Gold opens Christmas cracker joke competition 2016
UKTV channel Gold has launched its annual national competition to find the best modern Christmas cracker jokes.
This is the fourth year of the competition in which the public are challenged to "channel their festive funny about all the goings on of the year" and come up with a modern joke for a Christmas cracker.
Last year's competition was the most popular yet, with political pun "Why does Ed Milliband like advent calendars? He gets to open the door to number 10" taking number one spot. The year before, Jason Orange's departure from Take That was the winner with "What will be missing from Take That's Christmas stocking this year? An Orange".
This year's winner, as determined by a poll made up of members of the public, will receive £1,500 holiday vouchers and a set of personalised crackers ready to pull on Christmas Day.
The channel says: "With the success of Gold's Christmas Cracker competition over the past three years combined with all that's happened in 2016, the chance to carry on the festive cheer is one not to be missed. From Brexit to celebrity hook-ups and the break-ups, as well as the infamous presidential showdown over in the US, there is plenty of opportunity for topical, fun and original content to be showcased by witty writers. And as entries are made via Twitter, all gags must be within 140 characters - to keep jokes short and snappy, like the very best crackers!"
Entry details
The competition is open to all UK residents aged 18 and over. Gold is looking for modern festive jokes "that put a comedy twist on the current news agenda or pop culture phenomenon". The joke must be original content and suitable for a family audience, and be a maximum of 140 characters.
Multiple entries are allowed.
The deadline to enter is 11:59pm on Sunday 30th October 2016.
To enter:
1. Follow @GoldTVChannel so they can notify you if you win.
2. Tweet your Christmas-themed joke via your personal Twitter account including the hashtag #GoldCrackers (the @GoldTVChannel twitter handle does not need to be included in the joke entry).
3. Leave the Tweet on your account so it can be included in the judging process.
The best jokes will be shortlisted by a comedy panel led by Bruce Dessau, the Evening Standard comedy critic and Editor of comedy website beyondthejoke.co.uk, and then put to a public vote - with the top ten winning jokes being announced in December.
Bruce Dessau says: "This year has seen it all, and now it feels likes the time is right for everyone to bounce back by giving comedy a crack. With all that's been happening in 2016 I'm looking forward more than ever to seeing the gags that people come up with for Gold's latest Christmas cracker competition. I doubt that inspiration will be in short supply with Brexit and British politics, as well as Donald Trump seeming to defy reality over the pond; it's all sure to inspire some cracking one liners to laugh ourselves silly over our Christmas dinner."
Steve North, General Manager of Gold, adds: "Last year's jokes were better than ever, and we're looking forward to seeing what Christmas crackers are thrown into the mix this year. With all the headlines of 2016, there are already plenty of popular culture and political moments and fails that would lend themselves perfectly to the Christmas cracker joke treatment."
This article is provided for free as part of BCG Pro.
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