Entertainment

IDLE CHATTER : LONE PYTHON PLAYS CARNEGIE HALL

IDLE he is, and idle he’s not.

Nearly 20 years after “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” grounded itself, Eric Idle has been flying high. Hardly a year passes without some Idle notion or another: a film, book, play, TV show or Web site.

And now for something not so completely different: Playing next week at Carnegie Hall, it’s “Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python.”

The full Monty it’s not.

Minus John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman (the pipe-smoking chap who died of cancer in 1989), Idle will gamely re-create Python bits past – complete with lumberjacks, sheep and “a surprise guest appearance by the Spanish Inquisition.”

“It’s like a Broadway-style revue,” Idle said the other day from Toronto, midway through an 18-city tour. “Sketch, song, sketch, song. An agreeable form of entertainment.”

As New Age music tinkled in the background, the 57-year-old Cambridge University graduate (now living in Los Angeles with his wife, Tania, and their 9-year-old daughter, Lily) spoke enthusiastically about the show and Broadway’s upcoming “The Seussical,” the Dr. Seuss-based musical he’s credited with helping conceive.

He also discussed what it’s like being one-sixth of a defunct, former, gone-to-its-maker comedy troupe:

Q: What are your audiences like? Are Python fans as rabid as Trekkies?

A: They love this silly stuff! I encourage those who want to to wear very silly clothing, because we play “Spot the Loony” – we vote for the silliest one and remove his liver.

People are bringing their children, so there’s lots of second-generation stuff. You don’t get the 20-year-olds much. They’re out watching violent films.

Q: How do you do Monty Python with one Python?

A: It’s hardly a one-man show. We’ve got about a dozen people – three girls singing and dancing, comedians …

You can get any two actors to do the argument sketch: “I told you once.” “No you didn’t.” It’s the Python material that’s the star. I think you could do a show without any of us.

Q: Will anyone try to duplicate Cleese’s silly walks?

A: No, no, no. Sadly, not even John, because he had a hip replacement. Now he has a silly walker.

Q: Do you and the others get together now and then for tea?

A: We e-mail each other. I just had e-mail from Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, who says he’ll come to the Carnegie show.

Q: Anybody else planning to pop by?

A: Art Garfunkel asked if he could sing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” I said sure, as long as I could sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Q: What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

A: I like the one for older people – the last book he wrote about being old, waiting in line at hospitals and things. I really identify with it now!

Q: And your favorite Python movie?

A: I like “[Monty Python’s] The Meaning of Life.” It’s still extremely funny. I think “Holy Grail” is the silliest and most popular.

Q. “Life of Brian” was a bit risky, right? People yelled blasphemy and refused to finance it.

A: It was virgin territory. Nobody made fun of this stuff. Why can religions say whatever they like without anyone questioning them? We must examine everything! You can’t actually laugh at anything Jesus Christ said, because it’s great philosophy. All you can really mock are the churches and the people who try to kill each other for the sake of peace and love.

Q. Are you ever somber and serious?

A. Yes. I published a novel, “The Road to Mars,” which has thoughts on why we do comedy and what it’s doing to us. It enables us to experience the truth and realize we’re going to die. It’s freeing us with the truth and shaking us a bit loose of our molded personalities. So if you don’t like your trousers, go wear a dress.

“Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python” plays Carnegie Hall at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. For tickets, $25 to $75, call (212) 247-7800.