Big news in the comedy world: Monty Python is set to reunite for a stage show.

Python member Terry Jones told the BBC on Tuesday he's excited the group is reuniting. He said he hopes to make enough money to pay off his mortgage.

The group had its first big success with the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV show, which ran from 1969 until 1974, winning fans around the world with its bizarre sketches. The group branched out into movies including Life of Brian and backed theatrical shows such as Monty Python's Spamalot.

The five surviving members last performed together in 1998. The sixth member, Graham Chapman, died of cancer in 1989.

Surviving members John Cleese, 74, Terry Gilliam, 72, Jones, 71, Eric Idle, 70, and Michael Palin, 70, are making the comeback, despite Cleese previously saying it would be "absolutely impossible".

A source told The Sun newspaper: "No one ever thought this was possible, but it's 100 per cent happening. They knew it was a case of now or never. This will be a fully-fledged reunion - it's huge news for the entertainment world ...

It's a testament to their very significant cultural impact that Python fans have never given up on a reunion, even though it's decades since they were last together.

"Now their wishes have come true. There's going to be huge anticipation about what they decide to do when they reunite."

Previous attempts to reunite the group happened in 1999 with a planned US tour, which collapsed after Palin dropped out.

Last year, Jones tried to get them to voice alien characters in a film he was directing called Absolutely Anything, but that project also fell through.

After Chapman's death from spinal and throat cancer, Idle once quipped: "We would only do a reunion if Chapman came back from the dead. So we're negotiating with his agent."

- AP and Bang! Showbiz