Dear Mr. Cleese: Maybe it’s not funny.

Monty Python alumnus John Cleese recently complained that the “literal-minded” don’t get his comedy:

"So whenever you're doing comedy, you're up against the literal-minded. And the literal-minded don't understand irony, so that means if you take them seriously, you get rid of a lot of comedy, because the literal-minded don't understand metaphor, irony, comic exaggeration. 

"And the result is, if you listen to them, these are people who are not, so far as understanding what human beings are saying and doing, they're not playing with a full deck. 
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"Literal-minded people can only have one interpretation of what's being said. People who are not literal-minded can see there are different interpretations depending on different contexts."

Now, that’s arrogance. Cleese may as well have said, “If they don’t laugh, it’s because I’m too smart for them.”

Art, including comedy, is a product like any other. The public is under no more obligation to embrace Cleese’s or anyone else’s product than they were to embrace New Coke. You may recall that the Coca-Cola Company didn’t waste time whining about unsophisticated palates. They retooled and retried.

Likewise, honest comedians admit when their aim is off and re-calibrate.

By all means, produce art as a means of self-expression if you wish. But if it’s a commercial flop, it’s you, not the audience, who failed to connect.