Interview: Eric Idle ('Monty Python,' 'Spamalot') joins John Cleese at Cobb Energy Oct. 21-22

"It's an attempt to find an audience even older than we are," cracked Idle from a hotel in Miami. When checking in, he uses an alias of a great, great grandfather though he admits groupies are not in abundance anymore. "Nobody gives a [bleep] at my age!"

Fans may not be chasing him down sidewalks for autographs, but they are certainly attending shows to see him and Cleese do sketches, tell old stories and sing a song or two.  Just don't expect Cleese to enter a cheese shop or Idle wax nostalgic about lumberjacks.

"We want to keep things fresh," Idle said. "We do sketches not everybody knows."

He said he and the four other surviving members of the Monty Python troupe gave fans a proper farewell last year with a set of shows in England last year. It was the first time they were together since 1980. Highlights from the shows are now available on DVD, with clips on YouTube as well.

"We did all the classics," he said. "We did them nicely and well with full costumes and dancers."

They had no plans to go on the road as an "oldies" group. "Most of us are busy doing other things," he said. "I think only John and me are still in comedy on a regular basis."

In comparison to those reunion shows, "these are more intimate. We natter and talk and take questions. We try to change it up every night. I like to call it our IKEA show. We bring the bits and the audience has to screw it together."

Cleese came up with the tour idea after Idle was invited to a Cleese book signing to interview his old friend. They had a great time. So they decided to do a road trip. Idle liked the idea of Florida so they front-loaded the month-long tour there.

"I haven't been on the road in 12  years," said Idle, who has lived in Los Angeles for 20 years. "It's so much more fun to have a pal on the road, someone you've shared so many experiences with over 52 years. We can slip effortlessly into different parts of our lives and talk about people we knew and what happened."

He said he enjoys being in the States, where the weather is better and the media kinder. "This is truly the land of opportunity," Idle said. "They pigeonholed me in England as that old fart from Monty Python." Here, he has been able to write books, appear in films and create a Broadway play ("Spamalot").

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

His latest fiction book "The Writer's Cut: A Post-Ironic Novel" is actually a cutting mockery of Hollywood mores based on real experiences. "It's a silly business," he said. "I just exposed it from the writer's point of view. Writers get no respect."

He also takes a jaundiced view of American politics.

"Why should I be annoyed by these idiots?" Idle said, "when I can't even vote for them? I find it drives me nuts. I like to think well of my fellow man. I go to hotel rooms and don't even turn on the TV unless it's English soccer."

One of his greatest musical legacies remains the ironically chipper tune "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the 1979 film "Monty Python's Life of Brian," where men about to be persecuted on the cross use the song as a point to find happiness in the most dire of situations.

Apparently, Idle said it's a popular song for people to use at funerals, especially in England.

"It's slightly inappropriate," Idle said, before singing a bit of the lyrics:

He considers its legacy "very sweet and completely unexpected." And he thinks he follows the tenets of the song in his own life.

But would he have that song played at his own funeral? "I don't know," he said. "I won't be in charge!"

CONCERT PREVIEW

"John Cleese and Eric Idle: Together Again at Last.. For the Very First Time"

7:30 p.m. October 21 and 22

$56.50-$96.50 before fees

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta