House of Blues purrs in Idle

Kirk Baird

Monday, Dec. 15, 2003 | 8:23 a.m.

When: Sunday.

Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Rating (out of 5 stars): *** 1/2

The Beatles did it.

So did the Rolling Stones.

So has Pink Floyd, the Who and countless other rock 'n' roll acts.

For some reason, when you're a successful band, going solo is almost an imperative.

Yet going it alone in comedy is much trickier. Just ask Dan Aykroyd, David Spade, Lou Costello and Jerry Lewis.

Pity poor Eric Idle, then. The Monty Pythoner is without four of his compadres -- five, if you count the late Graham Chapman.

Still, that daunting prospect didn't stop the 60-year-old from trying -- and mostly succeeding -- in re-creating some of the old Python magic with some new faces Sunday night at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay during a stop on his "Greedy Bastard Tour."

Idle began the evening by performing stand-up comedy, something new for the writer-actor, who is best known for his sketch comedy work with Monty Python.

Idle has a keen sense of delivery and his jokes were usually, at the very least, worth a chuckle.

On his favorite sexual position: "Flat on my back with my wallet wide open."

On why he's touring: "All I'm trying to do is get my daughter through college and wife through Collagen."

On President Bush's attempt to make Afghanistan and Iraq democratic. "If he's looking to impose democracy on some place weird with foreigners, why not try Florida?"

While the nearly 700 or so in the audience laughed appreciatively, they were really there for the Monty Python material.

And Idle delivered.

Even without the other members present, the comedian did have one advantage when it came to the music.

Idle wrote and sang many of the Python's best-known songs himself, including "I Like Chinese," "The Penis Song," "Eric the Half," "Sit on My Face," "The Galaxy Song," "Lumberjack Song" and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

Not having the other members around, then, did little to detract from the material.

It was different story, however, when it came to the Python sketches.

While replacements Peter Crabbe and Jennifer Julian were more than adequate as surrogate comedians, it just wasn't the same without John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.

"The Argument Clinic" sketch was missing Cleese's maniacal energy to truly propel the humor.

The "Nudge, Nudge" sketch -- perhaps Idle's most famous comedy piece -- cried out for the mannered stoicism of Jones.

And the Australian "Bruce's Philosophers" sketch was simply lacking without the full Python cast.

Perhaps sensing he could only carry Monty Python so far without his fellow Pythoners, Idle opted to move to more of a more personal level in Act 2.

The tone of the show changed as well -- at least, briefly -- as the comedian delved into his difficult childhood.

His father survived World War II, only to be killed in a car accident on Christmas -- a day after being discharged. One year later Idle was shipped off to an orphanage, where he spent most of his youth.

While his upbringing could have embittered him, it was another comedy troupe, "Beyond the Fringe," that convinced an 18-year-old Idle to become a comedian.

He paid tribute to "Beyond the Fringe" in the show by performing a humorous sketch, "The End of the World," about three religious zealots sitting on a mountaintop counting down the seconds until the Apocalypse.

Idle also dipped into his pre-Python days for other skits as well, including the first sketch he performed with Cleese about broadcasters reading news from the Old Testament: plagues in Egypt, Moses wandering lost in the desert and Eve being sentenced to damnation for eating the forbidden fruit, "her first offense."

The "Greedy Bastard" show ended with the classic "Four Yorkshire People" sketch about four seniors spinning yarns on their difficult childhoods, and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" -- highlights of the two-hour performance.

No, it wasn't the full Monty. But as evident Sunday night, a little Idle can go a long way.