Arg! This is the A&E censored version! When the first guy lists his hobbies they're supposed to be "Golf, killing small animals, and masturbation." The joke about "golf not being very popular around here" isn't as funny without that. :\
It's hard finding the original. PBS aired the uncensored back when they played Monty Python, but the official DVDs contain the censored one. Still, one of the great MP sketches in my opinion. It perfectly highlights their ability to meld the ridiculous with the intellectual; most of the humor here comes from at least being roughly familiar with Proust (not necessarily having read him).
This bit is famous for having "masturbation" cut from the first contestant's list of hobbies. That's why the audience seems to think his hobby of strangling animals is so funny
Didn't know that. When I first saw this show as a kid on PBS, it was uncensored. I assumed that was the same as the original. (And in the late 90's when A&E started re-running them that they were the ones who edited it for delicate Americans).
I heard Michael Palin relate the story when he was on Fresh Air to promote "Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years". They had to go into the BBC's equivalent to Standards and Practices and explain why the joke should be left in, but they failed to convince the guy.
Another one of my favorites is the one with the New Brain sketch where they have the woman sign for the package on a cut-off arm and apparently the BBC though it was a huge penis and tried to have it cut.
I always found it a bit of a head-scratcher that they censored a guy saying "masturbation" but apparently had no problem with "girl with the biggest tits."
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