SMYou came here because you screwed up your A-levels
Jack Whitehall , compared with Stuart Mitchell
Students at a less prestigious university are reminded they didn't choose it; their bad exam results did.
“'Mate get on with the jokes, I came here for the comedy'. … 'No, you came here because you screwed up your A-levels'”
Mock the Week (BBC Two), 2010quote source ↗find on YouTube ↗
The Scottish newcomer said he wrote a similar gag in February 2009 on a comedy course and performed it in May 2010, calling Whitehall's version 'word switching'. (paraphrase)
The Stand, Glasgow, 2010find on YouTube ↗
Both use the familiar bad-A-levels-chose-your-university jibe; Whitehall had done his first, and Chortle judged it likely coincidence.
- Premise 32/40
- Structure 16/30
- Punchline 14/30
- Premise32/40Both tell a lesser university's students their bad A-level results put them there, a well-worn premise.
- Structure16/30Whitehall uses an imagined exchange with a student; how Mitchell's gag was built is not on record.
- Punchline14/30Whitehall's payoff is on record; Mitchell's wording isn't, though he called Whitehall's version word switching.
Setup
Imagines a University of Warrington student
Setup
A gag about a less prestigious university; details not on record
Turn
The student says he came here for the comedy
Turn
Not on record
Punchline
No, you came here because you screwed up your A-levels
Punchline
Similar line about bad exam results; wording not on record
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
Mitchell says he wrote the gag in February 2009 on a stand-up course and recorded it at The Stand, Glasgow, in May 2010. Whitehall did his version in his 2009 Edinburgh Fringe show and on Mock the Week (BBC Two) in October 2010.
What followed
Whitehall's management said he'd done the joke for well over a year, including at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe. Chortle judged coincidence far more likely, noting that grades-decide-your-university gags are a well-worn premise.
Receipts
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Jack Whitehall by Walterlan Papetti, CC BY-SA 4.0