Jeremy Beadle

If you know me well you will surely be aware that my favourite kind of comedy is the one where unsuspecting people are pranked. That's why I have dedicated posts on here to the likes of Borat, The Fonejacker and the books by Robin Cooper.

My introduction to this form of comedy began in the eighties at a small flat on a Saturday night.

My Aunt would look after us on Saturday's because my Mother would be at work and my Father would be playing rugby. We would spend the day there before getting picked up in the evening we would make sure we didn't leave until Beadle's About was over.

Jeremy Beadle was a devious-minded man and the country loved it.

I remember nearly shedding tears of laughter at one of his pranks where people would be sat at a restaurant table with a picture hanging beside them on the wall. This painting was no ordinary picture, though. It was 3D so the head was sticking out. Unbeknownst to the diners this portrait was an actual person and he would jump out at them.

That was just one example of what I can remember from those Saturday evenings.

The most spectacular prank Jeremy Beadle pulled was when he faked an alien landing in a lady's garden. I bruised a rib laughing when the scientist asked the lady to welcome it to the world and she came out with; 'Would you like a cup of tea?'

In 1995, Beadle joined Talk Radio UK (now Talk Sport) and he hosted a weekend show that was - at the time - one of my favourites. It was a phone-in quiz mixed with strange facts. This show didn't last long as Jeremy Beadle left the station a few weeks after its launch.