Cleese turns life into comedy

John Cleese at Auckland's Hilton after his press conference about his forthcoming show. Picture / Brett Phibbs

British funnyman John Cleese, 66, was last in New Zealand 41 years ago. Then a recent Cambridge law graduate, he was touring the country with six other ex-students calling themselves The Cambridge Circus.

"The last time I was here it was 1912," Cleese says. "Well, it was 1912 in Dunedin." It was a dark and stormy night, they were soaked and starving and "I couldn't find a restaurant that was open after 6 o'clock".

But oh my, he says, how things have changed. Since 1964 he's become famous for the silliness of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda, though a younger generation knows him best from Harry Potter movies.

As for New Zealand ... the coffee Cleese had in an Auckland cafe yesterday, he marvels, was better than anything he's had in the United States, where he lives with wife number three. And he's in love with New Zealand wine.

Despite his miserable experiences in South Island towns, it's in Invercargill next Monday that he will present the world premiere of John Cleese - His Life, Times and Medical Problems. He'll be on the road for more than a month for a punishing 22 performances.

He's telling little of the content, except to say it's largely autobiographical - and it does draw on his earlier visit.

Cleese dubs his latest production "a solo show with interruptions". One is by the younger of his two daughters, 22-year-old Camilla, a co-developer of the show.

Another is Kiwi actor Jay Bunyan, 24, a delighted last-minute rope-in after his American predecessor, says Cleese, "had to be put in the sack" - no details, but apparently things weren't working out.

The last few days have been a blur for Bunyan, Melbourne-based but currently on screen in the Kiwi series Interrogation. Summoned, he flew back to Auckland last Thursday night, charged off to audition, got the job at 8am the next day and has been rehearsing solidly since.

Bunyan, who grew up watching Cleese's comedy, is influencing the master already. "He's picked up my accent and some of my sayings like 'bro' and 'sweet'," says Bunyan. "I don't know if they'll get in the show, but he finds them amusing."

So what's the go with the medical stuff? The show already had its name when Cleese several months ago had 17cm of sigmoid colon removed due to diverticulitis. Cleese wanted to sell his ex-intestine on eBay, except the rules forbid trade in body parts.

It's not as though his retired bits are any use to anyone, says Cleese, famous eyebrows rising. Someone in the English city of Newcastle owns his tonsils, donated to a charity auction in 1972.