Hans free
Darren Walsh , compared with Pete Cunningham
Deleting all the German names from your phone makes it 'Hans free' — and two comics turned out to have it.
“I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free”
Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe (winner), Edinburgh, 2015quote source ↗find on YouTube ↗
Cunningham's Frank Sanazi persona said he had used the line for seven or eight years, and tweeted it at Walsh in April 2015. (paraphrase)
Twitter and stage actfind on YouTube ↗
The same Hans-free pun word for word; Walsh's own 2011 tweet suggests both comics reached it on their own.
- Premise 39/40
- Structure 27/30
- Punchline 28/30
- Premise39/40Same pun: deleting German names from your phone makes it Hans free.
- Structure27/30Both are compact one-liners; Sanazi's exact phrasing is not on record.
- Punchline28/30Both land on Hans free; only Walsh's exact wording is on record.
Setup
I just deleted all the German names off my phone
Setup
Same gag about deleting German names; exact wording not on record
Turn
Set-up implies a phone without Hans, playing on hands-free
Turn
Same hands-free pun
Punchline
It's Hans free
Punchline
Hans free
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
Pete Cunningham (Frank Sanazi) says he had used the gag for years and tweeted it in an April 2015 Twitter exchange with Walsh. Walsh's version won Dave's Funniest Joke of the Fringe in August 2015. Chortle later found Walsh had tweeted it first, in 2011.
What followed
Cunningham said there were no hard feelings towards Walsh, a friend, and answered with more German puns. Dave stood by the award, and in 2019 Chortle noted Walsh's own tweet of the joke dated to 2011, before the 2015 exchange the claim rested on.