A plagiarist? Yes, Minister

WTF: Weekly Trivia File

‘Don’t make an effort to be funny, or you’ll be trying too hard.’ stand-up tutor Marc Blake’s advice to student... which might be revealing rather a lot about comedy courses.

A German political satire about a plagiarist politician has been exposed – for plagiarism. Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung reported how Der Minister, a hit show the attracts audiences of more than 4million, nicked lines from similar shows, including Yes Minister, and a satirical magazine. Among those stolen from the BBC sitcom was the line: ‘It used to be said there were two kinds of chairs to go with two kinds of Minister: one sort folds up instantly; the other sort goes round and round in circles.’ The writer of the show, watched by 4.4 million people, admitted she took material from the internet. After being exposed, Dorothee Scho said ‘her’ work was ‘a media collage’.

Norman Collier – RIP – weighed an eye-watering 15lbs 4oz when he was born on Christmas Day 1925.

The Mimic star Terry Mynott has developed an odd side career, using his impersonation skills to stand in for real stars such as Sir David Attenborough and Jean-Claude Van Damme. He recorded the martial arts star’s lines for the Coors advert before he was signed up, so the ad agency could show the client how it might sound. And he stood in for Sir David when he voiced an animation at the Eden Project... allowing the illustrators to crack on with syncing their work to the presenter’s rhythms before the real Sir David found the time to record the narration himself.

Comic Hal Cruttenden has turned down an audition to do a voiceover for a Mail on Sunday advert. He tweeted: ‘I've actually found something I won't do for money. Hoorah!’

Greg Davies plays a superhero in the video for the new Wonder Stuff single Oh No! (And yes, there is a new Wonder Stuff single, which is good news, too). Here he is in all his Lycra-clad glory:

When will the Catholic Church start listening to the people? The cardinals elected Pope Francis this week despite a Facebook campaign calling for Craggy Island’s Father Dougal to be elevated to the role. Perhaps when he’s in his 70s...

A new record has been set for the largest gathering of people wearing false moustaches. A total of 1,544 people gathered at the event in Grand Rapid, Michigan, to launch Gilda’s LaughFest – a comedy festival inspired by Gilda Radner – shattering the previous record of 648. Guinness World Records officials have yet to ratify the numbers, mind.

Southampton University’s Comedy Society was advertising a gig by stand-up Andrew Bird this week. Only they used an image of someone else entirely on their adverts. Turns out this fellow is also called Andrew Bird is an American indie/folk singer-songwriter... There’s a lesson here about using Google Image Search without checking the context.