Tim Vine: The Joke-A-Motive

“I went on once-in-a-lifetime holiday recently. Tell you what, never again.”

Yes, the Best Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe makes an appearance in this DVD. As you might expect, it’s not even the best joke in this show, which contains what seems like 7,000 one-liners. Unlike Milton Jones, who tries to daze his audience into submission, Vine throws everything at them. Music, dance, props, audience interaction and a recurring sight gag involving torches all keep The Joke-A-Motive on the rails, while Vine sweats and swaggers like that uncle at a wedding who feels he must keep all the kids entertained.

It feels like a shambles but it does work and you’ll be rushing to your phone so you can text one of his short, snappy jokes to your mates. In fact, if some jokes sound a bit familiar that’s probably where you’ve heard them: Vine’s one-liners are wildly popular on the internet, and are often misattributed to Tommy Cooper, which is high praise indeed.

Vine’s favourite type of joke is the awful pun, but there are a few moments of dizzying surrealism that might make your head spin: the very odd Little Piece Of Carpet song, Flag Hippo and the human dartboard routine (which is sadly relegated to the DVD extras).