Death happens. Why not make it interesting?
The online competition to guess which famous people won't make it to the end of the current year. If they're elderly, ill, or just live a high-risk lifestyle, stick 'em in your team, and for each one whose death you correctly predict, you'll score points. DDP was dreamt up in Derby, England (hence the name...) by Big Iain back in 1996. Other hosts: Siegfried Baboon and Rude Kid (2003-7), Octopus of Odstock (2008-9), The Man in Black (2010-17), Spade Cooley (2018-19), msc (2020-21), Grim Up North (2020-22), and Reptile (2020-23). Now the Committee of DI (2022), time (2024), and Banana (2023) oversee the biggest deadpool going...
GROUNDHOG NOW A SHADOW Bluesman Tony McPhee has died aged 79. McPhee was inspired to take up guitar by Chuck Berry, and started off as frontman of local group the Seneschals before joining pop group the Dollar Bills in the early 60s. He steered the band into a more bluesy direction and renamed them “The […]
MORRIS DEVOLVES Former Labour minister John Morris has died aged 91. Elected to represent the Welsh seat of Aberavon in the 1959 election, he was one of the few ministers to bridge the Wilson/Callaghan and Blair governments. As Welsh secretary under Wilson and Callaghan, he unsuccessfully pushed for Welsh devolution but sowed the seeds for […]
LOW WATTAGE Ex US Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt is out of steam aged 85. The Reagan appointee was not a fan of the environment, clean air/water, and endangered species, but very much liked big business, oil, and coal. He also hated the Beach Boys and tried to ban them from performing at […]
MAVETH Another year, another Methuselah-aged rabbi is off to ‘olam ha-ba. Gershon Edelstein was one of the pillars of Israel’s Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community, co-leading with Chaim Kanievsky after the 2017 death of Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman. The two men butted heads over how to handle COVID within their community, with Edelstein favouring a cautious lockdown […]
BEYOND THE VANISHING POINT Actor Barry Newman has died aged 92. Newman kickstarted his career with a role in a Herman Wouk play, and would crisscross between film, TV, and Broadway. He zoomed to his biggest fame in 1971 action flick Vanishing Point, a cult classic that depicts his jaded ex-cop on an adrenaline-rushing car […]
ZIMMER FRAMED Mathematician and university president Robert Zimmer has been factored out aged 75. The former president of the University of Chicago was noted for an unflinching stance on free speech. And by “free speech”, we mean the type of free speech that led to his QO eulogising him as a champion against the “authoritarian […]
SIX FOOT DEEP, HEAVEN HIGH! There had to be a catch. Rolf Harris and Superstar Billy Graham dying in the same month felt too good to be true. As it were an apology in advance for a real sad one coming up. That prophecy has materialised with the death of indomitable icon Tina Turner, aged […]
TIE THE PAEDO DOWN, SPORT “Can you tell what it is yet?” told Satan to Rolf Harris, as he unveiled the paedo polymath’s final destination. Yep, one of the most anticipated deaths of the year has finally arrived, with space waster Rolf Harris wobbling off into Hell aged 93. In a sense, Rolf Harris died […]
JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR! It’s another sign that we’re all hurtling towards death when the foremost “I totally have months to live, you guys, plz pray and donate to my GoFundMe” drama queen of the past decade has finally thrown in the towel, brother. Pro wrestler and pro bullshitter Superstar Billy Graham had piqued deadpoolers’ interest […]
MINGO MERCILESS Yesteryear crooner, actor, and cowboy circumcisor Ed Ames has keeleth over aged 95. Ames was the best-known and last surviving member of clean-cut vocal group the Ames Brothers, a sibling quartet who prospered in the late 40s and early 50s with hits such as “Rag Mop” and “You, You, You”. He was likely […]
