Birmingham boy tells a joke a day during lockdown

An eight-year-old boy has spent every day of lockdown leaving jokes at the end of his driveway to give strangers a giggle.

Sonny Mason, from Kings Heath, Birmingham, said he thought his comical pictures would "cheer people up".

And some of those to have had their funny bones tickled have written back to him as a result.

"[A man] said that he loved the jokes and he really wanted me to keep it up," Sonny said.

Sonny said his handiwork was part of home schooling, adding: "I just thought because we're in such a hard time now, if I wrote a joke out, it would cheer people up and my mum told me to do it as well - to practise my handwriting."

On the first day he wrote: "Why do seagulls only fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay they would be called bagels."

And on day 27 he asked: "Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants to the game? In case he got a hole in one!"

The V&A Museum of Childhood in London, which is collating children's lockdown creations, learned of Sonny's efforts and said his jokes were "wonderful".

Gina Koutsika, from the venue, said: "When I looked at [the jokes and pictures], they really cheered me up, even though I'm miles away."

She said where children were concerned, the museum was working to "capture this moment in time and understand the importance and the reactions and creations in documenting the crisis".

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