The Funny Things Joke Box gets its first host on the most miserable week of the year!

With the 15th January classed as Britain’s most miserable day of the year, according to annual weather stats, and ‘Blue Monday’ (the 21st Jan) close by, employees and visitors to the Black Country Chamber of Commerce will get the chance to add some much needed warming cheer to their week as the Chamber hosts the Funny Things Joke Box.

Funny Things makes its return this Autumn from the 26th October to the 2nd November and is being kicked off with a tour of it’s very own Joke Box at business premises across the city.

Starting a frenzy of joke activity locally-based businesses have been responding to a call out to host the Joke Box at their premises, with the first destination being held at the Black Country Chamber offices at Wolverhampton Science Park during what is considered the most miserable week thanks to the bleak weather and dark January days.

If you’ve got a silly CEO, side-splitting staff, a rib-tickling receptionist or belly-laughing boss the festival team want to hear from you. They are looking to find 365 jokes between now and September to put together the ultimate Black Country Joke Book and are asking business to take the box for a week at a time.

“All you need to do is pop the Joke Box in a prominent place where your staff and customers will see it. Then encourage them to take part in the festival by entering a joke and paying a suggested amount of £1 to be entered in to our prize draw.” Comments Festival producer, Jenny Smith.

“All proceeds from the Joke Box will go towards providing tickets to the festival for people from Wolverhampton’s most disadvantaged communities, offering the opportunity to escape all the pressures of everyday life for a time and have a laugh.”

Prizes for the best jokes will include free tickets to festival events, with a winner drawn from the travelling joke box each month.

There will also be a prize for the business which collects the most jokes for the box, while all jokes shared will appear on the festival's website funny-things.co.uk.

Corin Crane, chief executive of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, has already dropped the first joke into the box at the festival’s launch in November.

He said: “We’re looking forward to hosting the Joke Box and supporting Wolverhampton’s Funny Things comedy festival this year. Everyone needs a bit of post new year cheer and we’re hoping to get lots of Jokes added, help raise some money and bring a few laughs to the office along the way.

Culture projects generate £950m a year to the Black Country economy and we’re thrilled to get behind projects that have a positive impact on the region. And we’re more than happy to help prove that Wolverhampton is a happy place”.

Funny Things was conceived in response to data from the Office for National Statistics stating Wolverhampton was the unhappiest place in the UK and Creative Black Country took up the challenge to prove how wrong they were.

The festival brings together a range of local and national partners and artists, ranging from household names to new talent, exhibitions and comedy film, theatre and family activities and artist commissions.

There is still time for budding performers to get involved too. For anyone who thinks they are funny, has a funny act or performance or makes funny stuff the team want to hear from you.

To book your week with the Joke Box please contact Jenny Smith on funnythingswolves[@]gmail.com or call 07967 187822.

Laugh out loud in Wolverhampton in 2019 with plenty of chuckles, giggles, smirks, sniggers and guffaws on offer.

The line-up will be announced in Spring 2019 on the festival website at funny-thing.co.uk.

Image by: Tim Thursfield at the Express & Star