Stewart Francis wins Fringe joke award

The quip, by deadpan Canadian comic Stewart Francis, picked up a fifth of votes in a poll of comedy fans. His winning joke – “You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks” – comes from his show Return of the Lumberjacks. The couple named their four children Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper Seven.

The competition, which has run for five years, is organised by TV channel Dave which enlisted the help of ten comedy critics to draw up a shortlist of gags before putting it to the vote of 3000 comedy fans.

Francis said: “1969 West Mall Soccer Association’s Most Valuable Player, and now this  . . .thank you, Dave.”

He saw off competition by one-liner legend Tim Vine to win and had another entry in the top 10 with: “”I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting.”

Steve North, general manager of Dave said: “Stewart Francis is a very worthy winner and with his droll quip has proved himself to be king of the one-liners.”

1. Stewart Francis - “You know who really gives

kids a bad name? Posh and Becks.”

2. Tim Vine - “Last night me and my girlfriend

watched three DVDs back to back. Luckily I

was the one facing the telly.”

3. Will Marsh - “I was raised as an only child,

which really annoyed my sister.”

4. Rob Beckett - “You know you’re working class when your TV is bigger than your book case.”

5. Chris Turner - “I’m good friends with 25 letters of the alphabet ... I don’t know why.”

6. Tim Vine - “I took part in the sun

tanning Olympics - I just got Bronze.”

7. George Ryegold - “Pornography is often frowned upon, but that’s only because I’m concentrating.”

8. Stewart Francis - “I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together.

Riveting.”

9. Lou Sanders - “I waited an hour for my starter so I complained: ‘It’s not rocket salad’.”

10. Nish Kumar - “My mum’s so pessimistic, that if there was an Olympics for pessimism ... she wouldn’t fancy her chances.”