Who brings a noose to a gig?

WTF: Weekly Triva File

  • Need to know: Tim Vine showers in under four minutes...

  • James Corden pissed off staff and guests at London’s five-star Haymarket Hotel after stripping down to his underwear and bellyflopping into the pool. The incident occurred while was with a bunch of friends, including Spurs star David Bentley and former England skipper Tony Adams, celebrating a mate’s engagement. After apparently indulging in some of the free booze, the Gavin & Stacey star James stripped down to his boxers and divebombed into the pool, despite the protests of the staff, and five other guests followed him. One source said: ‘The staff were furious and yelled at them to get out of the pool immediately.’

  • There's an Elvis impersonator in South London who performs in the style of Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses. He uses the stage name Delvis.


  • From the Loaded Laftas:

    • Shooting Stars character Angelos Epithemiou is based on a real person – but creator Dan Renton Skinner can’t reveal who because of the Official Secrets Act. The comic said: ‘It’s a real person. I don’t know how much detail I can go into … it’s to do with the Official Secrets Act. I met him doing a Civil Service job, and I borrowed his personality. He was somebody who applied for a job. I just wrote down everything he said to me and Angelos evolved from there. I don’t think he’s the sort of guy who would know it was based on him. I don’t think he owns a telly, to be honest…’

    • Frank Skinner, who won the Laftas Legend award, admitted: ‘I suppose I do feel a bit like a legend at times. Although it sounds like a very grand title, it is probably the most common thing that people like cab drivers shout at me in the street, “Oi! Skinner, you fucking legend”, so I’ve kind of got used to it. It’s not like being Beowulf.’

    • Skinner also revealed that he has got into hula-hooping, after receiving lessons during a trip to Champneys health spa, and hoped to be competing in a hula-hoop marathon. Of his other planned projects, he said: ‘I’ve got something I can’t talk about yet. But I’m doing a lot of things for Sport Relief. I’m hosting a Question Of Sport Relief with, among other people, Zara Phillips.’

    • Russell Howard has recalled the worst heckle he ever witnessed. ‘It was at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol,’ he said. ‘An old woman handed my friend Andy a noose that she’d made. She pulled out of her bag – that takes some beating; to actually prepare a noose. She said, “End your misery and mine.” You can’t really say anything back to that, you know. It was astonishing. Who brings a noose to a gig? Go with hope.’

    • Vic Reeves says he loves The Inbetweeners, but finds it ‘frightening’. ‘It was filthy. It disturbed me,’ he said. ‘We’re very clean-cut.’ Although Vic confessed that he and Bob Mortimer ‘adore filth, foul language and coarse activities,’ Bob added, ‘We like that between ourselves, but not to broadcast. I think it’s a bit lazy.’ The duo also said they were no fans of observational comedy. ‘I’m not a big fan of the pointing out stuff, so I like it when someone’s doing something a bit different,’ Bob said, while Vic added: ‘The thing is, we’ve noticed everything. So we don’t like anything pointed out to us any more.’

    • The pair are also about to start writing another series of Shooting Stars, and revealed the dream guests on their wish list. ‘We always ask Clint Eastwood and Rod Stewart and it’s always been no,’ Bob said. While Vic had his own ideas: ‘The bald fella off The One Show, Dominic, he’s who we really want. Touch wood.’

    • While performing in the vast American Airlines Arena in Dallas last week, Izzard started shaking the microphone in his hand to produce a vibrato effect echoing around the vast space, and joked that this was all opera amounted to. But then, from Izzard’s left, somewhere among the 12,000 fans, a male soprano voice started singing. Rather than shut him up, Izzard let him sing his long, strong note of opera, getting a huge round of applause. Then a woman piped up from the other side. Then another woman joined in. ‘We had about five opera singers singing separately,’ Izzard said. ‘I was trying to say that there was a ghetto of opera singers in Dallas, who were sent away from New York or something.’

    • Another grown man does stand-up in his bedroom and puts it on YouTube. He's helpfully put a laugh track (and orgasmic noises) on to show where the punchlines are, as there's very little other clue.

    • Ricky Gervais is sick of interviews: ‘I have no more things to say to anyone ever.’

    SOURCES: This Is Surrey, Mirror, This Is Local London, All the Laftas stuff comes from Chortle, Ew.com, YouTube, RickyGervais.com

    Published: 29 Jan 2010

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.