I’ve always been of the opinion that of all the British ‘Monty Pythons’, Eric Idle was a bit of a spare wheel having to deal with the highly strung egos of the other four.

The other four, John Cleese and Graham Chapman hailing from Cambridge University and Michael Palin and Terry Jones hailing from Oxford University, just seemed to dominate proceedings, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Eric was at Cambridge and was a few years younger than the others but not only did he join the legendary Footlights Review on campus but he excelled to the point where he was made president.

It was during this time that Cleese and Chapman invited him into what would become arguably the greatest comedy team in history.

For Lynda and I, seeing Eric live was the trifecta having been blessed to witness both Cleese and Palin perform live in the past decade.

All three shows have been a fascinating journey into lives that have been so full creatively and provided so many laughs globally. It must give them enormous satisfaction.

Cleese and Palin have probably been my favourites over the years simply because their sketches in tandem are so timeless such as The Cheese Shop, The Argument, The Parrot Sketch as well as the brilliant exchanges in the movies they made.

Of course it’s been well documented that there was a lot of tension when it came to writing their scripts between the two parties, Cambridge v Oxford.

As Eric being the fifth wheel so to speak, he must have felt a little intimidated at times but you get the impression that he is a diplomat of sorts and was able to contribute more than I thought, through sheer guile I imagine.

Firstly he’s the only one with musical talent and wrote all the songs and secondly he’s a master of the English language, so utterly important in anything to do with Monty Python.

It was Eric’s long standing close relationship with George Harrison that enabled Life of Brian to be made. Initially the film was to be made by EMI but when they read the script they considered it blasphemous and dropped it immediately.

Eric knocked on plenty of doors but it was George who actually approached Eric and re-mortgaged his house and business to fund the film. When Eric asked him why, he simply said, “I want to see the film.”

Eric’s deep affection for George was evident and he sang a song he wrote when George passed. His other great friend was Robin Williams and again he sang the song he wrote after his death.

He was always going to finish with Always Look on the Bright Side of Life after reflecting on his two great mates and the crowd happily joined in.

It was a wonderful night presented by a genuinely grounded and grateful man with phenomenal energy at the ripe old age of 81. The full house at Hamer Hall loved it.

Just a few clips of Eric to finish.

His classic Nudge Nudge sketch with Terry Jones. Eric actually came to Australia in the 70’s and did a few TV ads for Cadbury Picnic using this bit.

The sermon on the mount big nose altercation with Michael Palin in Life of Brian.

The Travel Agency sketch with Graham Chapman. A classic example of Eric’s skill with English.

The Cricifixion from Life of Brian. Eric plays the cheeky prisoner and then a jailer alongside Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam.

Always Look on The Bright Side of Life, the UK’s number one funeral song. Written by Eric when the Python team couldn’t think of how to end Life of Brian.

The brilliant Galaxy Song from Meaning of Life with Terry Jones. Just as George Harrison was often described as ‘The Quiet Beatle’, so Eric was with The Pythons. It was Eric who wrote and directed the ten night reunion concerts for Monty Python at the O2 in London in 2014 which was a roaring success. Eric was mindful of Terry Jones’ dementia diagnosis and designed the sketches to be manageable for Terry so he was able to enjoy his last time with the team.