Minister of Silly Walks

Lore & Background

The Ministry of Silly Walks operates on the northern end of Whitehall, where employees exhibit their own peculiar walks before reaching offices. The department’s purpose is to grant money for developing silly walks, despite national defence recently receiving more funding than this quirky initiative. Teabag explains that government should allocate equally to Defence, Social Security, Health, Housing, Education, and Silly Walks. In one memorable scene, he demonstrates an increasingly bizarre walk around his office while justifying the ministry’s budget. The sketch includes a film parody of early 20th-century cinema featuring Michael Palin as Little Tich, followed by a demonstration of the Anglo-French Silly Walk, La Marche Futile—performed by Terry Jones in a hybrid English-French outfit to the sped-up tune of 'La Marseillaise'. Cleese has cited Max Wall’s physical comedy as key to the sketch’s conception.

In Their Own Story

The sketch opens with Mr Teabag walking through London streets at the crossing of Thorpebank Road and Dunraven Road in a peculiar manner after purchasing The Times. He arrives at his workplace, passing colleagues each performing their own silly walks. Inside, he meets Mr Putey (Michael Palin), who apologizes for being late due to his increasingly silly gait. Putey demonstrates his walk, which Teabag dismisses as insufficiently absurd—the right leg lacks silliness, and the left only performs a forward aerial half-turn every alternate step. Declaring funding too tight for such pedestrian efforts, Teabag shows a film parody before offering Putey a grant to develop La Marche Futile, the Anglo-French Silly Walk. As secretary Mrs Two-Lumps enters with coffee using a full silly walk, she spills everything yet receives a polite 'Thank you, lovely' from Teabag.

Reader's Guide

To understand the Minister of Silly Walks, one must recognize his role as both critic and embodiment of bureaucratic absurdity. His defining trait is executing complex, inefficient walks while maintaining complete seriousness. He evaluates grant applicants based on how little their walking resembles normalcy. Key moments include dismissing Mr Putey’s inadequate silliness, demonstrating the department's budget logic through physical contortion, and overseeing La Marche Futile—a parody of Concorde’s development. In live performances like Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, Carol Cleveland played Mrs Two-Lumps, spilling coffee directly on Cleese. Over time, Cleese found the walks increasingly difficult to perform, leading him to decline doing the sketch during Monty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014; it was replaced by 'The Silly Walks Song' performed by younger dancers mimicking his original movements.

Did You Know?

• Research published in the British Medical Journal states a 'silly walk' would take about 2.5 times as much energy as normal walking.
• In the Hollywood Bowl version, Carol Cleveland played Mrs Two-Lumps and spilled coffee on John Cleese during the sketch.
• The Anglo-French Silly Walk, La Marche Futile, parodies Concorde's development and was performed by Terry Jones in mixed English and French attire.
• John Cleese declined to perform silly walks at Monty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014 due to physical difficulty; it was replaced by a song performed by younger dancers.
• The sketch ranked 15th greatest comedy sketch of all time in a 2005 Channel 4 poll, one of five Monty Python sketches in the top 50.