Remember When A Hamish And Andy Radio Prank Uncovered The Nicest Bloke In Australia?
Four years ago, Hamish Blake called up a bloke named James and told him he desperately needed his help. The result? Perfection.
Four years ago, Hamish Blake called up a bloke named James on live radio and told him he desperately needed his help. The result? One of the greatest pranks in Australian radio history, and the high point of Hamish and Andy.
Blake, posing as a man named Tim, explained that he’d put down a random number as a reference on a job application. He hadn’t expected to get so far in the application, but now the employers said they were getting ready to call the references “Tim” had supplied.
The kicker? That “random number” was James’.
“If someone calls you and asks do you know Tim Barnard …” Blake said.
“Sure,” James replied. “I’ll just say I know you from way back.”
Clearly, James was onboard from the very beginning. But not even Blake or his co-host Andy could have predicted just how on board.
I don’t want to spoil the best things about this prank, so just watch it yourself first, via the Hamish and Andy YouTube page, and then we’ll discuss:
Clearly then, Blake’s prank uncovered the single nicest man in Australia. “James”, later revealed to be James Lord, a 23-year-old living in Melbourne, doesn’t simply respond to the challenges thrown at him. He positively sails over them, coming up with details on the fly and generally taking time out of his day to help a stranger he has literally never met.
My favourite part? When James is asked to describe “Tim” and his appearance. “What you see is what you get,” James replies, seamlessly.
In the aftermath of the prank, Lord was rightly hailed as a hero on social media. But Lord was demure about the whole thing. “I was just trying my hardest to back up this Tim bloke,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I was just trying to go through my head as quick as I can and answer as quick as I can, obviously because I thought it was real, to not let them catch on that I was just making it all up.”
Truly, in these divided and sad times, we need more people like Lord — willing to go the extra mile for a total stranger.