Comedy royalty comes to the North West this Spring when the legendary John Cleese brings his Alimony Tour to Salford from May 24 to 27.

Described on his own website as “British writer, actor and tall person”, the legend that is John Cleese is undertaking his first tour, bringing his unique humour to his fans around the country.

The two-month tour begins in early May in Cambridge, from where John Marwood Cleese graduated with a law degree in 1965.

John has accomplished almost everything in his career, beginning as a sketch writer for BBC Radio’s Dick Emery Show before moving on to The Frost Report where he returned to acting as he had done in the university revues.

It was while on that ground-breaking BBC show that he recorded the famous sketch about the class system with Ronnies Barker and Corbett, using their respective heights as illustration.

Next came Monty Python’s Flying Circus in which he acted and co-wrote (usually with Graham Chapman).

Although he left after the third series, he reunited with his Python colleagues for live work and films, which included Monty Python And The Holy Grail and Life Of Brian.

By the mid-70s he was married to American actress and writer Connie Booth, and the pair created one of the most celebrated TV series ever — Fawlty Towers.

From there, he went to Hollywood and co-wrote and starred in A Fish Called Wanda, and in 1999 he joined the James Bond film franchise, playing R in The World Is Not Enough and Q in Die Another Day.

Now 71, the time has come for him to tell his fans about his life and work in a tour that he has called The Alimony Tour.

The man himself sums up the show in his own idiosyncratic way when he says.

“It is an evening of well honed anecdotes, psychoanalytical tit-bits, details of recent surgical procedures, and unprovoked attacks on former colleagues, especially Michael Palin.”

* John Cleese’s Alimony Tour is at The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday, May 24 to Friday, May 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from 0843 208 6000 or you can book online at www.thelowry.com.