Monty Python’s Silly Walk created by John Cleese is ‘exactly 6.7 times’ more silly than a normal human walk, say scientists – and it’s all in the way he flexes his knees ‘at the wrong time’
- The team studied the way John Cleese knees bend while doing the silly walk
- They found his knees would bend through 110 degrees compared to a normal 20
- As well as the extreme knee bend they found he bent them at strange times
Monty Python’s famous ‘Silly Walk’ created by John Cleese is ‘exactly 6.7 times’ more silly than a normal walk and it’s down to the way he flexes his knees, a study finds.
The walk was examined by biologists from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire who study the origin and evolution of bipedal walking.
The team, led by Nathaniel Dominy said it is a good example of the extreme variation in walking styles possible in two-legged species.
They found the silliness came from the knee flexing – particularly the angle which is bent through 110 degrees compared to the normal 20 degrees.
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The walk was examined by biologists from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire who study the origin and evolution of bipedal walking
The video of the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch by Monty Python is ‘usually played in class for laughs’, according to Dominy, but he wanted to see how silly it really was.
He worked with classmate Erin Butler to quantify the exact silliness of the walk.
They decided to focus on the way his knees move, as that is likely the biggest change and found it was a mixture of angle and timing that made it funny.
‘John Cleese is flexing and extending his knees at all the wrong times,’ which adds to the humour when combined with the angle, Dominy told New Scientist.
The silly walk pioneered by Cleese came back into fashion in 2014, around the time of the Monty Python reunion tour, thanks to the release of a mobile game where you control Cleese character while he does a ‘silly walk’.
They quantified the variation in timing and angle to calculate that the walking style in the original Ministry of Silly Walks sketch was 6.7 times sillier than normal.
The sketch was first broadcast on the BBC show Monty Python’s Flying Circus in September 1970.
It was also performed in a shorter format in the USA when the Python’s performed Live at the Hollywood Bowl.
Cleese lost some of his silly muster over time though, they watched video of him performing the walk in Hollywood and found it was just 4.7 times more silly.
The sketch is a satire on bureaucratic inefficiency and involves Cleese dressed as a bowler-hatted civil servant developing silly walks for the government.
This step by step guide to the walk – created by Cleese – was developed to help people replicate his movements. In the sketch the Ministry awarded government grants to people creating new walks
The researchers said it was very difficult to properly study the walk due to the grainy and low resolution nature of the old 1970s TV clips.
In the sketch Cleese is seen walking through the streets of London towards the Whitehall offices of the Ministry of Silly Walks – passing other people performing silly walks in the corridors towards his office.
When he reaches the office he meets Mr Putney, played by Michael Pailen who does his own ‘Silly Walk’ he wants to develop with government grant money.
Cleese says ‘The right leg isn’t silly at all, and the left leg merely does a forward aerial half-turn every alternate step.’ saying it isn’t silly enough and funding is short.
Dominy says Cleese made the right decision in not giving Putney the money.
He said their study of his walk was ‘not particularly silly’ and calculated his silliness at about 3.3 times more variable than normal walking.
Cleese eventually had to stop performing the silly walk at live shows due to age and during the 2014 reunion tour it was replaced by a performance by younger dancers mimicking the original walk while wearing bowler hats and carrying briefcases.