The Ministry of Silly Walks

Mr. Putey (Michael Palin) visits a government ministry to apply for a grant to help him develop his silly walk. He is greeted by Mr. Teabag (John Cleese), a civil servant at the Ministry of Silly Walks, who himself has an extremely elaborate and absurd silly walk. After observing and critiquing Putey's walk as "not particularly silly" but having potential, Teabag explains the Ministry's mission and demonstrates various silly walks. The sketch satirizes British bureaucracy and government waste while showcasing John Cleese's iconic physical comedy.

The sketch begins with John Cleese walking through the streets of London (at the crossing of Thorpebank Road and Dunraven Road) in a very peculiar manner before arriving at his place of business on the northern end of Whitehall. In the hallway, he passes other employees all exhibiting their own silly walks. Once in his office, he apologizes to Mr. Putey for the delay, explaining that his walk has become particularly silly of late. Teabag shows Putey a film on silly walks (featuring a parody of early 20th-century cinema with Michael Palin dressed as Little Tich) and offers him a grant to work on the Anglo-French Silly Walk, La Marche Futile (a parody of Concorde's Anglo-French development).