It's the Weekly Triva File

• ‘The UK has always been a place that spins me immediately into violent depression.’ Doug Stanhope.

• What’s a comedian to do straight after being involved in a road accident? Why, sign autographs, naturally… Or at least that’s what’s what Joan Rivers did in New York this week, after her chauffeur-driven stretch limo ploughed into a bus. Amid the gridlocked traffic the shunt caused, she entertained passengers on the bus by posing for photos and handing out signed mementos.

• Ricky Gervais blogs: ‘Isn’t it annoying when you take a private jet from Toronto to New York and the champagne isn't chilled enough?’ Next you might like to hear the old hypocrite warn of climate change:
  

• After 1,100 miles-plus, Eddie Izzard is planning another run… for political office. He met Gordon Brown after his Sport Relief fundraiser, the reiterated his long-term goal,: ‘I've said I will stand as an MP or MEP at some stage in 10 to 15 years, I like to make long announcements. But at the moment I've spent so long trying to get my career going I don't want to throw it away.’

• Robert Webb is happy with the scheduling of the new series of Peep Show tonight, immediately after the Derren Brown spectacle that’s, coincidentally, being made by the same production house as his sitcom. ‘Glad we're on immediately after Derren is promising to glue everyone to the TV,’ he twitters. ‘Objective Productions conspiracy? Yes! Definitely! Cool!’

• A bunch of comedians helped the comedy version of The 39 Steps celebrate its third birthday on the West End on Wednesday, with Scott Capurro, Stephen K Amos, Milton Jones and Barry Cryer among those mingling with the likes of Vanessa Feltz, Jeni Falconer and astrologer Shelley Von Strunkle at the Criterion Theatre and after-show party.

• Ah, music festival audiences. Gotta love them…
  

• Russell Brand says he berated Donald Trump for making so much money without doing anything for the greater good, telling the tycoon: ‘It’s just like wanking in a room forever.’ Trump replied: ‘Yep, that’s why I like it.’

• Edinburgh’s Usher Hall has just undergone a £25million revamp… but they still can’t get something as simple as a microphone to work. Billy Connolly’s mic failed three times before techies finally sorted it out this week.

• Dave Spikey reveals he had to go into hospital for tests after suffering pain in his back and lower abdomen. He said: ‘I'd ignored the bit in the letter saying you might want to shave yourself as it's less embarrassing, so I had to get shaved by a hospital barber. He shaved me in the pubic area and then, without warning, blew the loose hair away. I half expected him to get a small mirror out and say, “Is that alright for you?"’

SOURCES: DougStanhope.com, New York Post, RickyGervais.com/YouTube, Daily Mirror, Chortle, YouTube, Punchline magazine, Scotsman, Daily Record

Published: 18 Sep 2009