WTF: Weekly Trivia File

‘I’ve been mixing with weird people all my life – musicians, comedians, actors – They’re all fucking cranks.’ Brian Damage of Pear-Shaped Comedy, speaking to blogger John Fleming.

Omid Djalili was approached to make a Who Do You Think You Are? programme looking at his ancestry – but the BBC had second thoughts when they realised all his relatives were in Iran, which was likely to make filming difficult. But it could have made for an interesting family history, as it turns out he has comedy in his blood. Speaking on Sean Hughes's new podcast Off The Radar, he reveals: 'On my fathers side, five generations back, they were like poets, travelling troubadours, jongleurs, they travelled around in a group and pitched up and did poetry and stand-up comedy. This is back in the 1900s...'

Nice work from the award-winning PR company who yesterday contacted Chortle excitedly trying to drum up coverage for what they called Jimmy Carr’s *debut* DVD. Laughing and Joking is in fact his EIGHTH stand-up release.

Ross Noble is auctioning off the 140ft knitted scarf that featured in his Dave show Freewheeling. Knitted by the St Helens Women's Institute, the impractical neckwear is being sold off to raise money for Riders For Health, which delivers healthcare in Africa – and so far the eBay auction has already topped £100.

And if you can't afford that, today's must-have gift for any comedy fan. A Jim Davidson fridge magnet. Yours for £2.99 from Amazon.

Greg Davies has made a formal apology to his mother. Speaking on tonight’s Graham Norton show, he admits: ‘I really messed up. I was on Have I Got News For You and swore at my mother as a joke. They said they would bleep it and they didn’t. It took six months and a Marks and Spencer cardigan for her to forgive me.’

US comic Gallagher is to spend New Year’s Eve dropping watermelons on to the ground from an 18ft steel-and-foam artificial watermelon hoisted 100ft above the Indiana town of Vincenne. It is a community event, he hasn’t just gone insane...

Tinie Tempah fancies trying his hand at writing a sitcom, after confessing a love of comedy. ‘I watch a lot of stand-up comedy,' he says, 'I really like Frankie Boyle, Micky Flanagan and Kevin Hart – sometimes they’re saying the most controversial things but they make people giggle about it. One day, I’d love to be behind the scenes of writing a sitcom.'

'There are about 22 different rules for creating gags, comedy, jokes.' Ken Dodd.

Tweets of the week
Jason (@NickMotown): Yes, that bloke who invented the invisibility cloak had his 15 minutes of fame, but where is he now?
Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel): Annoy people with one syllable names by stretching them over two syllables like in the Happy Birthday song.
Arena Flowers(@ArenaFlowers): The Queen refers to coins and banknotes as 'selfies'.

Published: 8 Nov 2013