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Home / Business

Last laugh: Sacked ad guy Josh Thompson and support clown star on British TV

NZ Herald
18 Sep, 2019 09:30 PM3 mins to read

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The Kiwi adman who brought a clown to a redundancy meeting making international headlines on UK morning show. Video / ITV

The advertising copywriter and clown who last week made headlines around the world have been labelled the funniest ever interview guests on ITV's This Morning show.

Following the explosion of international interest in the bizarre story, the pair were asked to appear on the TV show - and they did not disappoint.

In the video, copywriter Josh Thompson sits next to his collaborator Joseph Brosnahan - aka Joe the Clown - (who was fittingly dressed for the occasion).

Read more:
• Joe the Clown gives his side
• The creative genius of a clown at a redundancy meeting

Presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are left in stitches as Thompson explains what happened, apologises for his poor hairdo and even plays a practical joke on Joe.

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Thompson explained he thought the news was going to be quite bad so he thought it best to bring a professional in.

"I know that family and friends are the usual support people, but to be honest my mum can't even juggle," he told the hosts.

"I thought it best to bring in Joe to make a few balloon animals and keep my spirits high.

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Copywriter Josh Thompson with his collaborator Joseph Brosnahan. Image / File
Copywriter Josh Thompson with his collaborator Joseph Brosnahan. Image / File

Adding to the hilarity of it all was the fact that Joe didn't have his own earpiece, which meant that when asked by the presenters how he felt about the situation, Thompson changed the question to what his favourite animal was.

Thompson further explained that his former bosses at ad agency FCB took the whole thing quite well and only had reservations about the level of noise coming from the balloon twisting.

"I think they were a little bit taken aback at first. But when Joe was doing his thing there were smiles all around," he said.

"He's $200 and they got him for free, so what can they complain about?"

Discover more

Employment

'Creative genius' of clown at redundancy meeting

13 Sep 11:16 PM
New Zealand

Real reason 'redundancy clown' was at meeting

14 Sep 09:17 AM
New Zealand

'So hilarious I couldn't resist': Joe the clown speaks

14 Sep 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Why ad man brought a clown to redundancy meeting

20 Nov 09:06 PM

The cameo proved a huge hit among social media users, who described it as the "best interview ever".

Funniest interview ever!

— Diane Philipson (@Briarlow) September 18, 2019

Others also called for Thompson and the clown to be given a more permanent slot on the TV show.

Oh my !! Give him a slot !!! #ThisMorning

— Gina (@angryg21) September 18, 2019

Interest in the story erupted on Friday afternoon when the Herald first broke the story about the clown.

Some suspected that it might have been a hoax at first, but Thompson, who has since started a new job at DDB, spoke to the media and confirmed that he did, in fact, bring the clown to his redundancy meeting.

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