I won't work unless you show me your boobs

WTF: Weekly Trivia File

  • A'There's been a turn toward an uber-cynical point of view [in comedy], and it's borderline mean.' Steve Carell

  • Susan Calman says the Edinburgh Fringe is full of bullshit: ‘I didn't do a solo show last year, but I was still approached in a bar by a media person who said, "I've heard your show is amazing this year – five stars in the Scotsman!" So I got my best review for a show I never performed. Nonsense.’

  • At a recording of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in Swansea, the teams were shocked when a heckler referred to its late chairman Humphrey Lyttleton. In the middle of the recording a man yelled out: ‘It’s not the same without Humphrey Lyttleton, is it?’ There was a stunned silence, until new host Jack Dee broke the tension by saying in his trademark world-weary voice: ‘Ah, dear Humph. I wonder where he is now? I envy him.’

  • Sounds like an industrial tribunal waiting to happen. Russell Brand reportedly refused to start work filming Eric Idle’s musical What About Dick? until a wardrobe girl flashed her boobs at him. According to The Sun, which calls this harassment 'cheeky', she refused. But eventually she conceded after two hours, for the sake of getting the film back on schedule. Only co-star Billy Connolly remonstrated with him.

  • Gary The Tank Commander star Greg McHugh has criticised his bank after fraudsters stole cash from his account – even though he had reported his debit card missing They told it had not been used, but when he checked his balance he found £900 missing. He tweeted:’Reported bank card missing to HBOS then looked at statement – large amount of money taken AT A BRANCH and no one let me know!’

  • You’ve probably seen Chortle’s Laugh Track snippet, where we ask Fringe performers what piece of music they come on stage to and why. No fewer than three so far have said they use Also Sprach Zarathustra, as performed by the Portsmouth Sinfonia. It’s the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme. as performed by complete amateurs and was chosen by Markus Birdman, Alistair Barrie and The Blanks. This is it:

  • Tweets of the week
    Adam Kay (@amateuradam ): Homophonophobes don't like gaze.
    James Martin (@Pundamentalism): Apparently my "misuse" of punctuation makes me appear "passive aggressive".
    Gary Delaney (@GaryDelaney): Ironically my late ex-wife wasn't really into rubber.

    Published: 3 Aug 2012

Live comedy picks

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