Tour news: Monty Python's John Cleese and Eric Idle head to NZ

John Cleese and Eric Idle (Getty).

John Cleese won't visit the city he once called "the suicide capital of New Zealand" when the comedian tours here next year.

The comedian got in trouble in 2006 when he recorded a podcast about his 2005 tour here 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 didn't stop there: "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."

It sparked a war of words with Palmerston North Mayor Heather Tanguay, who suggested the Monty Python star "may need some more medication".

Cleese is making sure he avoids Palmerston North for his next visit here, when he plays shows in Auckland and Wellington with Eric Idle in March.

Cleese and Idle will bring their new show, John Cleese & Eric Idle: Together Again At Last ... For The Very First Time, to the Civic Theatre in Auckland on Wednesday, March 23, and the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington on Monday, March 28 (tickets go on sale from Monday).

The septuagenarian pair - who are the tallest surviving members of Monty Python, long-time friends, and British comedy pioneers - have been touring the show around America this year, but promise that every show is different.

"No one show will be the same and all of them will annoy the politically correct," explains Cleese.

The pair blend scripted and improvised bits with storytelling, musical numbers, exclusive footage, aquatic juggling and an extended audience Q&A, and the title actually makes more sense than it might initially appear, because it's the first time the pair have toured together on their own. And given its spontaneity, they're hoping the show will feel like "the first time" every night.

When Cleese last visited New Zealand in 2006, he toured many cities, including Palmerston North, but he spoke about New Zealand much more fondly in his recent autobiography, So, Anyway.

The pair have said they're very much looking forward to bringing this show to "the friendliest people in the world", so it seems it's all water under the bridge.

And in other comedy tour news, Australian stand-up Jim Jeffries has announced he'll be bringing a brand new show to New Zealand in 2016.

Returning for the first time since his NZ International Comedy Festival appearance in 2014, he'll perform at the Auckland Town Hall on May 6 and the Wellington Opera House on May 7. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.