A New Zealand city dubbed the “suicide capital” by John Cleese has responded by naming a rubbish heap at the local dump after the British comedian.
Proving that revenge is a dish best served cold, the sign for Mt Cleese has been erected more than a year after Cleese revealed he had a “thoroughly bloody miserable time” in Palmerston North, about 150km north of the capital, Wellington.
“Somebody had the sign made up as a joke,” Palmerston North waste and water manager Chris Pepper was reported saying in the Manawatu Standard newspaper on Monday.
“It popped up overnight, and nobody has said to pull it down. People just smile and leave it there.”
The star of television comedies Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers and films including The Life of Brian and A Fish called Wanda brought his theatre show to Palmerston North in late 2005.
Later on his website, the lanky performer referred to the city as the “suicide capital of New Zealand”.
“If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick,” he wrote.
“We stayed in a little motel, the weather was grotty, the theatre was a nasty shape and the audience was very strange to play to.” — AFP