Financial actuary to attempt 'most jokes in an hour' world record

Thursday 6th March update: Donald MacLeod did indeed break the record. He managed to get through 580 jokes in the hour.

Talking to The Scotsman newspaper, he joked that it was having bad gags that helped him beat the previous record holders. "My secret weapon, the one that gives me an advantage over Tim Vine, is that when he did it, he had to wait for the laughter to subside between jokes." He added: "It went really well, minimal heckling, but minimal laughter as well. It was brilliant, we had a great time."

Tim Vine famously made it into the Guinness Book Of Records for telling 499 jokes in an hour, however his achievement has since been beaten by Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann. The Australian comedian managed to rattle through 549 jokes in Adelaide in 2005. However, could the record finally return to Britain soon?

On Wednesday 5th March, Donald MacLeod (pictured) will appear at the Park Bar in Glasgow to attempt to tell at least 550 jokes in just 60 minutes. What's particularly notable is that Donald MacLeod is not a professional comedian... as a day job he deals with risk and uncertainty planning at finance company Scottish Friendly.

MacLeod says all the jokes he plans to tell are original, with his favourite being "Where's the best place in South Africa to get a Batman outfit? Cape Town!"

Talking about the chances of beating the joke record, MacLeod says "I am quite optimistic" and, discussing his job as Head of Actuarial, he explains: "I think comedy is a good release from actuarial work".

Scottish Friendly, who are sponsoring the event, will be covering this record attempt via their website and social media accounts. They say: "We'll be keeping up with Donald a.k.a. Donnie Maroot as he prepares himself for this great challenge. And we will be posting blogs, videos and more as the date draws nearer."

The company will also be using its Twitter account - @scotfriendly - to update those interested in the attempt, adding: "We'll even be Tweeting a joke a day from Donald's very own Awful Joke Book."

Scottish Friendly pride themselves on their community involvement, and the proceeds from the event - along with the profit from the joke books sold by MacLeod - will be going to four charities in the Western Isles: The Bethedsa Care Home and Hospice in Stornoway, Harris House in Tarbert, Tagsa Uibhist in Benbecula and Cobhair Bhrraigh in Castlebay.

To find out more about the attempt visit the Scottish Friendly website

In the below video, Donald talks about how he is preparing for the event:

To coincide with the record attempt, Scottish Friendly are also running a joke competition. Comedy fans are being encouraged to tell their favourite gag via the 7 second video sharing platform Vine. The winner, as picked by Donnie Maroot, will win a £100 Ticketmaster voucher. The deadline to enter is the 4th March 2014.