The road trip reached Muff
The final major day of the Road to the LOLathon took Chris across the Irish border to Muff.
The town had been waiting for him.
Locals gathered around the welcome sign with jokes and cameras.
Chris arrived in full scuba gear, purely because the photographs were funnier that way.
The image of him standing beside the Welcome to Muff sign in a wetsuit became the natural peak of a trip which had already included Tom Titt Lane and Dancing Dick’s Lane.
Muff treated the visit like an event
Local people joined Radio 1 in making the stop feel much bigger than the original joke required.
Chris was given ceremonial treatment and welcomed by representatives from the area.
A local social-media account devoted to the town also became part of the broadcast.
The transcript renders the name as something close to “Craic on Muff”, which suited the entire afternoon perfectly.
Scott was impressed by how enthusiastically everybody had embraced a national radio programme turning up because of the place name.
Stark History of Muff began
Chris performed another Stark History of Britain, despite Muff being on the Irish side of the journey.
As usual, genuine local details sat beside deliberate innuendo.
He mentioned the River Foyle and the area’s relationship with fishing.
The more respectable the historical music sounded, the more ridiculous the wording became.
Scott repeatedly reminded listeners that this was entertainment, not a documentary they should quote in school.
Muff Liquor completed the visit
The programme also returned to a name it already knew from Funny Business.
Muff Liquor was a genuine local drinks brand.
Chris sampled a cocktail involving it while on the road.
The company had previously been funny simply because Scott and Chris had to say its name on daytime Radio 1.
In Muff itself, it suddenly became the obvious local refreshment.
The final stop was the Giant’s Ring
The road trip then moved towards Giant’s Ring, near Belfast.
Chris gave it another Stark History treatment.
The real site was a prehistoric henge and had served different purposes through history, including as a meeting place and, according to the show’s research, a race track in the 18th century.
The route had successfully moved from rude-sounding modern road signs to an ancient monument whose name still fitted the brief.
Then the practical problems returned
The team had a flight home to catch.
The vehicle had also developed a fuel-cap problem.
After days of treating Britain and Ireland like one giant joke map, the final hours became a normal travel panic.
Chris needed to get back to London.
The LOLathon itself would begin at 1pm the following day.
The giant red book was full.
Now Scott and Chris had to stay awake for 24 hours and actually use it.
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