The Daily Tonic: Iggy/Amin

Channelling the spirit of Edmonds, Beadle and Kutcher, what we’re after today is stories of celebs who like to play practical jokes.

The good, the bad and the downright annoying – we want to know who are the most persistent pranksters, what their signature gags are and if they’ve ever pulled off something properly memorable.

Today’s Question: Do you know any celebrity practical jokers?

Send us your stories of superstar japesters to hello@popbitch.com and we’ll dish out some goody bags in return for our favourites.

pauline writes:
“Back in the 90s I was an intern at Lynne Franks PR. One of my jobs was to drive Anthea Turner from London to Birmingham where she had been paid to host an organ festival at the NEC (exactly as weird as it sounds).

“She was really friendly and the journey was a breeze but I was shocked by her constant swearing which was truly off the charts. It was incredibly jarring to hear a Blue Peter presenter ‘fuck’ and ‘cunt’ her way through an entire two hour drive.

“She slept the whole way back.”

RS writes:
“In 1980 I was staying at the Dakota Hotel in New York with UK band Magazine. One evening, as the lift door opened on the ground floor, there stood Iggy Pop waiting to take the lift. Before I could even consider a polite ‘hi’, Iggy says: ‘I’ve seen you in company with Magazine, haven’t I?’ which I confirmed.

“He said he would like to give Howard Devoto a gift if I could pass it on. So I waited in the lobby as Iggy went up to his room and then returned and gave me a package wrapped in paper. Later that night I gave Howard the package and told him it was a gift from Iggy.

“The following day when I saw Howard I asked if he could tell me what the package contained. To our shared bemusement, Howard replied: ‘It was a book… ‘The Thoughts of Idi Amin’.'”

RP writes:
“I have a celebrity smell story from my hotel days. Tim Burton stayed with us when doing Sleepy Hollows. He used to bathe in TCP every morning and had his own staircase down to the restaurant from his suite. He was always puzzled I could say ‘Good morning, Mr Burton’ from the desk even when looking the other way, as I smelled the iodine.

“He brought Johnny Depp and the sublime Christopher Walken for dinner one night. You have not lived till you have met the king of New York. Man orders the soup like he is ordering a hit on your family.

‘I will’
‘HAVE’
‘the SOUP’

“Shivers down my spine typing it. Dover sole for a main, btw.”

This audio round – your 97th – is themed. Which means that as well as the ten available points for naming each artist, and the further ten points possible for naming each song, there’s an extra bonus point if you can figure out what links them all.

[Play it here]

An oral history of The Onion’s 9/11 issue
[Read on MEL]

Forget Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer’s press-up contest…
[Watch puppy push-ups instead]