How to Irritate People pre-dates Python (from the David Frost era). It was written by and starred John Cleese, with Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor, all three veterans of Marty Feldman's At Last, the 1948 Show. But this one-shot effort was done in color, with a rather nice little theme on making life more unbearable for others. Set up like a stage show with Cleese as host (and star of most of the skits), it is not hard to make the leap from this low-budget effort to Monty Python's Flying Circus. Making that leap would be Cleese and Chapman, as well as a very young Michael Palin, and Cleese's then-wife, Connie Booth, in her acting debut. Also appearing were the bearded Dick Vosburgh (who appeared in early Python shows and on the 1948 Show) and Gillian Lind.

The show contains several fine sketches, one of which was actually used in Monty Python's Flying Circus, series 1, show 5, with a little re-casting. This was the Silly Job Interview sketch, and it is a testament to the quality of the quickly-produced program that the sketch lost much in the translation. (see right) Another Pythonic milestone here is John Cleese's explanation of what a Pepperpot is.

How to Irritate People is also frequently cited as containing the original of Python's famous Dead Parrot sketch. You may not recognize it upon first viewing, however, as this earlier sketch centers around not a bird but an automobile. It stars Mike as a car salesman who refuses to admit that there is anything wrong with his customer (Graham)'s car even as it falls apart in front of him. The slice-of-life sketch is based on a humorous - and true - anecdote Mike once told Cleese and Chapman. "Well, bring it in. Bring it in, I'll have a look at it. It's lunchtime at the moment."

We're also reminded of Python elsewhere in the program. One sketch with John as a grinning, evil game show host forced to deal with Tim Brooke-Taylor's ancient Pepperpot is quite a lot like Python's Spot the Brain Cell, minus the blow to the head (John played the same character as Nosmo Claphanger on At Last the 1948 Show. And Mike's suicidal Hindu waiter has a mountain of the Dirty Fork sketch in it. For all these reasons, How to Irritate People is one of the very few pre-Python productions to get a video release, and it has also been shown in the Flying Circus rotation on PBS.

The show was recorded in 1968, and almost certainly never broadcast in the UK. It was, however, screened in the United States, as part of a series of specials for the Westinghouse network, featuring the cream of British comedy. It screened in Philadelphia on the 21st of January 1969, and in New York on the fourth of May 1969. The special was not seen again for many years, and was forgotten until 1990, when it was released on video in the United States and UK. It's a wonderful piece of Python history, as well as a great slice of comedy. A note that the special was reedited for its 1990 release ... the original version aired in 1969 ran 60 minutes and apparently contained links by David Frost (presumably very similar to his links on The Frost Report). Thankfully those links were not in the 1990 release, and the video release is still actually longer than the original transmission apparently was ... it was 60 minutes long in 1969 and is 65 minutes long today.