Are your pupils juvenile jesters? Do you regularly lock wits with classroom comics?
While dealing with pupils who think that they are hilarious has long been the bane of teachers’ lives, it could now be their ticket to comedy glory: the Beano comic has launched a new competition to find the funniest primary class in the country.
These will be judged by other pupils, as well as by stand-up comedian and children’s author Harry Hill, it was announced today.
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“There might be a little bit of genius out there,” Hill said. “When I was growing up, new jokes would be arriving all the time, generated through comics and cartoons. Now, I rarely hear jokes that I don’t already know. I don’t know if kids feel the same.
The country’s funniest pupils
“The thing about children is that you never know what they’re going to say. They’re unbound by a lot of the conventions that adults have. You never know what they’re going to say, and it’s often a surprise.”
Each class is asked to submit three original jokes. The three classes voted the most side-splittingly hilarious will each win a bundle of Beano annuals, subscriptions to the comic and a joke workshop run by the Beano. At the end of this, one class will be named the funniest in the country.
In a survey of 2,000 pupils between the ages of 7 and 12, conducted by competition organisers, two-thirds said that they heard the best jokes in the classroom or the playground. Ninety per cent, meanwhile, said that children were funnier than adults.
Mike Stirling, Beano editorial director, said: “Beano has always known how naturally funny kids are, so this national competition is the perfect way to shine a spotlight on the comedians of tomorrow.”
The top five jokes of all time, as voted by pupils
1. Why was the sand wet? Because the sea weed.
2. What do you call a blind dinosaur? Doyouthinkhesaurus.
3. What did the policeman say to his tummy? Freeze! You’re under a vest.
4. Doctor, Doctor! Help, I feel like a pair of curtains. Pull yourself together, then.
5. What’s the fastest vegetable? A runner bean.
The competition closes on 10 May. Find out more here.
