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For the attention of: News Editors

August 8 2006 [PR5203]

LENNY HENRY NEEDS YOUR JOKES AS THE JOKE BOOTH COMES TO TOWN

“LENNY’S BRITAIN” Tx: BBC ONE; 2007

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The Joke Booth is coming to your town and Lenny Henry and The Open University need your jokes, one-liners, anecdotes and funny stories as Lenny travels across the nation exploring our most defining trait – our sense of humour.

In Lenny’s Britain, Lenny visits different parts of the country investigating the humour of each area, and meets up with people from all walks of life to find out what makes the nation laugh, what it tells us about who we are, how Britain has changed, and how that has been reflected in comedy.

Lenny Henry said: “This is a very exciting project for me, as I'm going to be travelling back to some of the places where I began my career. I shall also be performing new material, based on what people reveal to me on my tour and in the joke booth. and I’ll be talking to the general public people about what is distinctive about the humour of makes their particular region funnier than anywhere else. Are Scousers funnier than Cornwellians? Are Glaswegians more capable of raising a chuckle than Brummies - I intend to find out all this and more, and by the end of it - I'm hoping to get a show out of it!”

There is also a more serious side to Lenny’s Britain. Marie Gillespie, Senior Lecturer in Sociology with the Open University and chief academic working on the series said: “We all tell funny stories and jokes but not all of us get a laugh. We’ll be analysing the component parts of what it is that makes a story funny a. And why some jokes are funny and others, not.

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“Over the coming months, we’re asking people from all over the UK to enter The Joke Booth to tell us their favourite funny stories and jokes, and what has made them laugh most recently.

“We’re going to feel the pulse of British humour though the joke booth. hope this wil We’re going to show you how l show how humour functions as is a kind of a social barometer – it reflects the changing social and political climate of Britain. We will decipher the social and political climate - the pulse of the nation – to find out what makes us laugh both individually and collectively. We’re going to see whether Are certain there themes or jokes that recur and ? Is there one big joke in Britain today? Wwhat does the Big Joke tells us about British identities today”?.”

This is one of the biggest joke collecting projects every conducted in Britain and we’re reaching out to everyone – regardless of age, gender, class, ethnicity – to take part and help us reveal something about who we are today.

After the Joke Booth By collects ing the jokes and stories from the British public via the Joke Booth, the Open University hopes to quantify which types of jokes each area of the country prefers and whywill analyse the results and will report back on the fascinating findings. –’–

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The Joke Booth will be at the following locations on the following dates:-

EXETER: Mon 21st and Tue 22nd Aug at the Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre

LONDON: Thur 24th and Fri 25th Aug at the Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent

LIVERPOOL: Tue 29th and Wed 30th Aug at St John’s Shopping Centre

GATESHEAD: Fri 1st and Sat 2nd Sep at the Metrocentre

The Joke Booth will also be present at Lenny’s performances in Blackpool on Thurs 30th Nov; Wolverhampton on Monday 15th Jan 2007; Swansea on Thurs 18th Jan 2007; and Glasgow on Sat 21st Jan 2007.

Please note that children must be accompanied by an adult.

Notes to Editors

Lenny’s Britain is a BBC/Open University co-production. It will be broadcast on BBC One in 2007.

The Open University and BBC have been in partnership for over 30 years providing educational programming to a mass audience. In recent times this partnership has evolved from late night programming for delivering courses to peak time programmes with a broad appeal to encourage wider participation in learning.

The Series Producer for the BBC is Kate Broome. Executive Producer for the OU is Emma De’Ath.

Resources

Related Open University courses:-

DD100 An Introduction to the Social Sciences

DD201 Sociology and Society

DA204 Understanding Media

Websites: open.ac.uk/courses

Media contact

Guy Bailey g.r.bailey@open.ac.uk +(44) 1908 653248

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