Del Boy Tops Favourite Comedy Accident Poll

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May 19, 2015, 04:00 ET

LONDON, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Del Boy is the nation's top plonker as his iconic falling through the bar moment is voted the all time favourite comedy accident.

The infamous Only Fools and Horses scene where Del Boy utters the immortal words: "Play it nice and cool, son. Nice and cool, you know what I mean," to Trigger before falling through the bar, won 51% of the votes in a poll of comedy TV or film accidents. The iconic pratfall beat even Mr Bean, Laurel and Hardy, and the Home Alone burglars to the number one spot.

In fact Del Boy steals first and second place in the poll, with dropping the antique chandelier on the floor in the episode A Touch of Glass voted second favourite.

The poll, conducted on behalf of family focussed insurance brand There^®, placed the Vicar of Dibley jumping into a deep muddy puddle in third place with 19% of the votes. The legendary Music Box episode of Laurel and Hardy got just 5% of the votes.

The majority (62%) of respondents felt such scenes had enduring popularity because they appeal to the traditional British sense of humour. More than a quarter of the population believe slapstick is the best form of comedy and is something the whole family can enjoy.

Philippa McLaglen, Marketing Manager for There^®, said: "We Brits are unique in our sense of humour and our research celebrates this love of slapstick. Del Boy won by a country mile, even the Home Alone pratfalls only came 6^th in the rankings. Sadly such accidents wouldn't feel nearly so funny in real life and the serious side of the story is the potential financial consequence of taking a tumble that sees you out of work for a while."

Silly accidents are a monthly occurrence for three quarters of us, with a hapless 14% having one mishap a week. No surprise then that more than a third of us consider ourselves or our family to be accident prone. Despite this, only 16% of parents have insurance to cover their income if they are too ill to work.

The nation's top 10 comedy accidents are:

Del Boy falling through the bar - Only Fools and Horses
Del Boy and Rodney smashing the chandelier - Only Fools and Horses
The Vicar jumps in a giant puddle - The Vicar of Dibley
Victor picks up a puppy instead of a phone - One Foot in The Grave
Joey gets his head stuck in a turkey - Friends
The burglar traps - Home Alone
Mrs Doubtfire burns her blouse while cooking - Mrs Doubtfire
Alan is hit by a falling cow - I'm Alan Partridge
The train chase - Wallace & Gromit, The Wrong Trousers
(Jointly) Arkwright's bike breaks - Open All Hours; Jay rides his motorbike into the building - The Inbetweeners