John Cleese says Sir Les Patterson funnier than Dame Edna Everage

Comedy legend John Cleese rates lout Les Patterson as far funnier than any of the late, great Barry Humphries’ other comedic creations.

John Cleese says Les Patterson was “screamingly funny”.

Putting the squeeze on Victoria’s movers, shakers and headline makers.

Monty Python legend John Cleese has opened a controversial comedic can of worms.

Cleese, who is touring Australia soon, has rated putrid politician Sir Les Patterson funnier than perennial possum Edna Everage.

The duo were, of course, the hugely successful alter-egos of the late great Barry Humphries.

“Barry was very, very funny, Cleese said.

“But I never thought Edna was as funny as Les Patterson. I thought Les was absolutely screamingly funny. I know Edna was based on a certain type of Melbourne housewife, right? That was not a person I knew.”

However, Cleese is set to learn the local vernacular, and insults, fairly well. Cleese will be roasted by Australian comedians at an event in Melbourne in July.

“It will be a Cleese barbecue,” he said.

“A lot of horrible young people are going to make fun of an old man and deem it entertainment.”

He warned his attacker to fire their best shots. “The key to a good insult is, there needs to be a tiny bit of truth in it. The insult needs to be recognisable, then appallingly exaggerated.”

The master has spoken — even at his own expense.

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Have Ramadan restrictions locked in Melbourne’s Grand Prix date?

The Melbourne Grand Prix is still searching for a new chief executive, but it would seem a date for the 2024 event at Albert Park has been found.

British F1 authority Joe Saward has hit the accelerator on a speculation piece factoring in key dates in the Islamic world, and how they might influence the GP calendar early next year.

“The first two races of (2024) will be held on Saturday nights, rather than on the Sunday afternoons,” Saward wrote on his Green Notebook blog.

“This makes a lot of sense for the local organisers as in the Islamic world the ‘weekend’ usually means Friday and Saturday, rather than the Western Saturday-Sunday.

“In the Arab world Sunday is a working day. The change is not due to this, however, but rather because of Ramadan, which is the period of religious devotion that makes it incompatible with Formula 1 racing.

Aussie hopeful Oscar Piastri at the 2023 Melbourne race.

“Ramadan begins on Sunday, March 10, and so the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has to be on the evening of Saturday, March 9, and in order to get everything moved in the limited time available, the Bahrain GP will move forward a day to Saturday, March 2.

Saward added: “The F1 freight will need extra time to get out of Saudi Arabia, as customs is already a problem there and Ramadan will not help, and so the Australian GP will be the third race of the year on Sunday March 24.”

The AusGP said in a statement on Monday: “We are awaiting confirmation of our 2024 date from Formula 1 and we expect to have this in the coming weeks.”

Meanwhile, the AusGP has appointed an interim boss while the search continues for a new CEO to replace outgoing chief Andrew Westacott.

Contenders for the top job include AFL executive Travis Auld and former F1 race director Michael Masi.

Crazy Horse porno cinema to rise again

Melbourne’s longest running porno cinema, which closed last year due to flaccid box office receipts, is ready to rise again.

The Crazy Horse Cinema on Elizabeth St – formerly known as The Star – was shuttered last June, marking the end of an era, and the loss of another Melbourne institution.

The 50-seat Star Cinema opened in the 1950s and screened everything from newsreels to cartoons and comedies to Victorian Football League games.

Two decades later, it switched to R-rated films, and then became Australia’s first sex cinema.

The cinema was bought in the mid-1980s by Club X owner Kenneth Hill.

Thirty-something years on, with the internet offering porn on demand, and more importantly, in private, Crazy Horse lost its libido.

“It’s past its use-by date,” Club X spokesperson Jill Mellon-Robertson said on the eve of the closure.

“We know that.”

Club X and the Crazy Horse cinema closed last year. Picture: Jason Edwards

However, the sex cinema site will be officially relaunched as Twisted Toys at a VIP event on Thursday.

A publicist for the store described the venue as “boutique,” but also a “safe and inclusive space for all walks of life, including those who enjoy getting … down and dirty.”

The refurbished venue includes a cinema, with “discreet areas for hook ups” and a peculiar partition with a naming rights sponsor.

It will be called “Gary’s Wall.”

Melbourne’s musical chairs

With musical blockbusters Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and & Juliet leaving town soon, Melbourne is braced for another wave of theatre shows.

Moulin Rouge is doing an encore season at the Regent, and Mamma Mia and Grease will follow.

No word yet on Melbourne dates for Tina — The Tina Turner Musical, playing in Sydney, and Wicked, opening in the Harbour City in August, but long running Broadway favourite Chicago has locked in dates at Her Maj in March 2024.

Broadway musical Chicago is coming back to Melbourne in March 2024.

The show’s Australian producers John Frost and Suzanne Jones said: “Chicago has everything that people love about a Broadway musical. We are thrilled to bring the razzle dazzle of this New York institution back to Australia.”