Python’s Idle Still Looking on Life’s Silly Side

“Welcome to a rather stupid evening at the Getty,” Eric Idle said, kicking off a free concert Friday night at the Getty Center’s Harold M. Williams Auditorium.

What followed was indeed stupid but also by turns subversive, nostalgic and even sweet, as Idle--former member of the famed British comedy troupe Monty Python--performed lots of classic Python songs, backed by a 10-member band that included Python musical arranger John Du Prez, saxophonist Tom Scott and five backup singers.

The Python gang started shooting its British TV series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” 30 years ago, but the songs hold up, perhaps because they deal with classic themes: Catholicism, the cosmos, Spam. Both “Every Sperm Is Sacred” and “Galaxy Song” are from the film “The Meaning of Life.” “Spam Song,” that ode to mystery meat, opened the show, while “Always Look on the Bright Side,” from the film “Life of Brian,” closed the proceedings. Throughout, Idle, who is joining the cast of the NBC sitcom “Suddenly Susan,” proved an engaging and witty stage presence. Introducing “I Like Chinese,” he dedicated the number to NATO for building a bomb “so sophisticated it takes you to the opera before it kills you.” The show was the last of the Getty’s series of free Friday concerts of “eclectic” L.A. artists.