John Cleese Joins NFT Parade With Art Auction

And now for something completely different: British comedy legend John Cleese has become the latest celebrity to join the non-fungible token craze by auctioning his drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge for the tidy "Buy Now" sum of $69,346,250.50.

Don't Mention The War! The one-time Basil Fawlty has entered this new digital art auction world under the nom de plume of "The Unnamed Artist John Cleese" while proclaiming the dawn of the NFT era as a transitional experience.

"This is a cultural moment: A bridge from the past to the future," said the 81-year-old Cleese in a video announcement on his Twitter page.

"And a bridge is about trust — as in the saying that if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you. When you believe someone, you see, you trust them and then you buy a bridge for them — it's that simple.

"So, today," he added, "I've got a bridge to sell you. The Brooklyn Bridge NFT — and I will now sign it. The auction is live, now."

John Cleese's "The Brooklyn Bridge," courtesy OpenSea.

The bidding on Cleese's art starts at $100 and the auction runs through 8 p.m. EDT April 1. Cleese stated a percentage of proceeds from the sale will be donated to nonprofits fighting against climate change.

This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! In a Vanity Fair interview published ahead of the auction, Cleese admitted "I have no idea what's going on" regarding the NFT craze, adding, "but in this particular realm, no one has any idea what's going on.

"The main purpose of art is supposed to give people some sort of emotional experience," he continued. "If I stand in front of an important painting, I feel something, I feel some sort of emotion, and that's what I'm interested in."

The NFT mania that has recently erupted is more of a commodity-generating investment vehicle, Cleese said, adding that he considers this an appropriate symbol of how technology has eroded classical culture.

"The world has gone terminally insane," Cleese said. "This all reminds me of Henry David Thoreau when he said, ‘our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.'"

John Cleese and Andrew Sachs in "Fawlty Towers." Photo courtesy Cinema Crazed.

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