MartinHafer This is a harmless mock documentary made just before the TV series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" debuted. It stars John Cleese, but Michael Palin and Graham Chapman are on hand as well as a few others. But, most importantly, this is not a Python production and the chemistry of the later television show is not evident here since it lacks many key actors/writers. Most will find the show mildly interesting at best or even a tad dull because it lacks the crazy humor and polish of later productions. Die-hard Python fans will fall into one of two camps--those who love the show but are reasonable people who can admit this is far from great and those who see EVERY production any Python member participates as pure gold (these are known as "the Kool-Aid Drinkers"). I love the Monty Python series having seen it innumerable times, but I just can't recommend this show unless you are really curious or really bored.

cobram-1 Maybe this will be funny if you've been in a coma since Johnson was in the White House. The skits drag on and on and on ad nauseam with little or no punch line. If you're into historical references, then watching this will give you an idea of what some of the Python troop were like before they were funny. If you're really into Python, and the casts' individual projects, treat this as if you are watching a learning exercise that helped them learn from their mistakes. This will however leave you wondering if some of the cast members haven't make pacts with the devil, they don't seem to have aged all that much since this dog was made.

caspian1978 Lets not forget what we are watching here. This is a Python like tv episode of early sketch comedy. For a present audience, yes, it has many gaps and holes with very little if no comedy. But don't forget, this was produced in 1968! Before Laugh In and seven years before SNL! For what Python was doing then, was not only genius what probably the funniest act on television to the date. So, before you act critical, think again. This is what motivated much of the sketch comedy we see on television today.

Hotoil This show seems to have been aimed at a more conventional crowd than Cleese, Chapman and Palin's work with Monty Python. In fact, it has very, very little of the subversive and hilarious wit they displayed in that comedy troupe. The premise doesn't give much room for anything but Cleese portraying an intentionally annoying character (a noisy father disrupting his TV-watching children, an overly considerate date, a loud middle-aged woman in a movie theater) and noticeably bothering a character usually portrayed by Michael Palin. The characters don't have anything very funny about them, they are very straighforward and do nothing but annoy or get annoyed in the exact way you would expect based on Cleese's narrated set-up. There aren't any twists. There are very few moments when you get any hint of how brilliant these guys could be on their television shows and movies as Monty Python. In fact, it's kind of annoying seeing such talented men wasting away in such an unfunny piece of work - even if you're a Python fan, theres nothing really necessary about 'How To Irritate People', though the dedicated will inevitably check it out since theres almost always a copy by the Flying Circus videos at any rental store.