'It’s like Jimmy Savile and child molestation'

WTF: Weekly Trivia File

‘The internet has done nothing but good for comedy all around. Comedians no longer have to rely on TV execs and club owners deciding if they are funny or not.’ Doug Stanhope

A new 13-part sitcom in Pakistan has been funded entirely by Coca-Cola ‘to promote the value of shared meals with family and friends’ as part of their Coke & Meal advertising campaign. Sounds hilarious.

David Mitchell might regret having written this in his new book, Back Story. Talking about his public image, he says: ‘There’s no doubt that if people have told you I’m a snooty swot and then you meet me, you’re going to think it’s plausible. It’s like Jimmy Savile and child molestation – it rings true without being true. He in no way subverted people’s stereotypical image of a child molester, and more than I do their vision of a snooty swot.’ Oops. Look out for the edit in the second edition. (And thanks to Darren Richman for pointing that out on Facebook).

Stand-up John Moloney had a run-in with a front-row ‘twat’ (his word) who didn’t seem to be in the charitable spirit of the fundraiser for Mumbai orphans he was hosting at the London Comedy Store on Monday. But the night didn’t go too well for the heckler – as his girlfriend dumped him on the Tube home; taking his house keys off him, too. Moloney was happy to report the news on Facebook, adding: ‘I guess the message to any “brave”pissed-up heckly blokes out there is - to us comics it's just a mildly irritating hazard of the job, and quickly forgotten - but to you, it could be your house.’

Here’s a curio. Tom Hanks doing stand-up in the Eighties, as research for his role in the movie Punchline:

‘He was just being this genuinely supportive, lovely man.’ Daniel Sloss on, erm, Frankie Boyle, his early mentor. That will do his image no favours.

On Monday, we reported how Channel 4 cut the word ‘gay’ out of a lunchtime repeat of The Simpsons. And – fancy that! – on Wednesday the Independent reported the exact-same same story. We posted a comment pointing out that lifting the story without accreditation was a bit cheeky, but they couldn’t find room on the internet to include it...