I appear to be advertising XFM

The other day I mentioned on here that the last Magic Numbers single sounds like Only Fools And Horses at the beginning. I was pleased, then, that a week or two ago people were texting Adam and Joe on their XFM show to tell them the same thing. They didn’t seem totally convinced, but I felt slightly less alone.

Similiarly, listening to Jimmy Carr’s XFM show on Sunday, I heard him nail a staple of bad comedy that has obsessed me for years: the impression that’s so poor the impressionist has to say the name of whoever he’s doing before he starts or even while he’s doing it. ‘It’s Rolf Harris! Rolf Harris, ladies and gentlemen!’ (fumbling with comedy beard and glasses). The ultimate bad impression - at least for those of us growing up in the seventies - was always Frank Spencer, who isn’t even a real person. I’ve often thought you could do a whole act based around that. Man lurches around onstage dressed in mac and beret (wrong size, wrong colour) saying ‘Frank Spencer!’ in a bizarre gormless voice. Initially, he’d say it in a triumphant way, then, as he continues to appeal to various faces in the audience without success, the tone would become questioning. Finally, it would be a howl of rage and disappointment. My God, am I insane or would that be hilarious? Could somebody out there do that, and give me half the money please?