So the up-and-coming young comic finally gets to go the comedians' convention dinner and finds himself next to a veteran comic. After dinner the guests start to get up and say a number, each followed by gales of laughter around the room. The vet explains that everyone knows all the jokes so they just use the number from the comedians' joke book: "Try this one". The young comic takes to his feet and says "Two hundred and ninety-one!". You can almost hear the tumbleweed in the silence as the young comic sits down. He turns to the vet: "Was that gag no good?". "Never mind, lad,..it's the way you tell them.
He should have used Jack Dee's "Teach yourself hip-hop" bookshop gag from Monday (Would you like me to wrap it? No, I'll learn it myself.).