Back in 2017 I wrote about Tony Blackburn and his return to early morning radio on BBC Radio 2. All these years later he continues to host “Sounds of the 60s” on Saturday morning (6am to 8am). Occasionally I am up during the live broadcast. Usually I hear the show later on the web. I rarely miss it.

For a while these morning shows made me feel nostalgic. Over 300 broadcasts later, they are part of my life as it is now, not just a reminder my childhood or my 20s. One of the regular features in “Sounds of the 60s” is the brief chat that Tony Blackburn has with Dermot O’Leary. His show follows immediately afterwards, at 8am if you’re listening live. I enjoy these exchanges, and they have established a routine where the trade jokes, usually in answer to questions about how their week has been.

• Dermot told Tony recently that he had got a handyman round to do some work. He gave him a list of things that needed to be done. When the handyman had finished he went through the list and had only done items 1, 3, 5 … Well, he only does odd jobs.
• Tony, by contrast, has just started a job as an archaeologist. His life is in ruins.
• One week Dermot told us that a man has been going around stealing everyone’s knitting. Police think he’s following a pattern.

Sometimes the jokes are repeated.

• Over the last couple of years both Tony and Dermot have told the story about a local store being broken into. The thieves stole 500 cans of energy drinks and 100kg of coffee. How do these people sleep at night?

Sometimes one of them will anticipate or even correct the other’s story.

• Earlier this year Dermot told us that a mate has been fired from his job at a calendar factory. Before he could finish Tony told us that he kept taking days off.
• This prompted a second joke, about a truck full of Vick’s products. Tony took over again: A lorry full of nasal spray overturned on the M40, but the police aren’t expecting any congestion.
• Tony has a new job because it turns out that he can smell a coconut from a mile away – he’s going to be a Bounty Hunter.
• He also tried to join the kleptomaniac society. He went along to one of their meetings but all the seats had been taken.
• And here’s something he had never told us before: he used to be a mime artist in the 1960s. He kept that quiet

I’ll finish this round-up with a tenth joke from the show, but hope to return to this theme at some point.

• Which Parisian landmark is 800ft high and wobbles? The Trifle Tower

UPDATE: A few follow-up pieces can be found here:

Tony and Dermot, a second selection of jokes

Tony and Dermot, a third selection of jokes

Tony and Dermot, a fourth selection of jokes