EXCLUSIVE: Monty Python Icon, 82, Cuts 'Racist' Song From Set-List on Stage Tour As Cancel Culture Fears Rage
Eric Idle is making sure not to offend anyone on his tour.
Oct. 15 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Eric Idle has dropped one of Monty Python's most controversial songs from his upcoming farewell tour, admitting that some of the group's humor no longer sits comfortably in 2025, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 82-year-old comedian and songwriter, who became a household name through the groundbreaking comedy troupe Monty Python, discussed his decision during a new interview in which he also revealed the paralyzing effect cancel culture is having on comedy.
'Can I Say These Things?'
Eric Idle is making sure to keep offensive songs out of his stage tour.
Idle has launched his first solo U.K. tour in more than five decades – Always Look On the Bright Side of Life LIVE – which promises an "evening of rude songs, sing-alongs, inappropriate remarks, reminiscences of fame and fortune, plus rare footage and surprise guests."
Reflecting on his long career, Idle said he no longer worries about the culture wars surrounding comedy.
"Sometimes I'll ask my daughter or my goddaughter," he said. "I'll say, 'Can I say these things?' And they'll say, 'Yeah, that's OK,' or not." He added, "But I don't worry about (being cancelled.) I'm not saying terribly controversial things; I'm trying to make them laugh. If they don't laugh, then that's a failure."
Idle said while humor has evolved, the creative challenge of adapting has been energizing, especially when it comes to singing a song of his the woke mob would consider "racist."
Eric Idle Cutting 'Racist' Songs Out of Show
Idle was part of the iconic group, The Monty Python.
He added: "You can't sing some of my songs now. You can't sing I Like Chinese, you can't do that anymore. So there's one or two songs. But I write new ones, which is quite a nice challenge."
The 1980 song I Like Chinese – originally performed by Idle and later featured in Monty Python's stage shows – contains lyrics such as, "I like Chinese / they only come up to your knees." Idle performed a partial version of it as recently as 2014 during Monty Python Live (Mostly) at London's O2 Arena, but says it is not featuring in his tour.
Known as the musical heart of Monty Python, Idle wrote many of the group's best-loved songs, including The Galaxy Song, Bruces' Philosopher's Song, and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. The latter, first sung in the Pythons' hit movie Life of Brian (1979), has become one of Britain's most popular funeral songs – a fact that moves Idle deeply.
The group is best known for their comedies, including, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.'
"I find that very moving. It really pleases me that people choose it at a very solemn and sad moment in their lives," he said. Idle credited his lifelong fascination with comedy to early influences such as Morecambe and Wise, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Beyond the Fringe, and – more surprisingly – Beatle George Harrison.
The pair first met 50 years ago in Los Angeles after a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
"We talked all night and we bonded," Idle said. "Looking back, I think we played similar roles in our groups. He had two big, powerful blocks, Lennon and McCartney, and we were the two individual ones who bounced in between."
Harrison later saved the Pythons' 1979 classic The Life of Brian after EMI Films pulled funding over fears of blasphemy.
Eric Idle's Cancer Diagnosis Made Him Laugh
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Idle survived pancreatic cancer.
"He said, 'I will find you the money,'" Idle recalled. "He mortgaged his house. Mortgaged his money and put it all on The Life of Brian."
Now cancer-free after surviving pancreatic cancer 12 years ago, Idle said the diagnosis made him laugh.
"Before I had pancreatic cancer, I went to my doctor and said, 'I've got to get rid of a character very quickly – what's the quickest way?' and he said, 'Pancreatic cancer.' And then, 12 years later, we're looking at a screen, and I said, 'What's that?' And he said, 'Pancreatic cancer.' And I laughed, because I thought it was very funny."
Following surgery, he said he feels renewed gratitude for life. Idle reflected, "I feel like I had a reprieve. I feel now that life is really great, and every day is really great. I think that's how you really should live. A day at a time."
