Top 50 Tim Vine Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Black beauty – he’s a dark horse.”

— Tim Vine

2. “I’d like to start with the chimney jokes – I’ve got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.”

— Tim Vine

3. “I went out on a date with Simile. I don’t know what I metaphor.”

— Tim Vine

4. “I saw this bloke chatting up a cheetah. He was trying to pull a fast one.”

— Tim Vine

5. “I took part in the sun-tanning Olympics – I just got bronze.”

— Tim Vine

6. “Apparently, one in five people in the world are Chinese. And there are five people in my family, so it must be one of them. It’s either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother, Colin. Or my younger brother, Ho-Chan-Chu. But I think it’s Colin.”

— Tim Vine

7. “Black holes. I don’t know what people see in them. Exit signs? They’re on their way out.”

— Tim Vine

8. “I phoned the local ramblers club today and this bloke just went on and on.”

— Tim Vine

9. “Now did you know if a stick insect laid it’s eggs in a jar of Bovril it will give birth to a litter of twiglets.”

— Tim Vine

10. “So I went down the local supermarket, I said “I want to make a complaint, this vinegar’s got lumps in it”, he said “Those are pickled onions”.”

— Tim Vine

11. “I was at sea the other day and loads of meat floated past. It was a bit choppy.”

— Tim Vine

12. “So I told my mum that I’d opened a theatre. She said, “Are you having me on?” I said, “Well I’ll give you an audition, but I’m not promising you anything.””

— Tim Vine

13. “People ask ‘do you make a conscious effort not to swear?’ – if you’re doing silly stuff you’re not tempted to put swearing in. All the comics from my childhood, who were funny without swearing, were the people that influenced me. What I do is quite traditional anyway.”

— Tim Vine

14. “Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels.”

— Tim Vine

15. “I met this gangster who pulls up people’s pants. Name’s Wedgie Kray.”

— Tim Vine

16. “I saw this train driver and said, ‘I wanna go to Paris.’ He said, ‘Eurostar?’ I said, ‘Well I’ve been on telly but I’m no Dean Martin.’ Mind you, at least the Eurostar’s comfy. It’s murder on the Orient Express isn’t it?”

— Tim Vine

17. “I went to the doctor. I said to him “I’m frightened of lapels.” He said, “You’ve got cholera.””

— Tim Vine

18. “So I went to the Chinese restaurant and this duck came up to me with a red.”

— Tim Vine

19. “I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.”

— Tim Vine

20. “Believe it or not, there are twice as many eyebrows in the world as there are people.”

— Tim Vine

21. “You see my next door neighbour worships exhaust pipes, he’s a catholic converter.”

— Tim Vine

22. “So I met the bloke who invented crosswords today. I can’t remember his name, it’s P something T something R.”

— Tim Vine

23. “This policeman came up to me with a pencil and a piece of very thin paper. He said, “I want you to trace someone for me.””

— Tim Vine

24. “You know, I’m not very good at magic – I can only do half of a trick. Yes – I’m a member of the Magic Semi-circle.”

— Tim Vine

25. “You see I’m against hunting, in fact I’m a hunt saboteur. I go out the night before and shoot the fox.”

— Tim Vine

26. “So I went in to a pet shop. I said, “Can I buy a goldfish?” The guy said, “Do you want an aquarium?” I said, “I don’t care what star sign it is.””

— Tim Vine

27. “My mate asked me “What do you think of voluntary work?” I said “I wouldn’t do it if you paid me.””

— Tim Vine

28. “I sit in places like Costa Coffee in Banstead and write rubbish. I need a deadline. I think about the 44 tour dates and keep imagining standing in front of all these people. Then every day I write 15 jokes minimum.”

— Tim Vine

29. “So I went to buy a watch, and the man in the shop said “Analogue.” I said “No, just a watch.””

— Tim Vine

30. “I’m so lazy I’ve got a smoke alarm with a snooze button.”

— Tim Vine

31. “Now you know those trick candles that you blow out and a couple of seconds.”

— Tim Vine

32. “If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn’t really count as narrative.”

— Tim Vine

33. “One-armed butlers, they can take it but they can’t dish it out.”

— Tim Vine

34. “I’ve got a sponge front door. Hey, don’t knock it.”

— Tim Vine

35. “I’ll tell you what I love doing more than anything: trying to pack myself in a small suitcase. I can hardly contain myself.”

— Tim Vine

36. “I was in this restaurant and I asked for something herby. They gave me a Volkswagen with no driver.”

— Tim Vine

37. “So I got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said ‘Who’s speaking please?’ And a voice said ‘You are.’”

— Tim Vine

38. “Velcro: what a rip-off.”

— Tim Vine

39. “As you get older you’re told to be sensible, but it’s important for writing if you’re a comic that you’re able to still access that childlike thing.”

— Tim Vine

40. “My house is a bit like a teenager’s bedroom. The kind of pictures you have hanging up on your wall say a lot about you. I’ve got ones of Evel Knievel, Elvis and Starsky and Hutch, signed by David Soul.”

— Tim Vine

41. “So this bloke says to me, “Can I come in your house and talk about your carpets?” I thought “That’s all I need, a Je-hoover’s witness”.”

— Tim Vine

42. “So I rang up my local swimming baths. I said ‘Is that the local swimming baths?’ He said ‘It depends where you’re calling from.’”

— Tim Vine

43. “I went into a shop and I said, “Can someone sell me a kettle.” The bloke said “Kenwood” I said, “Where is he?””

— Tim Vine

44. “The other day someone left a piece of plasticine in my dressing room. I didn’t know what to make of it.”

— Tim Vine

45. “So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me ‘Can you give me a lift?’ I said ‘Sure, you look great, the world’s your oyster, go for it.’”

— Tim Vine

46. “People think that because of my act that I must have a really busy mind and I must be driven. I really am not. I quite like going outside and looking at spiders on a hedge in my garden and stuff.”

— Tim Vine

47. “With silly stuff, it’s seventy-five percent confidence. I always tell people that it’s because I’m nervous about getting that next laugh and I need to hear it. I always want to condense a joke.”

— Tim Vine

48. “If you compulsively pun you are called a paronomasiac.”

— Tim Vine

49. “I love acting, but it’s all just a bonus.”

— Tim Vine

50. “I’m not someone who gets to play The O2 and places like that, but that’s the kind of rock and roll venue. The popularity of stand-up means that some people are getting to play rock star venues.”

— Tim Vine