A bride has revealed she divorced her husband just 48 hours after getting hitched due to a cruel prank he played at their wedding reception. The woman warned her husband, Jake, that she would break up with him if he attempted to do a prank on their big day after she caught him watching similar videos online. Jake promised he wouldn’t do anything but ignored the bride’s warning with dire consequences, reports the Mirror. The woman explained on Reddit: “Among other things, these videos showed embarrassing photos of the bride being played on a projector in front of the whole room or the bride’s face being smashed into the cake. I told him straight away that I didn’t want anything like that at our wedding. “He just laughed and said that he wasn’t planning anything like that. “I thought that was the end of it but I kept catching him making strange arrangements with his friends. He suddenly wanted to choose the wedding photographer and the cake.” Then bride encouraged him to contact a photographer and bakery after initially being encouraged that he took an interest in wedding planning. “I reminded him the day before that if he did something like that [a prank], I would break up with him immediately,” she added. “When the day of the wedding came, everything went smoothly until the ceremony. Until the moment came when the cake was to be cut. “The whole room watched as I made the first cut and the photographer stood in front of us with camera in hand. Suddenly I felt a hand on the back of my head pushing me face-first into the cake. Not only my make-up but the whole wedding dress was ruined and the whole room laughed, my husband the loudest. “At that moment the photographer took the photo and Jake said that this was now our wedding photo.” Annoyed, she turned around and slapped Jake across the face before running out of the room in tears. Wanting to make sure she was OK, her new brother-in-law, Frank, chased after her to check on her. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you’re on mobile , select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in! If you’re on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click ‘Join Community’. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. She added: “Thank god karma didn’t take long to arrive and came in the form of his own brother. I ran to the toilet and started crying when I suddenly heard loud shouting from the hall. it was his brother Frank. I could barely understand what he was saying and when I left the toilet he was waiting for me. “He told me that Jake had something to tell me. jake was shaking and apologised without looking me in the eye. frank told him to look me in the eye and apologise again. Even I was a bit scared of Frank at that moment because I had always thought of him as a kind and gentle man. I had never seen him angry before. “Jake apologised again and then Frank led us back into the hall which was suddenly very quiet and most of our families looked down at the floor a little embarrassed. the festivities were cut short and I was taken home by Frank because I was too angry with my husband and I didn’t want to see him.” Frank revealed how Jake would do everything in his power to spoil every special occasion when they were children on the drive home. “When it was Frank’s birthday, my husband would throw his cake at him and break his presents,” she said. “But back then, their parents always brushed it all off by saying that that’s just how brothers behave so he had to endure every humiliation, but when he saw my husband bury my face in the cake, he was fed up because he realised that my husband was just a bad person who got his satisfaction from humiliating others. “I asked Frank if he thought it would be an exaggeration if I separated from my husband and he said no, because according to him I deserved better and he didn’t care how his brother felt about it because he had brought it on himself. Then he told me that if I needed help collecting my things he would help me and gave me his number.” She filed for divorce from her new husband after the conversation. She added: “Jake just told me not to do that because it was just a harmless prank. I was spammed by both his family and mine that it would be ridiculous to end our marriage over this. “But I see it differently. If he does something like this to me despite multiple requests not to do it even after promising he wouldn’t do it then I can’t trust him no matter what he promises me. I have to assume that the opposite can and will happen – and that he doesn’t care at all how I feel about his decisions. “This situation can be projected onto so many much worse situations where it would be important for me to be able to trust him. His brother Frank seems to be the only one who supports me now and I will go through with the divorce. Call me humorless, call me what you want but I have given my reasons.” Commenting on her post, one user said: “I’m sorry this happened, but so proud of you. You warned him multiple times and he felt it was more important to get laughs than be a trustworthy partner. I don’t know why people think humiliation is a prank. If you have to explain that it was a joke, it’s not funny. “Best of luck. Please let Frank know he’s a good man, and we appreciate him having your back.” Another user added: “He lied and was disrespectful. Obviously not the things you want in a marriage. Divorcing him now will save you from dealing with more boundaries being broken and heartache. You deserve better.” A third user said: “You told him what the consequences would be. Now he gets to live with that choice. I don’t think you have to divorce. If you don’t file the marriage certificate within a certain amount of time, you aren’t legally married. Just make sure he doesn’t file it on your behalf.” Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
Wexford’s Carer of the Year: ‘My son has never told me he loves me, but it’s there every morning in his smile’
This is Wexford Newsletter Enter your email address below and click ‘Sign Up’ to receive the This is Wexford newsletter direct to your inbox. In 39 years Jason Power has never once been able to tell his parents how much he loves them, never been able to thank them for their unwavering support, never been able to allay the fears they hold as the years slowly creep by. But he hasn’t needed to, because it’s all there in the great beaming smile he greets them with every morning. Born with severe cerebral palsy, Jason is wheelchair bound and non-verbal and has been for the entirety of his life. Following his birth he had stints in The National Maternity Hospital (Holles Street) and Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, but was subsequently able to go home under the care of his mam and dad, Betty and Phil of of Knockcumshane, Clonard Cross. Jason requires 24/7 support in all aspects of his life and, apart from four weeks of the year, that support is provided by Betty and Phil. Although neither parent would claim to be any different from the estimated 500,000 family carers in Ireland, they have nonetheless been recognised for their lifetime of dedication with this year’s Wexford Family Carer of the Year award. “When I heard about it first I couldn’t believe it, we wouldn’t be the type to put in for this kind of thing,” said Betty. “It was a joint award between myself and my husband Phil; it was lovely to get it, but to us everybody is carer of the year, everybody who does this deserves to be recognised.” The award, which recognises the “exceptional dedication and commitment of family carers across the nation who provide vital care at home for loved ones with additional needs” was presented to Betty and Phil at the Wexford Family Carer’s Ireland (FCI) premises on Henrietta Street by Mayor of Wexford, Councillor John Hegarty, and afterwards the couple spoke about the reality of caring for an adult son with additional needs. “If myself and Betty passed away would the person caring for Jason look after him as well as we do?” Phil asked. “The thought of that hurts a lot. It’s a very painful situation, you worry about what will happen after you’re gone, but at the same time you don’t want him to go before you. And even though you shouldn’t, you can’t help but wonder what his life would have been like if he’d been out playing hurling for the club, if he met the woman of his dreams and started a family. “But in saying that we wouldn’t be without him for the world. In the mornings before he heads off we’d always sing a song, I’d play the harmonica for him, he loves music and it always brings a smile to his face, he’s a special little fella and I couldn’t imagine life without him.” The future and where Jason will go when the times comes, is something which Betty admits to thinking about on a daily basis. “The day will come further down the line when we have to make a decision regarding Jason and where his future will lie once we’re gone,” she says, “it’s something we think about every day, what happens when we’re not able to do it any more? A nursing home isn’t the right place for him, he needs specialised care.” Unlike many family carers in the country, Betty and Phil get four weeks respite annually, time which allows them to recharge the batteries and gives Jason a chance to enjoy new surroundings. They attribute this to being in the system for so long. “There’s so many people looking for respite services and there’s only a certain amount available, there’s not enough for people in this country,” says Betty. “I get a lot of calls from people asking me about it, and it’s the same when we have our meetings at FCI; there’s new people who have only just become carers and they don’t know what to do, how to access these services; I would say that the FCI is a great place to start, you’ll meet people there who have been going through this for a long time.” In addition to a lack of services, the work of carers, of people like Betty and Phil, is, she says, routinely ignored by the government. “Carers need to be recognised more, we’re often put into the background, given a few increases or bonuses at Christmas and told to go away. That’s now how it should be, it’s estimated there’s 500,000 family carers in Ireland and those people are saving the state an awful lot of money. More residential day care is required. We’re all on an even level, all going through the same thing, this award is just about making sure the FCI is acknowledged and making sure all carers are recognised. Describing Jason’s current health as “very, very good”, Betty notes that, aside from a couple of dental appointments, her son has never once had to attend Wexford General Hospital (WGH) in all these years and continues to enjoy his time at Ard Aoibhinn Day Services in Wexford town, going for walks and drives, and just generally being “out and about”. While the couple do, on the rare occasion, reflect on the difficulties of caring for Jason, his father says that maintaining a positive attitude and being proud of their boy is at the heart of everything they do. “I would say to other carers to always cherish, love and idolise your family member, be proud of them and bring them everywhere you can because they’re your flesh and blood,” says Phil. “Give them that dignity, years ago children were hidden away, they wouldn’t have known what day of the week it was. So give them that dignity, don’t be afraid. My son has never told me he loves me but when I see his big smile every morning it says it all. You’d often think, why him? But that’s just the way it was.” Jason Carroll, local Community Supports Manager with FCI, said the award recognises the “dedication and sacrifices made by every single-family carer, but also serve as a powerful reminder of the crucial role they play in our society. Their resilience, love and support are immeasurable. Their contributions are a testament to the strength of our community. Betty’s story reflects the commitment, love and hard work exhibited by family carers throughout the country.” Next Thursday (November 30), Betty, Phil, Jason, and their other son Patrick will travel to Dublin for the national carer of the year awards where they will not only be representing Wexford, but the whole of Leinster.
Friends director says Emily actor wasn’t very funny
Ross and Emily were never truly meant to be, but they actually genuinely almost weren’t. Helen Baxendale, who played the second wife of David Schwimmer’s character on Friends, was kind of a dud. That’s according to James Burrows, the veteran television director who was behind the scenes for classic sitcoms like Taxi, Cheers, Will & Grace, and yes, Friends.
Baxendale “was nice, but not particularly funny,” Burrows writes in his book Directed By James Burrows (via People). “Schwimmer had no one to bounce off. It was like clapping with one hand.”
Tough scenes, literally, for Ross’ doomed relationship with Emily. Apparently getting a new actor was considered, but “Often, you can’t recast, because of tight shooting deadlines or other logistical considerations,” Burrows explains. “You need someone who gets laughs. Sometimes you start an arc and it ain’t working out, so you have to get rid of that person. If it’s a day player, it’s a quick goodbye.” (On the other hand, “If there’s chemistry, the writers go to work to figure out some way of keeping the actor.”)
Despite Burrows’ clear misgivings, Baxendale had a relatively lengthy arc for one of Ross’ girlfriends. She appeared in 14 episodes of the show, including the infamous English wedding wherein Ross accidentally says Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) name while saying his wedding vows. No matter what anyone thinks about Emily, it’s a pivotal moment in Friends history.
Nevertheless, “In sitcoms and any type of romantic comedy, the funny is just as important as the chemistry,” Burrows says. “We discovered that any new girlfriend for Ross needed to be as funny as Rachel.” As funny as Rachel? That’s a high bar, and one not many of Ross’ girlfriends managed to cross. You’re not alone, Emily!
Students from Auckland’s Mt Albert Grammar claim final days of term cut to avoid ‘prank day’ – NZ Herald
Students from schools at the opposite ends of the North Island are outraged after their final days were allegedly cut short in an impromptu assembly to avoid “prank day”.
One senior student from Mt Albert Grammar School, who wished to remain anonymous, said they felt they had been stripped of a “very sentimental and important time” in their lives after their time was cut short at an impromptu assembly today.
However, the school’s principal said the date had been confirmed “since the beginning of the year”.
Speaking to the Herald, the students said the cancellation came as a surprise to all pupils, who were called into a spontaneous assembly.
Many students left the assembly feeling hurt and confused, as did many teachers who were allegedly not informed of the sudden cancellation, they claim.
“Many of us have now lost the opportunity to say goodbye to friends in other year levels who we will likely never see again,” a student said.
The student theorised the cancellation was a pre-emptive measure to stop the students from participating in the pranks commonly associated with the school’s final days.
The students emphasised they personally were not involved in any planned pranks. Any pranks they had heard of involved “funny, harmless posters” around the school and a water fight involving small water guns.
They acknowledged students from previous years had participated in more extreme pranks, such as setting off fireworks or egging the school, but they felt they should not be punished for the action of a “select few past students”.
Another student, who also wished to remain anonymous, said the lack of communication to students and teachers showed a “lack of respect and appreciation”.
“All we want is for our last day not to be cancelled and to be able to say a proper goodbye to our teachers,” the student said.
Both students acknowledged they intended to attend senior prize-giving on Monday, but said they were unsure if all their teachers would be there and they believed they were not being given their full high school experience.
Mt Albert Grammar School principal Patrick Drumm disputed the students’ claims. “This date has been confirmed as their final day since the beginning of the year.
“Our senior students are utilising this time of the year to balance academic study along with the large number of celebratory events that are part of the year’s end,” Drumm said.
“A large number of senior students will return to school over the remainder of this week for tutorials and workshops in final preparations for the upcoming NCEA examinations.”
On the school’s website, it does not say today was the expected end of the school year for senior students.
Another school at the other end of the country also cancelled classes early to avoid the notorious prank day.
A student from St Mary’s College in Wellington told the Herald the year 13s were gathered together on Wednesday afternoon to be told “study leave” was starting early. Just like Mt Albert Grammar, no reason was given.
“This suspension caused most of us girls to be in tears and so disappointed with the school,” the student said.
“When we asked questions as to when we will do our internals we still had to complete and mock exams they told us we were not allowed on school premises.”
Another student said it was “extremely upsetting” to cancel the fun activities they had planned, none of which included defacing the school.
“One of our Year 13 students even came back from a family emergency to enjoy her final days as a college student and broke down when she heard the news,” the student claimed.
St Mary’s College has been approached for comment.
Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.
When Steve Martin’s Career Exploded on ‘A Wild and Crazy Guy’
Steve Martin had been honing his singularly silly stand-up act for a decade before the world truly caught on. That’s not surprising, as Martin’s comic persona was itself a put-on, a layered deconstruction of showbiz and stand-up that required his audience to perform a demanding mental calculus, all while the white-suited, bunny-eared Martin performed some of the most outwardly silly schtick imaginable.
But catch on the world did, with Martin’s appearances on the upstart late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live branding his deceptively brainy comedy into the public consciousness to the extent that SNL’s ratings routinely rose by a million or more viewers every time Martin was in the house. His first comedy album, 1977’s Let’s Get Small, went platinum and won a Grammy Award, making Martin’s inevitable follow-up, A Wild and Crazy Guy (released in October 1978), a critical and commercial sure thing. It was both, with A Wild and Crazy Guy doubling the sales of its predecessor (and reaching No. 2 on Billboard), Martin receiving another Best Comedy Album Grammy and the comic embarking on a stand-up tour whose wild success is documented in a midset shift on the album itself.
Beginning at the more intimate setting of San Francisco’s Boarding House, where Martin had honed his craft for years, the record’s two sides undergo a shift partway through the album’s fourth track, “A Wild and Crazy Guy.” Martin begins by feigning irritation that a new law requires him to make a midshow financial disclosure, running through his take-home from the relatively meager admission fee to the Boarding House before speculating that, if he charged $800 a ticket, he could retire. “This is what I’m shooting for,” notes Martin smugly, “One show — goodbye.”
Steve Martin’s Comedy Routine
The resulting Boarding House laughter then segues seamlessly into a rising, near-hysterical whooping, as the second half of the album shifts to Colorado’s cavernous Red Rocks Amphitheater, a leap not only of venue but of style. The Boarding House material is, while still inimitably Martin in its wacky string of bits and asides, more playfully intimate. Martin begins his set by immediately deconstructing the very thing he’s been doing for two weeks at two shows a night, deadpanning, “I think there’s nothing better for a person than to do the same thing over and over for two weeks.”
The Boarding House material allows Martin to expand upon his role as a paid comic, his insincere bursts of show business patter and desperate segues aping the flop sweat of a comedian terrified to lose his crowd ceding occasionally to a more knowing and mischievous tone. When Martin plays up his intellectual pretensions by running through his then-fictitious life as a renowned author, he rattles off works such as “Mind Gone Haywire,” “The Apple Pie Hubbub” and “Ceremony for a Fat Lip.” (Martin also prefigured Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure by airily mispronouncing a certain philosopher as “So-crates.”) He also expertly shuts down a heckler, does some offhand crowd work and generally works the modest-sized room like the pro he is. Whipping out his trusty banjo at one point for an impromptu bit of noodling, Martin further skewers his pretensions by boasting, “It’s not often that you can pay $4 to see someone jack off like this.”
READ MORE: How the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ Movie Flopped
When the album abruptly shifts to Red Rocks, Martin’s act shifts gears, too. Beginning with a mock-modest, “For me??” in response to the much larger audience’s rapturous greeting, Martin becomes the outsized, crowd-pleasing big-shot persona the sold-out amphitheater demands. It’s only appropriate that A Wild and Crazy Guy expands into this huge space: Steve Martin by this point is a comedy rock star. And, like a rock concert, the Red Rocks audience expects the hits, with Martin trotting out his unnamed “wild and crazy guy” foreign character, knowing full well that everyone in attendance now associates his on-the-make, boundlessly and unaccountably confident character with Georg Festrunk, the wildly popular Saturday Night Live version of the character.
Listen to Steve Martin’s ‘A Wild and Crazy Guy’
Martin being Martin, his greatest-hits approach to stadium comedy is still festooned with winking deconstruction. Taking on the implied audience desire for him to repeat old material, Martin fakes affront, proudly proclaiming that he will not do any Let’s Get Small material before berating the crowd with the exaggerated “Excuuuuse me!” catchphrase from that very album. Martin also kicks off this latter set by cleverly luring his ravenous crowd into a trap, ending his crowd-baiting call-and-response “nonconformists’ oath” by forcing the lavish audience to break up midway through the dutiful chant, “I promise not to repeat things other people say!” That the set closes with an elaborate performance of the SNL-introduced novelty hit “King Tut” (backed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, billed as the Toot Uncommons) is the sort of big-finish show business crowd-pleaser designed to send an audience home satisfied.
Steve Martin Leaves Stand-Up Comedy
He’d leave stand-up comedy behind just a few years later. For the intensely private and deeply curious Martin, the inevitable trappings of phenomenal success as a public figure chafed. (Martin later revealed he was prone to panic attacks and wrote about the bewildering grind of secret backdoor entrances to stadiums swarmed with bellowing fans.) Meanwhile, as Martin later wrote about in his 2007 memoir of his stand-up days, Born Standing Up, his approach to stand-up comedy was always about reinvention and deconstruction.
Joke about “So-crates” though he did, Martin was an insatiable polymath, an avid intellectual and aspiring musician, art collector, playwright and author. Stand-up comedy, for Martin, was an old, beloved puzzle box to be fiddled with, insightfully and delightfully mocked for its conventions and cliches — and ultimately solved. In a 2008 interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Martin, by then comfortably ensconced in his other wide-ranging interests, noted of his time in the stand-up spotlight, “But the act essentially, besides all the jokes and bits and everything, was conceptual. And once the concept was understood, there was nothing more to develop.”
READ MORE: When Steve Martin’s ‘King Tut’ Became a Surprise Hit
Martin would ride the ebbing stand-up wave for two more albums. 1979’s Comedy Is Not Pretty retreated to “mere” platinum status, its Grammy-nominated track listing interrupted with Martin’s narration of a story from his first book, Cruel Shoes, and a straight-ahead banjo instrumental. His final comedy record, 1981’s The Steve Martin Brothers, expanded the portrait of a person with one foot out of the comedy club door, the second side almost entirely made up of banjo. The record reached only No. 135 on the Billboard chart, with Martin claiming he’d never do stand-up again. His 2022 doubles act with pal Martin Short is less him reneging on that promise and more an affectionate return to the performing stage on his terms.