Talk:Danny Wallace (humorist)

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Contents

[edit] Creation=

I moved this here when I created the page for the other Danny Wallace. I thought about leaving the page where it was and providing a link, but IMO the footballer was better known in his time than the writer is now so it seemed more appropriate to give them equal importance. I think I've fixed all the links that went to the old page, apologies if I left any out. Cantthinkofagoodname 11:23, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image

  • Deleted danny wallace "advert" picture. NO ADVERTS HERE!

[edit] Marriage

I removed the reference to his supposed marital status. Not only was it poorly worded, but didn't really contain any information. If anyone has a reference for the fact that he's getting married "this month" (not a very encyclopediac peice of info), then feel free to put it back. But if you're so inclined, i would suggest making it part of a (new)larger section on his personal life. He hasn't official disclosed his fiancee's real name, or involved her in his other work (apart from Yes Man in which she was such an important part of the plot), so would probably prefer to keep thier relationship private.

What happened to Hanne (or whatver she was called) circa Are You Dave Gorman? Magic Pickle 00:06, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
They split up towards the end of Join Me. Sven945 01:11, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
I'd agree with the first contributor above; his private relationships aren't part of what makes him notable, until he writes about them. Let's leave it out. If the consensus goes against this, there will soon no doubt be some mass-media references to his marriage, after which, we can include it. Until then, it's original research really. – Kieran T (talk) 01:24, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
I think she will have more of a part in his new book, (she's mentioned in the blurb), so leave it till then? And he does mention her real name in the thanks at the end of Yes Man. He has also discussed her on Big Brother's Little Brother. Eastlygod 02:44, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
The BBC have made specific reference to his wife (Greta) in this article : [1] [[User:itaintwatchdo]

[edit] Sky One

Does anyone know if Danny has (or had) some sort of contract with Sky One? A few days after Hoax Files aired I saw him in a programme about Roswell, and then presenting an episode about aliens in the Conspiracy series, but since I haven't seen any of the other episodes in that series I don't know if he presented them all. --Adam7davies 16:04, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

i would have thought it was more likely he's got work there through contacts he made earlier on in his career. I was under the general imporession he still worked for the BBC (as opposed to just with them on some projects). I reckon rereading yes man and IMDbing some of the poeple mentioned might show upa trail.


Thought I'd also mention that he recently did a Sky One special called "Secrets of the CIA", this is actually quite a serious programme that attempts to uncover CIA madness throughout history. It may be notable because it's one of the few non-comedy things he has done (well it is funny in parts, but it's mainly serious). --Hibernian 05:06, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Virgin Credit Cards

I just read in Private Eye about Virgin Credit Card's advert that plagiarises Yes Man. The piece basically says that Virgin's TV commercial about a man who says yes to everything to improve his life, and therefore says yes to a Virgin Credit Card. Lots of people asked Danny if he was endorsing Virgin, and he's contacted them and all sorts of shenanigans have ensued. I'll write on it later when I have more time, but does anyone have any information from other sources about this? --Adam7davies 17:19, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Danny has talked about it in the forum on his official site (sorry, dont have the URL, just google it. or is it linked to in the article?) Look for threads where ppl have asked questions about it, mainly in the "danny-based stuff" area of the forum. wallace has pote replies as "admin". Amo 17:29, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Purpose of Join Me

Was it started so he could write a book about it, along with yes Man? Magic Pickle 17:23, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

No. He's said he never intended to write either book. He even turned down an offer from a guy who wanted to make a "book of Joinees" while he was starting the cult. However, How to start your own country was clearly made just for the TV show, and used a lot of the stuff he learnt while doing Join Me. Amo 19:43, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
So why write a book about it at all then? OK - has he engaged in any mad projects like this one that he hasn't written a book about? That would be an argument in his favour. It just seems mighty coincidental to come up with two crazy schemes (three if you count Are you Dave Gorman) that weren't intended to be book projects and yet mysteriously have books appearing at the end...Magic Pickle 17:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, i don't think it's a crime even of he did them for the books. Although i suppose lying would be a bit weird. but bar in mind - he is a writer, that's how he has always made his living. And we wouldn't necessarily know about any schemes that he hasn't turned into books - as they haven't been turned into books. If you read the books however, there are lots of flights of fancy that he never carries out, plus all those TV pitches. But think about it - as he's working in TV development by Yes Man i think there's a general acceptance that he's good at thinking up those things. i don't think there needs to be any sugestion of complete innocence. Amo 23:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

No crime at all in him coming up with a scheme in order to write a book - if it's an entertaining one, more the better. The difficulty I have is insisting that these schemes were dreamt up with absolutely no intention of them being books - I just think that's possibly a bit sly. In order to make the schemes more appealing there has to be an element of 'the mess I got myself into - what a fool I am' rather than 'the mess I got myself into in order to write a book about it'. Still, it's entertaining stuff, good luck to him. Magic Pickle 11:55, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I know there's at least one 'project' that he has been involved in that hasn't been a book or TV series or anything. This is based on a personal converstaion with Danny, and he didn't say what it was, just that he had no plans to write a book about it or anything. Worm 10:47, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Well there's still time to write it one day... Magic Pickle 17:52, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] His date of birth

I am sure I saw his date of birth as 1969 (rather than 1976) on his driving licence, of which there was a close-up on a programme he did about the greatest ever hoaxes. In the scene, he attempts to meet a man who he describes as a legendary hoaxer, but is instead sent an imposter in the man's place. The imposter asks for proof of identification, and it is here that the driving licence is seen.

[edit] Hanne

If you read Join Me and Yes Man you'll see what happens, but continue reading if you want to know.

       [spoilers below]

In Join Me she can't deal with the fact that he starts a cult without her knowledge, and they break up. In Yes Man she pops up again as just-a-friend. Amo 09:14, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

-Oh man, I now feel that all the moaning and 'drama' about 'How will these crazy schemes affect my relationship with Hanne?' in 'Are You Dave Gorman' - was a completely pointless waste of time! He put so much stock into his relationship with Hanne in that book. Presumably Hanne was involved in the projects or she wouldn't have appeared in the book (like his new wife) - so what was she so upset about? Magic Pickle 15:53, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

His books are all full of moaning. Oh no, despite the fact that I have a great job, plenty of friends and money, and a flat in London, my life is so terrible I need to embark on some stupid arbitrary quest to make it worth living. But I'm not just doing it so I can write a book about it, oh no.

How is this aiding the Wikipedia entry exactly? --Worm 20:01, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
Yeh, I know I'm posting like, one and a half year later but still. One thing that all of you guys (except for Worm above) forget about is what happen BETWEEN the books. Danny isn't blogging his life and releases books, he's mainly retelling a story of what he once did. Sure Hanne and Danny broke up in Join Me, but Yes Man doesn't pick up where Join Me left. I'm sure these two worked it out just fine during the time. Also, Danny does left out pieces of unrelated information; for an example, he doesn't even mention that he was going to make "How to start your own country" in any of the books I've read.
Anyhow, this is not related to Wikipedia nor this article. Visit [2] and mail your questions to him. / 81.226.131.216 (talk) 04:01, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] film of yes man?

I've not heard of this, can anyone provide a source?86.129.0.201 19:03, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

I added a source.Amo 22:46, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] trivia section

I heard Ian Collins of Talksport fame mentioning that Danny Wallace once worked as a producer on his show many moons ago (while on work expierence) and that they subsequently became friends. Collins was best man at his wedding in Australia! ....does this merit a mention in Trivia?? I think so. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.144.69.171 (talk) 19:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Page name

If you think the dab suffix is wrong, you need to move the page not cut and paste.

Personally, I think the current name is about right, as his works are primarily a form of comedian from what I can see in the articles and on Google. What do other people think? --kingboyk 10:52, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

You have just reverted my comments on the talk page about precisely this. You ought to return them, please. But for the benefit of other readers: you moved this article without discussion, which is generally not the way things are done. Most of this person's output is of the written form; much is comic writing, but he's not a stand-up comic. Much of his television work is similarly humorous rather than directly comedy — for example the recent (light-hearted) episode of BBC science series Horizon which he presented. Writer, to me, is much more appropriate than comedian. – Kieran T (talk) 10:57, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
Fine, then all you need to do is say "Writer, to me, is much more appropriate than comedian". Save the hot air and mock indignation, please. It's a dab title; people alter these all the time and don't need to discuss it first. If you disagree, you take it up on the talk page, you don't do a copy and paste move, because it's a copyright violation. If a comment got zapped I do apologise, it was inadvertent and I will restore it. --kingboyk 11:02, 11 May 2007 (UTC) --kingboyk 12:42, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Right, everybody now calm, start again :) Should this be Danny Wallace (writer), Danny Wallace (comedian) or something else? Something else might include:

--kingboyk 12:18, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, moving him to Danny Wallace would certainly save us having to choose a descriptive word! ;)
Is there a rule against using more than one word? If we need to maintain the dab suffix, could we use "writer and broadcaster"?
There's also "humorist", which has a looser definition than comedian. – Kieran T (talk) 12:35, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
You're certainly right in the first point. Is he more notable than the footballer though?
Humorist is much better. Is it "humourist" in Brit English or do we defer to the Americans with this word? /me goes to check wiktionary... --kingboyk 12:41, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
I think you hit the nail on the head! wiktionary:humorist. "a person who writes or performs humorous material". Alternative (presumably British) spelling Humourist. The word covers both writing and performing humourous material, so provided that's what he's mostly known for it would probably be better than either writer or comedian? --kingboyk 12:47, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
The "u" is weird actually — my OED suggests it's not correct in British English. It's only US online dictionaries which I've found to mention the version with a "u". Same situation with "humorous". – Kieran T (talk) 12:51, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
As for the footballer question; footballers do tend to arouse passions, so we'd best be careful and perhaps try to canvass the opinion of a football expert? But since the chap is retired, we can at least presume that his career as a footballer won't expand beyond what's already in his article. – Kieran T (talk) 12:51, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
OK. Well, I already asked at the footballer's talk page. We can probably agree (pending any further input) on narrowing the choice down to Danny Wallace or Danny Wallace (humorist) though? (neither of which, most amusingly, are the names we were arguing over earlier. c'est la wiki.) --kingboyk 12:55, 11 May 2007 (UTC)