CHICAGO — “Spamalot,” the musical adapted by Eric Idle from the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” first opened in Chicago in 2004 and on Broadway in 2005. A national tour of the 2023 revival is wrapping up a short Chicago stay this weekend at the CIBC Theatre in the Loop. Idle and I recently talked about “Spamalot,” its original director, the late Mike Nichols and Idle’s new autobiographical show (and book). Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: “Spamalot” is not dead yet, clearly.

A: It’s been amazing to see it open twice in two different productions on Broadway during my lifetime. I’ve also seen it all over the world; it makes people feel happy as they leave. Giving people happiness is a nice thing in these sorts of times. When “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” opened, that was Vietnam, remember. But I think “Spamalot” lands differently from the film. The musical is sweet and has emotion and feelings. And women, for god’s sake. I like the new production. I like all the new slides and stuff.

Q: The new tour has a great cast, but I well remember the 2004 Chicago pre-Broadway tryout of the original Nichols production.

A: As you know, I insisted that we come first to Chicago, where I have a lot of family. “Don’t go to Boston!” I said, “Chicago is the place.” You have such great audiences and the people there love to laugh. I remember when we first tried out the song, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway (If You Don’t Have Any Jews).” Mike was really worried about that, so I sat next to him in the theater. “We’ll see,” he said. We saw. The first preview was free. Chicago laughed anyway. “We’ll see if they laugh when they have to pay,” Mike said.

Q: I went back twice. A lot had changed.

A: Between the first Chicago preview and the end of that run, Mike cut three numbers.

Q: Including the cow number?

A: Including the cow number. Obviously, all the anxieties and tensions of a tryout were there, but Mike was just so helpful to a writer. He was also very good at excising the stuff that was not needed. Mel Brooks had already brought back the comedy musical in Chicago with “The Producers” in an era when the theater was all helicopters landing and very long things and people in sewers. We were hoping Chicago people would also want to buy “Spamalot.” They did.

Q: You and (composer) John Du Prez wrote some catchy numbers.

A: We both are very big on melody. Luckily.

Q: You now have a one-man show now, aptly titled “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live!” Chicago? Broadway?

A: I couldn’t possibly do eight shows a week anymore. I can’t even do two in a row, even though the show is judiciously composed so about every 10 minutes there are some clips to play so I can sit down and have a little rest. I toured Scandinavia and did did 12 shows in five different countries. That’s exhausting at 83. Your 80s are exhausting. But it was also kind of a joy to entertain the Scandinavians.

Q: You are in France right now?

A: I’ve been building a house in Provence since about 1971. And I still like the writing business. I have a new book: “Idle in Provence: A Brief History of Thyme.” Bob Odenkirk is going to interview me about it in Naperville in the fall.

Q: My best memory of you in 2004 is watching you from inside the theater get locked out of your own show and have to bang on the glass doors to then try and talk your way inside. It took a while.

A: Oh, I remember. Funny.

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Through May 31 at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; $35-$135 at 312-977-1700 and broadwayinchicago.com.

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