WTF: Weekly Trivia File

• Stephen Merchant was once caught by police fondling a naked statue's breasts. It happened when he a student on boozy night out in Coventry. He said: ‘I got a bit drunk and decided it would be hilarious to give Lady Godiva a fondle. The officers didn't charge me. I think I was just too pathetic.’

• Matt Lucas left his iPhone in a taxi today – and according to the tracking software it ended up inside the House Of Lords.

• Alan Carr has revealed a list of items fans have left him on tour, including home-made jam, a figurine of a Victorian lady, a hamper from Nottingham pub Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem which included a dog bandana, a fly swatter, a corkscrew and a balacalva.

• Debate about the lack of women on Mock The Week rages on… but it’s not the only comedy institution that charge could be leveled at. By our reckoning the Comedy Store in London, the most prestigious stand-up venue in the land, has only listed one female comic on their weekend line-ups in the six months from May 27 to November 27. Jo Caulfield has the honour of being that sole woman, when she played there on the weekend of August 4.

• Susan Boyle received just £65, the standard extras rate, when she appeared on this week’s episode of Rab C Nesbitt. She is such a fan of the show that she agreed to appear as herself for virtually nothing.

• Is Facebook too invasive? Richard Herring’s followers were yesterday informed he’d just read an article about porn, thanks to automatic posts from the Guardian app.

• James Corden used to be in two boy bands, one called Full Frontal and another called Insatiable. ‘I tried to use my band to pull the ladies but I soon realised if you’re going to be in a boy band you don’t want to be the least attractive one,’ he said.

• Quite a cute heckler exchange this week... but the poor dear did get confused when she took a punchline literally:
  

• Jason Manford bought donuts for his fans after keeping them waiting for a book-signing session in Liverpool this week.

• A Nigerian comedian called Baba Suwe has been arrested at Lagos airport after an airport full-body scanner revealed what investigators believe was drugs hidden inside his body. Suwe denies the charges, and as one report put it ‘has yet to excrete the suspected cocaine’.

• Frank Skinner has blasted Rihanna for being too sexually explicit. ‘I’ve had enough of raunchy,’ the comic said. ‘She should shut up and wear a nice smart suit on stage instead of having virtually no clothes on all the time. Who even cares if she never makes another record?’

• Spot the familiar comedy circuit faces in this new short film from Ren Thackem:
  

• Tweets of the week:
  Jimmy Carr: (@jimmycarr):Shane Warne and Liz Hurley have got engaged. Rumour has it they can’t wait to be bride and over-groomed.
  Carl Maxim: (@carlmaxim):BREAKING NEWS: Underpants Bomber pleads guilty following pressure from his briefs.
  Graham Goring: (@GrahamGoring ):New chat-up line: "Get my coat, you've pulled a chauvinist."

Published: 14 Oct 2011