Christmas Crackers Joke Challenge Announced For Fourth Year By Gold

Christmas Gold
  • Comedians across the nation tasked to create the wittiest modern Christmas cracker joke for 2016 competition
  • £1,500 holiday vouchers up for grabs for the winning festive funny
  • The winning jokes will also feature in bespoke set of Christmas crackers
  • Exclusive Christmas hamper and set of bespoke crackers for nine runners-up

Monday 10th October - For the fourth year in a row, UKTV channel Gold has launched their annual national competition to find the best modern Christmas cracker jokes - as they challenge the British public to channel their festive funny about all the goings on of the year 2016. 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 popular boy band Take That was the winner with "What will be missing from Take That's Christmas stocking this year? An Orange". TV channel Gold is setting the standard for the country again to create a Christmas comedy twist on the ups and downs of the year so far, to ensure the nation is laughing more than ever this festive season!

Britons will pull an astounding 300 million crackers on Christmas Day and Gold's mission is to keep the comedy topical, fresh and fun with new super seasonal gags. The competition invites the nation to submit their new, original and funny Christmas jokes via Twitter and is open now until 11:59pm on Sunday 30th October 2016. The wordsmith crowned with first place will receive £1,500 holiday vouchers alongside a veritably Royal festive treat as their joke is including in their own personalised crackers ready to pull on Christmas Day!

How To Enter

Open to all UK residents aged 18 and over, to enter please:

  • Tweet a Christmas-themed joke via your personal Twitter account including the hashtag #GoldCrackers
  • Gold is looking for modern festive jokes that put a comedy twist on the current news agenda or pop culture phenomenon
  • Must be original content and suitable for a family audience
  • The joke entry must not be more than 140 characters, including the hashtag #GoldCrackers
  • Multiple entries are allowed
  • All entrants must follow @GoldTVChannel (so we can notify the winners) - but the @GoldTVChannel twitter handle does not need to be included in the joke entry

For further information on the terms and conditions, please visit this page. The competition opens on Monday 10th October at 9.00am and will close on Sunday 30th October at 11:59pm.

The best jokes will be shortlisted by a comedy panel led by Bruce Dessau, Comedy Critic at the Evening Standard 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 said, "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 said, "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."

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!

The entrants who supply the top ten jokes will get their own set of bespoke Gold crackers featuring a selection of the winning jokes. The writer of the top joke will win £1,500 holiday vouchers and a box of bespoke Gold Christmas crackers with their winning joke included, making this an unforgettable Christmas. The nine runners-up will each receive a festive Christmas hamper, and a box of bespoke Gold Christmas crackers, which include the top six winning jokes.

For full T&Cs visit this page.