Lee Mack and Christ's crucifixion

WTF: Weekly trivia file

• Lee Mack has a painting of himself at the scene of Christ's crucifixion. He appears as a centurion, kneeling at the foot of the cross – and admits that the image gives the impression he sees himself as a 'Christ-like figure'. But all is not quite as it appears, as the comic explained on TalkSport this week. For the picture is a recreation of the sign outside Centurion Pub in Blackburn, which his mum and dad used to run. The boozer burned down in 2006, and Mack wanted to get his hands on the old sign as a memento. But when his search to track it down failed, the comedian's cousin commissioned the replica, complete with Mack's face.

• At the Comedy Cellar in New York on Wednesday, the line-up was: Dave Attell, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Aziz Ansari and Dave Chappelle, all of whom dropped in to try out new material. Not bad for $14.

• Jimmy Carr once took Stephen Hawking to see The Book Of Mormon.

• American alternative stand-up godfather Barry Crimmins and fellow comics Kurt Metzger and Rob Mailloux narrowly escaped death on Wednesday when in a hit-and-run collision with a lorry. The trio, and Mailloux's girlfriend were making the 13-hour drive from New York to Nashville for a gig when the crash happened. Crimmins told SiriusXM he was dozing in one of the passenger seats when, 'I opened up my eyes and the tyre of the 18-wheeler was coming in my window — it broke the window and sprayed glass all over me.' He felt that the car was being pulled under the truck, but it spun out of the way, and no one was seriously hurt. The driver of the truck never stopped.

• Gyles Brandreth admits he's been rumbled:

what if gyles brandreth is actually just a man holding a gyles brandreth mask in front of his face pic.twitter.com/1jliLsUvNP
— Steve Hogarty (@misterbrilliant) January 12, 2017

• Wednesday: Metro reports: 'Acting career Cordoned off for now: James Corden has temporarily applied the brakes to his acting ambitions.' Thursday: It's announced that he's appearing in Ocean's Eight.

• Northern Irish stand-ups put on a gig with just six hours notice last night. Shane Todd and Aaron McCann were sitting around complaining about the lack of club nights in Belfast… and mooted the idea at 2,30pm. And by at 8pm doors opened at The Fly for the pop-up gig. Quickly recruited to the bill were Colin Geddis, Micky Bartlett, Dave Elliott, Ciaran Bartlett and Ruairi Woods – and they attracted an audience of 80, who raised more than £500 for a homeless charity.

Tweets of the week

Lying in bed, my wife asked what I'd most like to do to her body. I said identify it.
— Just Chris (@drofidnas) January 11, 2017

I once worked in a kitchen that was a madhouse! They only allowed the Head Chef proper ventilation. One flue over the cook who's best.
— Ian Power (@IHPower) January 10, 2017