Monty Python comedian Eric Idle. Photo / Twitter
Comedian and Monty Python actor Eric Idle has paid a visit to a rubbish dump in Palmerston North named after co-star and Emmy Award-winner John Cleese.
Palmerston North bestowed the dubious honour on Cleese after he dubbed their city the "suicide capital of New Zealand" in 2006.
Idle, who is on tour with Cleese in New Zealand, tweeted an image of himself beside the sign.
"I summited without oxygen," he wrote.
The actor also posted a video in which he read out what was written on the sign.
His post was met with humour from his fans.
One person wrote: "Mounting Cleese could have been a great finale Eric."
Another wrote: "Well done, Eric! I bet @JohnCleese would like to climb it as well," referencing Cleese's vow never to return to Palmerston North.
Cleese got into trouble when he recorded a podcast about his 2005 tour in New Zealand that included the statement: "If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick."
He continued saying: "We stayed in a little motel. The weather was grotty, the theatre was a nasty shape and the audience was very strange to play to."
His words sparked a war with Palmerston North Mayor Heather Tanguay, who suggested the Monty Python star "may need some more medication". Eighteen months later, the rubbish heap was named "Mt. Cleese".
Idle and Cleese are in New Zealand with their new show John Cleese & Eric Idle: Together Again At Last ... For The Very First Time, which they performed at the Civic Theatre in Auckland last Wednesday and at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington yesterday.
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The septuagenarian pair - who are the tallest surviving members of Monty Python, long-time friends, and British comedy pioneers - have also been touring the show around America this year, but promised that every show was different.
"No one show will be the same and all of them will annoy the politically correct," said Cleese.
- nzherald.co.nz
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