Hundreds of fans gathered to see British comedian John Cleese open the ‘silly walk’ tunnel, officially known as the Dommel tunnel, in Eindhoven, a city located in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, on Monday. The 130 meter long wall of the tunnel boasts a mural of Monty Python’s silly walk, made famous by founding Python member, John Cleese.

The silly walk tunnel, a.k.a. the Dommel tunnel, in Eindhoven (Photo: Sutdio Giftig)

Studio Giftig from Veldhoven was commissioned to paint the mural. When the job was done, they crossed their fingers and approached John Cleese, who formed part of the British comedy group and performed the original silly walk, for the opening, according to Omroep Brabant.

And with success. As luck would have it, Cleese happened to be in the Netherlands and his management was very willing to have him make a detour. The only condition was that Cleese not be asked to do the silly walk – old bones does not allow it anymore, according to the broadcaster.

Worldwide Silly Walks…

The wall isn’t the first acknowledgment of the greatness of the silly walk. Much to the delight of the Python fan base in the small town of Ørje, Norway, a village of about 2,000 people near the Swedish border, the Swedish art collective, Kreativiteket, installed a sign encouraging people to cross the street John Cleese-style. The crossing encouraged people to use their imagination, walk silly and make time for a little bit of mischief in their everyday routine.

And, not long after, the sign popped up recently on Sparks St in Ottawa.

In: Comedy,Locations