Comic stumbled into diplomatic dispute

John Fortune has told how he was kissed by former Greek premier Andreas Papandreou after posing as a British civil servant.

The comedian says he was so warmly greeted after mistakenly giving the prime minister the idea that Britain had relaxed its position on a trade deal, after blagging his way into a reception at the European Parliament.

Fortune was is Strasbourg researching the EC for one of his routines with John Bird when members of the press corps told him of the function.

Tempted by free Ouzo, he made his way, uninvited, to the reception. But after he had been there for a while, he was challenged by a burly Greek who asked: "Are you here with the British delegation?"

Fortune bluffed that he was. He recalled: "Then he asked me 'what's your policy on olive oil?' and I heard myself replying 'err, flexible'.

"His eyes lit up and he said 'That's the best news I've had for months' and he introduced me to Papandreou."

Fortune's anecdote was one of several he recorded today for the Radio 4 series That Reminds Me, to be broadcast at a later date.

He also spoke of working with Peter Cook ("the funniest person I eve knew") and Lenny Bruce ("the only heroin addict I've ever met"), who inflamed a white middle-class audience by repeatedly using the word 'nigger' to try to dull its impact.

Published: 13 Sep 2001