The out-of-office starts answering back
Chris had returned from Bali but was still at home recovering from the journey. Before he left, listeners had chosen an automatic email reply saying every proposal sounded like a great idea and that he was definitely interested.
Scott had secretly added Chris’s mobile number. Anyone receiving the response could therefore call him directly, but the team decided genuine enquiries were not enough and created some opportunities of their own.
Tony T calls from Basildon
A fake promoter named Tony T telephoned from the equally fake Fandango’s in Basildon. He told Chris that his email had committed him to a four-hour set from 21:00 until 01:00, warming up for Joey Essex.
Chris had to avoid all the big songs because Joey would play them later. Tony also wanted social-media promotion because a rival club had booked Mark Wright on the same night and asked whether “Starky” needed a parking space.
Exhausted and unable to remember what his automatic reply had said, Chris did not end the call. He promised to check his diary and allowed Tony to ring back, which Scott regarded as an extraordinary level of politeness under pressure.
What do Grimmy and Scott do?
An American writer’s enthusiasm for Downton Abbey had inspired him to show character photographs to British colleagues who did not watch it and ask them to invent personalities. Scott adapted the experiment for Stupid Street.
People were shown unflattering pictures of Nick Grimshaw and Scott without being told who they were. Grimmy was identified as an architect, marketing worker, doctor, comedian and somebody employed in media. Scott prepared himself for the corresponding judgements on his orange-vested half-marathon photograph.
Gary Lucy hears the prank
Gary Lucy joined for Real or No Real and praised Chris for staying on the telephone. Years of personal appearances meant Gary recognised Tony T as an excellent imitation of a club promoter, especially the immediate friendliness and practical parking question.
The game included genuine footage of Labrinth attempting a stage dive and knocking down the front of a university crowd like dominoes. Before leaving, Scott announced Tuesday’s Innuendo Bingo: Jessie J would face Chris on his first full week back.
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