WTF: Weekly Triva File

• Rowan Atkinson’s vintage racing car burst into flames while it was parked on a London street in the early hours of this morning. Even more embarrassingly for the Mr Bean star, it was in full view of paparazzi who had gathered outside the Cipriani restaurant for Robert Downey Jr. He lifted the bonnet and tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but gave up and had to wait for roadside assistance. Car buff Atkinson has previously had accidents in his Audi convertible, his Aston Martin V8 Zagato and his £625,000 McLaren F1.

• Meanwhile, 64-year-old Co-Op checkout worker Jane MacPherson got all flustered when Atkinson appeared in her store in Mallaig, Scotland, and blurted out: ‘Oh, it's Mr Pea.’

• Peter Cook had a fling with Jacqueline Kennedy while she was still First Lady, Alan Bennett has claimed. In a BBC Four interview he claimed that Mrs JFK and his Beyond The Fringe colleague had an affair after meeting backstage at their New York run. He said: ‘ may be libelling her, but I think Peter had an affair with Jackie Kennedy. I have an image of her standing next to Peter stroking his arm in the dressing room and he certainly went to parties with her.’ Bennett added that Dudley Moore was ‘incredibly promiscuous’.

• After the Royal Variety Performance this week, Prince Phillip asked Sydney stand-up Adam Hills – who has a prosthetic foot – ‘Will you smuggle anything back to Australia in your leg?’

• Scotland On Sunday reports that Michael McIntyre was the fastest selling act at this year's Edinburgh Festival. Quite some achievement for a comedian who didn’t even have a show there... (Though he did appear at a charity gala)

• Devalued adjective of the week: The pink shirt McIntyre is auctioning off for homeless charity Shelter is ‘iconic’, according the eBay description.

• Jason Manford once overran so much that some fans missed their last train back – so he gave them a lift home. He did about three hours at his show in Birmingham, and afterwards, two lads came up to him to ask: ‘Are you going back to Manchester? Can we get a lift? We missed our last train.’ Jason agreed, and dropped them back to their front door in Worsley. Recounting the incident on Real Radio’s Glen and Lorna show this week, Manford recalled: ‘It was good fun, we had a good laugh.’ Click here to hear the full interview. http://www.realradionorthwest.co.uk/player/listen-again/kdfklf39/listen-4472/

• John Cleese has undergone laser surgery to remove a cataract.

• Russell Howard was left ‘upset’ after losing the job of turning on the Christmas lights in his home town of Bath to Nicolas Cage. He said: ‘They actually promised it to me. I was really looking forward to it. I didn't go. I felt a little upset.’

• Bad stand-up:
  

• ‘I enjoy cooking, and trying new foods, but human flesh has thus far remained outside my repertoire, despite having attended public school.’ Andy Zaltzman

• Russell Brand is getting a passport for his beloved cat, Morrissey, so he can take him to the States when he works there.

• Meanwhile, Mr Brand has denied telling Mail on Sunday journalist Nathan Kay he wanted to marry Katy Perry. On his Twitter page he wrote: ‘The Daily Mail tell lies. Nathan Kay is a pustule of untruth. I suppose we ought be grateful they’ve stopped supporting Hitler.’

• Ricky Gervais made it into Who’s Who this week – but he could have got there much quicker. ‘I’m sure they asked me a few years ago but I couldn't be bothered to fill out the form that listed my hobbies,’ he said. ‘I still haven’t done that so I've no idea what my entry says. Still, very nice of them.’.

SOURCES: Imdb, Daily Record, BBC Four, Facebook, Scotland On Sunday, eBay, Real Radio, Twitter, Russell Howard’s Good News, YouTube, The Sun, GMTV, Twitter, rickygervais.com

Published: 11 Dec 2009