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Editor Sam launches stand-up comedy career

A weekly newspaper editor helped launch a local comedy festival – by doing his own stand-up routine in a city centre.

Sam Holliday, editor of the Bath Chronicle, reckons he is “all six members of the Monty Python team rolled into one.”

So when the chance came to be a stand-up comedian this week as part of Bath Comedy Festival, he couldn’t resist the opportunity.

Grabbing an “open mic” in the centre of Bath which invites people to get up and tell jokes to passers-by, he rattled off a series of gags he said would probably have got him booed off the stage in a comedy club.

His two-minute stand-up routine included the following gems:

  • “Last night I had a chicken tarka for dinner. It’s a bit like a chicken tikka – just a little otter.”
  • “A man walks into a pub and orders a pint of beer and a very small glass of water for his pet amphibian. The landlord says: ‘Why are you giving him such a small drink?’ The man replies: ‘Because it is my newt’.”
  • “Shakespeare walks into a bar and the landlord says to him angrily: ‘Get out William – you’re Bard’.”
  • Writing about his experiences on his blog, Sam said: “Like most men I happen to think I’m a pretty funny guy.

    “The fact that no-one else around me seems to agree is beside the point – in my own mind I am all six members of the Monty Python team rolled into one.

    “Faced with quite a number of clearly bemused tourists, I proceeded to do a two-minute slot that had I been in a comedy club, would have probably got me booed off.

    “I told three or four jokes, and was delighted to receive at least one laugh per joke which I assure you is more than I normally get at home or in the office.”

    Comments

    Out of work (14/04/2009 14:53:27)
    Must be the only bloke in the Northcliffe empire with something to laugh about!