A fridge too far

Most of us have made silly bets while under the influence of alcohol

Most of us have made silly bets while under the influence of alcohol. Few, however, are pig-headed enough - or should I say honourable enough - to stick to them. Tony Hawks, comedian and host of BBC's The Best Show In The World, Probably, was taunted in a pub that he would not manage to hitch-hike around Ireland in one month - with a fridge. Of course Tony could not take such a slur sitting down and wagered the sum of £100 that he could do such a thing with ease. The oddest thing about the whole story is that he actually carried out the dare. Last spring he took to the highways with a small fridge stuffed with gear, which he lugged around from Belfast to Galway to Cork. He reported every couple of days to Gerry Ryan, always a man for a good story, who commented: "Well, you have to say it's a completely purposeless idea, but a damn fine one." Tony won the bet and this spring sees another satisfying result of the whole fridge saga - a book to be published by Ebury Press entitled, well, Round Ireland With A Fridge. There will also be a BBC Radio 4 series about his exploits and the man himself plans to return to Ireland with his trusty fridge for the book's publication in April. You have been warned.