Eric Idle has always been one for dramatic irony.
But the Monty Python co-creator never could have imagined his art would end up reflecting his life in such an earth-shattering way.
"I was writing a musical called, Death the Musical. Broadway can't wait for that kind of a title, can they?" he told ABC News Breakfast.
"I had to ask my doctor for a diagnosis. I wanted to get rid of a character, the person writing the play, I wanted him to find out he was dying.
"Ten years later, I'm looking at this screen and it's the same doctor and he said 'look,' I said, 'what's that?' and he said, 'it's pancreatic cancer'.
"I laughed. Talk about pigeons coming home to roost.
"Here is someone writing a play about a person who gets pancreatic cancer, who now has pancreatic cancer."
Although Idle's doctor gave him the news in 2019, the comedian only revealed his diagnosis last month.
Luckily, the beloved performer is now cancer-free thanks in large part to an early screening.
"Within 10 days, they had me in an operating theatre and this very clever surgeon cut it out robotically, and now I'm clear, apparently," he said.
The topic is sure to come up in Idle's upcoming stage show, Say No More — A Conversation with Eric Idle, which is coming to Sydney for one night only this December.
Idle is bringing his in-conversation show to Sydney's Just for Laughs festival at the end of the year, to be co-hosted by ABC host and comedian Shaun Micallef.
It's a comedy show by name, but Idle is adamant he's prepared for anything.
"I will bring a guitar in case he gets dull, so we can sing songs," he says.
"No, [Micallef's] a very nice guy – a very funny guy, too."
The quiet achiever with a famous mate
Idle is to Monty Python what George Harrison was to The Beatles – the talented quiet achiever, fighting for creative space and helping to embolden their respective troupes.
The comedian, who is an old friend of Harrison's, doesn't shy away from the comparison.
"We were a little bit under-represented, and I think we both benefited from being in the groups," Idle said.
The pair were great mates, so much so that the Beatle funded one of Idle's most revered exploits with the comedy giants, Monty Python's Life of Brian.
"I was once moaning to him on [the set of] the Life of Brian. He said, 'if you can get on-screen with [co-stars John] Cleese and [Michael] Palin, imagine how it was getting studio space with [John] Lennon and [Paul] McCartney," Idle said.
"I said, 'say no more'. He paid for that film in its entirety, which is fairly extraordinary."
John Cleese and 'cancel culture'
Cleese found himself back in the news cycle with his recent commentary on cancellation and censorship, having signed up to host a new show on British right-wing channel GB News.
"I'm promoting cancer culture, not cancel culture," Idle said.
"But I have known him for 60 years next year … he has, in his life, given me more great laughs than almost anybody else.
"I think when people get older, they sort of turn into different people, you know. They get old and cranky.
"I think it is better to remember when we were all together and we did the things that made people laugh. That's what I try and prefer to remember, anyway."
