Nick Jones and Ben Corrigan met in 2005 when they worked as proofreaders for Yellow Pages.

Ben trained Nick.

Now, on the Prompt Delivery Podcast, they’re both training large language models to write jokes while telling gags of their own.

Between 2014 and 2017, self-proclaimed “sit-down comedian” Nick published three Gagged and Bound joke books, packed with rapid-fire puns, one-liners and dad jokes. Ben is the author of The 2026 World Cup Joke Book: The Pun-official Guide to the Tournament. For these projects, each served as the other’s editor.

As well as writing jokes, Nick is an award-winning children’s author. Ben has published a book of short stories, The Glastonbury Tales, which is part of a lifelong writing project inspired by the festival.

The pair live either side of the Peak District – Ben in Sheffield, Nick in Staffordshire. They are both still working as proofreaders.

Their teeth and hair are not as good as those of their avatars.