Fancy a loff: Comedians needed to share rib-tickling jokes ahead of Wolverhampton's Funny Things festival
Wannabe comedians looking to flaunt their funny bones are being called on to invent the ultimate rib-tickling joke book.
Organisers behind Wolverhampton's Funny Things festival are in the midst of preparation for next year's festivities.
But the team is on the lookout for keen comics across the region to help pull together 365 jokes to feature in a special Black Country Joke Book.
Festival producer Jenny Smith said: "All you need to do is host our Funny Things Joke Box for a week and pop it in a prominent place where your staff and customers will see it.
"Then encourage them to take part in the festival by entering a joke and paying £1 to be entered in to a prize draw.
"As well as the Joke Box we’re organising an April Fools Fancy Dress Day.
"We are aware of the positive benefits of laughter on mental health and we’d love to encourage the Black Country business community to inspire their staff to get involved in any way they can."
Some of the best jokes so far:
If the Black Country had a baseball team, what would it be called?
What do they call Toys -R- Us in Dudley?
Man walks into Moss Bros in Merry Hill looking to hire a suit and all the trimmings. “Kipper tie?” asks the assistant. “No ta, just had a kipper coffee,” he replies.
What do you call a pork pie on a clock? Summat to ate
Business across the region are being invited to host the new Funny Things Joke Box at their workplaces from January until October.
Prizes for the best jokes will include free tickets to festival events, with a winner drawn from the travelling joke box each month.
There will also be a prize for the business which collects the most jokes for the box, while all jokes shared will appear on the festival's website.
Corin Crane, chief executive of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, boldly dropped the first joke into the box last week.
He said: "It’s great to support Wolverhampton’s new comedy Festival Funny Things. Culture projects like this generate £950m a year to the Black Country economy and we’re thrilled to get behind projects that have a positive impact on the region.
"And we’re more than happy to help prove that Wolverhampton is a happy place."
The festival - organised by Creative Black Country - will return to the city from October 26 to November 2, bringing barrels of laughs to venues across the city.
Last year's inaugural event was held in response to data from the Office for National Statistics stating Wolverhampton was the unhappiest place in the UK.
For more information about the joke box contact Ms Smith on funnythingswolves@gmail.com or call 07967 187 822.
