I think Walken is used to taking that kind of thing in stride:
Well, that’s what I love about Cage. He leans into the crazy. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was just him taking the caricature of himself and running with it. And he’s taking a lot of horror roles where he can just be insane. I haven’t watched the horror movies but it appears to be working. I’ve always loved his work but after his run of bad movies I feel vindicated now that he’s getting good roles again. He’s so freaking weird and never tries to hide it.
Speaking of Pesci, IIRC Austin Pendleton lost out on a role soon after his over-the-top turn in MY COUSIN VINNY, because his memorably showcased stutter would be all wrong for the part — with them going on to explain that the problem wasn’t even whether he could deliver the lines as smooth as you please, but that the audience would be expecting it as soon as they saw him.
Although I’ve never heard the term “yips,” it seems similar to “buck fever,” which was demonstrated in Deliverance
I’d wager that method actors are more prone to totally losing their mojo than traditionally trained actors. Either technique relies on “reacting not acting,” and your fellow actors will appreciate that, if you can’t find the character, please at least just say the line.
There’s an old story, probably apocryphal, of Lawrence Olivier giving a killer performance on stage as Hamlet, then afterwards found in his dressing room an emotional wreck. “What’s wrong, Larry? You were magnificent out there?” “That’s the problem. I know I did it, but I don’t know how I did it!” (Apocryphal, because this is the same actor who asked method Dustin Hoffman “why don’t you just try acting, dear boy?”)
He’s even capable of NOT being weird, and being completely convincing. I recommend 2023’s Dream Scenario, in which he plays the ultimate Ordinary Guy.
As for the OP question: what came to mind immediately was, I’m sorry to say, members of Monty Python in one of their later filmed-performances. It may have been the 2002 George Harrison memorial–it was four of them only. And I remember thinking “they haven’t done comedy in so long that…this just isn’t working.”
That’s not exactly the OP situation–it wasn’t a case of regularly-working actors suddenly having blocks of some kind–but it was what I thought of first.
Don Knotts didn’t seem as good later in life. His short run on Matlock was forgettable.
He was ok on Three’s Company but at times he got too hyper. It was almost a parody of his earlier work on the Steve Allen and Andy Griffith shows. He won 5 Emmy’s for his work on Andy Griffith show. That’s pretty hard to top. 
He was pretty old when he did Matlock. But Andy was a similar age and was consistently good on Matlock.
Walker spent a long part of his career not getting parodied. Kevin Pollack often talks about the craft of being an impressionist. What tends to happen is one guy finds the hook to do the voice then everyone else tends to copy that one performer. In the case of Walker it was Jay Mohr. You don’t really find anyone doing Walken before that now everyone does him.
I saw Cleese a few years ago on stage in a money grab. It was very enjoyable but it was clear he takes more pride in being a cranky old man than being funny. Which can still be funny but not like he used to be. Not just with Python. A Fish Called Wanda stands up as one of the best comedies ever.
I thought that these are the yips.
I love the yips! Uh-huh.
I think Don Knotts did an excellent job in Pleasantville and that was well after Matlock ended. Played a suitably subdued character.
It happened to Sybil Vane.
Interesting. I saw him in “An Evening with the Late John Cleese” as he happened to come to Des Moines and it was down the street. I thought he was fine but it wasn’t a performance so much as him talking about Python, comedy, and life. He didn’t like ticketmaster and how much they dictated things or how expensive they were but equally took the check, I’m sure. Then he did a Q&A from questions on cards before the show. Okay, I talked myself into it. It’s probably a money grab or he has alimony to pay. It was fun.
I think they said they wanted to do new stuff through the 80s and 90s but kept being told by venues to do what the public wanted, which was old stuff, so they probably did “phone it in” knowing it be fine.
I love those yips!
My bolding–yes, definitely. It’s certainly hard to argue that Cleese never knew how to put comedy across. He knew the timing; he knew the intonations; he knew the body language.
But as some have said–there’s a certain amount of work involved in all that. If you’re going to be paid anyway, ‘why bother?’ must at least occur to you.
(That said: I’m guessing that most in Cleese’s position must enjoy actually getting laughs. I suppose there’s a tradeoff between the amount of work needed, and the level of the possible reward.)
One thing I noticed about Cleese many years ago (actually for the first time when he was doing press for a A Wish Called Wanda with Palin) is that he’s a good writer and actor, but not a great spontaneous performer. He’s very much a skit actor. If he were a standup, crowd work would be his achilles heel. Michael Palin was spontaneously funny and could often ad-lib glibly in interviews - Cleese wasn’t nearly as good at it.
I really wouldn’t expect him to do great on a live speaking tour unless he was doing a scripted bit.
When I saw him there was a screening of Holy Grail then a talk and Q&A. He was interviewed by someone onstage and then read questions from the audience. I remember a few things. He seems genuinely baffled about the popularity of Holy Grail in America. He dislikes his third ex-wife and blames her for why he has to do appearances like this. He really likes old joke book type ethnic jokes.
Yeah. Everyone basically does Larry Storch’s Cary Grant, too, apparently.
As I recall, the other Pythons considered Cleese the funniest of the bunch.
Re; Pollack and imitators.
I don’t think anybody was doing a good Bob Hope until Dave Thomas of SCTV. Then it became common.
We’re getting off-topic here but there are a surprising number of well-known actors who seem to be impressionist-proof. For example, have you seen anybody try to imitate Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, or Warren Beatty? Paul Newman was a star for over 50 years but he was never part of any comic’s repertoire of impersonations.