Ørje, a small-town in Norway on the Swedish border, wants you to silly walk.

They were pranked by an art collective who changed the usual walk signs to silly walk signs instead!

The mayor and local council were totally down with it but, sadly, the bureaucratic Norwegian Public Roads Administration wasn’t too amused and said they had to go.

People Should Not Use Signs That Could Be Confused With Public Signs

Now this demand for removal is kind of fitting considering the idea behind the signs is the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch by Monty Python‘s Flying Circus, back in 1970.

https://youtu.be/9ZlBUglE6Hc

In the sketch, Michael Palin has to show his original silly walk to a civil servant, played by John Cleese, to get a grant from London’s Ministry of Silly Walks. The whole concept is that silly walking and government rules and regs can be equally ridiculous.

Elisabeth Bechman, section chief of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, told local broadcaster NRK that people should not use signs that could be confused with public signs.

I’m not sure what the confusion would be. Something that encourages people to use the crosswalk AND makes motorists laugh while waiting seems pretty smart.

Fortunately, Kjersti Nythe Nilsen, the mayor, agreed and, in 2014, said the signs will be left where they are.

As far as we can tell, two years later, they’re still up, helping everyone to silly walk safely.

Filed under: art, funny, government