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| Nervous Boothby delights in making people laugh 22 February 2006 | |
| YORKSHIRE-BORN comedian Boothby Graffoe took his professional name from a road sign, and may need to do some navigating when he strikes out on his first Highland tour this month. He laughed when I suggested to him that February might not be most people's first choice as the ideal time to be criss-crossing the Highlands. The mild winter has held few problems for travellers so far, but he knows that could change. "Funnily enough, I was thinking about that the other day and wondering what on earth am I doing, " he admitted. "Is it snowing up there yet? I think it's probably saving it for us, but I'm looking forward to it immensely, and who knows, I might even get a bit of ski-ing or snowboarding in." The comedian was born James Rogers, but took his name from a small Lincolnshire village, and began his career on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. The choice of name has no profound hidden depths. "It was laziness, really, " he confessed. "It was written on a sign and it looked quite nice. There was no profound thought behind it - for God's sake don't come to my show looking for help of a philosophical nature! It's only designed to make you laugh. "Mind you, that is a great thing to do, " he added. "There is nothing quite like that feeling of really uncontrollable laughter, is there? I love it. I was doing a gig the other night and there was a man who went off into paroxysms. I just happened to say something that really appealed to him - I think I was being a sheep at the time. He was completely helpless with laughter, and it was such a lovely thing to see. He couldn't even sit down he was laughing so hard." Being a sheep might sound odd, but animal personifications are one of his trademarks. |
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