Comic gives pal Jack Whitehall an unusual 35th birthday present

What do you give the comedian who has everything?

When Jack Whitehall celebrated his 35th birthday last week, his support act Lloyd Griffith decided to get him something very unusual:  adopting an organ pipe at Lincoln Cathedral in his name.

Griffith – who is also a  classically trained choral singer – tweeted photos of himself and Whitehall with the adoption certificate and the caption: ‘Look how happy he is.’

What do you get a bloke that’s got everything for his birthday? An adopted pipe from @LincsCathedral. Don’t dismay, adopt a pipe today. Look how happy he is pic.twitter.com/4JTTyFlK0J

— Lloyd Griffith (@LloydGriffith) July 11, 2023

Lincoln has the last cathedral organ finished by ‘Father’ Willis himself – largely seen as the foremost maker of such instruments of its time.  It was due to be the first British cathedral organ to be blown by electricity, but at the time of its inauguration in 1898, Lincoln’s power station had not yet entered service, so it was pumped manually by soldiers of the Lincolnshire Regiment.

Now as part of a fundraising drive, supporters can adopt a pipe for between £30 and £250. 

The cathedral said Whitehall was ‘more than welcome’ todo a gfig n front of the organ, tweeting: ‘We have a famous name on our organ!

‘The lovely  @LloydGriffith  kindly got  @jackwhitehall  the gift of a lifetime by adopting a pipe in Jack's name for his birthday. He seems very pleased with his gift and imagine he can't wait to come see the Father Willis Organ for himself.’

Published: 13 Jul 2023