12-31

The voice.

I came of age as the Circus came on the air. This was a wonderful return to the development of the series told by the voice of an old friend.

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Mitch
  • Mitch
  • 2016-12-27

Wonderfully. funny some great insights

cleese is wildly entertaining. it includes old audio recordings that are wonderful. a bit more from the python time would've been appreciated

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Janice
  • Janice
  • 2017-01-16

Jack Cheese!

Merci, Monsieur Cleese. Ain't nothing wrong with being lucky. Your reading was top shelf and, as I listened, I became more and more fond of your denigration of all of us ungrateful and unappreciative listeners. Goodnight!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for J. Daniel
  • J. Daniel
  • 2017-01-11

Outstanding. Comic, historical, and psychological

Loved it. It does end with just a little bit of Python, but you do learn a lot about how Cleese developed his comic skill, and about the origins of some Python materials. Hope there will be a part 2 some day.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jonah
  • Jonah
  • 2017-01-11

I love this book!

Jon Cheese is a brilliant writer and performer. I'm so glad I not only got to enjoy this book but I got to enjoy Cheese's timing and delivery as well!

Yes it's Cheese. Check the book.

6 people found this helpful