WTF: Weekly Trivia File

• Kevin Bridges has been invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street, hosted by David Cameron, to ‘celebrate St Andrew’s Day and the contribution that Scotland makes to the United Kingdom and to the wider world.’ He RSVPed via Twitter: ‘My heart is saying "fuck that" and my head is saying "Aye, fuck that".’

• Viagogo - the favourite website of people wanting to tout out gig tickets for a quick buck – has tried to drum up some positive publicity. They report that since news of Russell Brand’s split from Jemima Khan broke over the weekend, demand for his Messiah Complex tour has spiked 133 per cent.

• Remember the American comic who punched a journalist for tweeting criticism during the show? Well here’s footage of the actual event (or not…):

• Stephen Colbert has stepped up to the plate and married a couple after their original wedding plans were ruined by the US government shutdown. The comic – who is also an ordained minister – stepped in to wed Mike Cassesso and MaiLien Le on his Comedy Central show, after their planned nuptials near the Jefferson Memorial were ruined by the government action.

• If it wasn’t for David Walliams, there might not be The Inbetweeners – because The Little Britain star gave a home to Iain Morris when he and Damon Beesley started writing the show. ‘That allowed me to write,’ Morris told Radio 5 Live. ‘Without David Walliams, and another friend who also let me stay for free for nine months, I probably wouldn't have been able to continue to try and write stuff.’

• Why have we posted this odd video of a middle-aged American Woman singing an Arabic song?

Because this the video that Jen Copeland uses to advertise her talents as a comedy course teacher. She teaches Comedy Script-Writing and Stage Performance at  Contra Costa College in San Pablo,, California.

• It’s hardly up there with ‘Freddie Starr ate my hamster’ - but a headline in the Lincolnshire Echo this weeks reads: ‘Comedian says acts who haven't been booked to appear in Lincolnshire have, unsurprisingly, not performed in Lincolnshire.’ The blindingly obvious sentence came after Dave Gorman, the comedian in question, complained that the original story that took a tweets about his tour dates out of context in an attempt ‘to turn it into a man-casts-slur-on-county story’.  The paper quickly capitulated with their unarguable alternative.

• An audience member in Cambridge pointed out to French comedy character Marcel Lucont that his name is an anagram of ‘rectal column’.

• Tweets of the week
Andy Borowitz(@BorowitzReport): I wasn't happy about the country being controlled by the richest 1 percent, but I really hate it being controlled by the dumbest 1 percent.
Nick Motown (@NickMotown): I once asked a Brummie chef mate of mine what his favourite rice was. He said "the Tour de France".
(@):
Ian Power (@IHPower): The dawn chorus is just all the birds retweeting each other, isn't it?

Published: 4 Oct 2013