WTF: Weekly Trivia File

• ‘It works better for my comedy to be old and decrepit, but I do miss being fit and thin. I have to suffer for my art, I suppose, and so do my audiences.’ Stewart Lee

• Jim Davidson was in typical rant mood watching the Jubilee gig. After slagging off will.iam ‘what’s he got to do with sixty years of HM’s reign?’, Cheryl Cole ‘when she sings live she’s as flat as fuck’ and ‘the stange black woman dressed as Batgirl’ [Grace Jones] he turned to the comedians. ‘While we’re at it, who booked those fucking comics? ‘ he raged on his blog: ‘Special need comedian Jimmy Carr excelled himself in cuntishness.Why do they all take the easy shot at HRH?It’s just so bad taste. What were they trying to achieve? Apart from preening the fact that they were there and others (ME!!!) were not. Lennie Hennry [sic] was inspired .I don’t think I’ve seen him better.The way he said “Let me hear yer say yaer” three times was a bit of comic genius. Come on Lenny, the game’s up!’ Carr and Davidson have history, of course, since the younger comic accused Jim of stealing his ‘you’re fattist’ joke a few years back. Here’s Carr’s amazingly restrained performance in front of the Palace:
  

• Still on the jubilee theme, we thank the company that sent us the email saying: 'To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee – we are offering 20% off on all our lowest-price guaranteed light bulbs.

• Given the Edinburgh Fringe's clampdown on naughty words like 'prick', festival veteran Mervyn Stutter was shocked by the programme's cover. 'Oh,' he told blogger John Fleming. 'It looks like two red bollocks and a sawn off cock…'

• Justin Bieber was baffled by Alan Carr, when he appeared on the episode of his chart show that will air tonight. 'Im from Canada. I don't get all this humour,' he protested. 'I don't know if you're making fun of me? I just don't get the British humour."

• Russell Brand will be opening for the Dalai Lama in Manchester next week. The comic will be introducing the – I want to say 'gig' – at the Manchester Arena in which the Tibetan spiritual elder will address young people. The Dalai Lama representative for North Europe, Thubten Samdup, said: 'We are delighted to have Russell Brand as master of ceremonies for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Russell has demonstrated the power of spirituality to effect change in his own life.'

• Science can be so overwhelming. A woman in the front row of Robin Ince’s Happiness Through Science show at the Hay Festival on Tuesday fainted, bringing the show to a strange end.

• Comedy is, of course, an art form. But it's also the only art form where a drunk man might show you his arse while you're creating it – as US comic Dave Burger discovered.
  

• Is this a curse of the Edinburgh Comedy Award? Last year’s best newcomer Humphrey Ker has just broken his fibia; while main award-winner Adam Riches broke his leg in two places in a mock stage battle during his Fringe act back in 2009.

• Tweets of the week:
  Andy Borowitz: (@BorowitzReport): Half the time when I meet people I want to click "skip intro."
  David O'Doherty: @phlaimeaux): I am now trolling everyone in England. YOU HAVE A QUEEN HAHA. WITH A CROWN! YOU IDIOTS! ON A GOLDEN BARGE AND YOU ALL WAVE FLAGS IN DELIGHT
  Henry James @thishenryjames): Thanks to a typo in my copy of Julius Caesar, I've always been wary of the very idea of March.

Published: 8 Jun 2012