Study reveals where Britain’s funniest people are born

Hard to argue with!

Boasting the likes of John Bishop, Ken Dodd, Ricky Tomlinson and Peter Serafinowicz as its finest comic exports, this land of the Scouse officially produces the highest amount of comedians per capita according to digital marketing agency Dark Horse's new survey.

To arrive at this outcome, Dark Horse compiled a list of 541 comedians born in the UK after 1900; each one was assigned to their corresponding International Territorial Level (ITL2) region before it was calculated how many jokesters there were per million residents.

In Merseyside, which borders Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Chester, a total of 19.6 comedians were counted using this system, while London finished one position behind with 19.2.

Greater Manchester - home to the likes of Jason Manford, Steve Coogan and Peter Kay - has 12.6 for every million, making it the third-likeliest place you'll be left slapping your knees.

"Comedy is more than just entertainment; it's culture, identity, and one of Britain's best coping mechanisms," said Libby Mayfield, head of marketing at Dark Horse. "We wanted to celebrate the regions bringing laughter into everyday life, whether it's in pubs, clubs, or living rooms."

In fourth place came the West of England, followed by East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, Surrey, East and West Sussex, the West Midlands, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, and then North Yorkshire as No.10.

As for where, statistically, nobody cracks a joke, the regions of Cumbria and the Highlands and Islands came back with zero stand-ups per million people. Their populations are only 505.6k and 623.4k though.

So, if you're ever in dire need of a good laugh, the odds are you'll definitely find one in Liverpool.