John Cleese has opened up on his biggest fear while speaking to author Lionel Shriver on The Dinosaur Hour.
The Fawlty Towers star told Shriver about his need to “make things better”, something he “panics” about when he believes it may not be possible.
“I’ve always had a fear of hopelessness”, he said.
“I need to be able to do something to make things better. When that’s not possible, I kind of panic and it sets a little bit of that off.”
It came after the comedy legend offered praise to Shriver, telling her that he is a fan of her “ruthlessness”, which she admitted gets her into “a lot of trouble”.
Speaking about her work, the author said she finds it difficult to write a “completely straight faced” column or book.
“It is so easy to get yourself into trouble using a single word in a way that people take the wrong way”, she told Cleese.
He concurred with the statement, adding: “Particularly literal minded people take something the wrong way because they don’t understand the importance of context in affecting the meaning.”
Continuing her statement, Shriver said: “We’re surrounded by killjoys.
“Nothing gets you into more trouble than a joke, and I simply cannot write a completely straight faced column or a book.
“It’s what I write that is really just to amuse myself that gets me into such hot water.”
The New York Times bestselling author has been a vocal critic of cancel culture, declaring this year that freedom of speech “doesn’t exist” in the UK today.
“If you’re writing something that doesn’t offend anyone then you’re probably writing bad work”, she told the Standard in August.
She has addressed topics such as terrorism and morbid obesity in her productions, as well as the publishing industry’s “cowardly obsession: with race and gender.
The Spectator columnist has also commented regularly on immigration, accusing the Government of not being fully willing to tackle the issue.