Funny / Room 101

• Richard E. Grant was, true to form, hilariously over the top on his appearance in Series 2.
  • When he nominated maths teachers (as he had had at least three at school who had made his life utterly miserable), Nick Hancock admitted to having once been a teacher. Richard grabbed the prop cane that had been brought out to represent maths teachers, pointed it at Nick, and demanded to know what he had taught. After a somewhat nervous pause, Nick answered "Drama," which got Richard to lower the cane... until Nick added, "And P.E." Richard promptly thwacked him on the hand in revenge for years of being made to play rugby despite being the skinniest kid in his class.
  • Later in the episode, Richard nominated noisy audiences in cinemas, the props for which included a two-foot tall box of popcorn. When Nick began to explain why he wasn't going to allow this nomination into Room 101, Richard grabbed the box of popcorn and emptied it over Nick's head. Nick quipped, "I told the producer we should have got Emu!"^note  A reference to ventriloquist Rod Hull's puppet, who was notoriously badly-behaved on chat show appearances. Almost as funny was Nick's explanation: that he had once, at a screening of The Madness of King George, overheard a woman behind him say, "No, I'm not! My father said, 'If it don't swim up the Thames, don't put it in your mouth!'"
• Neil Morrissey, on his appearance in Series 3, nominated the 1980s ITV quiz/variety show 3-2-1 to go into Room 101. Nick Hancock produced a toy version of the programme's mascot, Dusty Bin (an anthropomorphic dustbin), as a symbol of 3-2-1.
  Nick: Let's get out Dusty, just so that we have a focus for our anger.
  Audience: Awww.
  Nick: [disgusted] "Awww"!? It's a bin!
  Neil: [over audience laughter] And also, we are talking about-
  Nick: Oh my God! [facepalms]
• In his appearance in Series 3, Mark Lamarr nominated gents' toilets, and eventually pointed out that ladies' toilets seem to be much cleaner and more well taken care of than gents' toilets. Nick Hancock suggested that perhaps they should be more honest with the signs on the door. As examples, he produced a black outline of a pristine toilet for the ladies', and one with a cracked bowl, broken seat and lid, and water on the floor for the gents', followed by the usual stick figure in a skirt for the ladies', and a stick figure throwing up into a toilet for the gents'.
• From Series 5, Bill Bailey trying to remove a bra... off of Paul Merton... while pretending to watch a movie.
  Paul: You can't keep your hands off of me.
• One of Anne Robinson's nominated items on her appearance in Series 6 was Big-Mouth Billy the Singing Bass. Paul Merton produced it by way of introduction, activated it, and then, without a further word, pulled the lever to drop it into Room 101.
• Johnny Vegas in his Series 7 appearance describing his epic battles with Internet Chatrooms. "I went on a virtual picnic. She complimented me on my sandwiches."
• From the Kirsty Young episode from Series 9, BRIAN BLESSED doing snooker commentary. CRY HAVOC! AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!!!
• Gyles Brandreth's first choice in his episode from Series 10 was The Royal Variety Performance. Paul decided to show a 2001 clip of Cilla Black and Paul O'Grady (as Lily Savage) in a performance that defies description. Gyles' first words after the clip, after the initial horrified reaction subsided? "I rest my case."
• Paul Merton's guest for his final episode was Ian Hislop^note  The only repeat guest during the Hancock and Merton years; he appeared in the second episode of Series 1, and, inevitably, Ian decided to mostly nominate items he knew Paul would never agree to put into Room 101, such as The Beatles, strawberries, and silent film comedians. However, he finally persuaded Paul to condemn Piers Morgan (in cutout form) to Room 101... only for the cutout to re-emerge from the trapdoor over the sound of a warning siren, apparently having been rejected for being too toxic.
• Frank Skinner, the host from Series 12 onwards, is well-known for being a fan of George Formby, whose most famous song is the Double Entendre-laden "When I'm Cleaning Windows". When Victoria Coren nominates "windows that don't open all the way" in Series 13, Frank announces that he knew a song about windows, produces a banjolele^note  Formby's signature instrument, a cross between a ukulele and a banjo... and "plays" the Microsoft Windows startup tune.

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