THE world has officially gone bonkers.

It has to happen sometimes – everything has been too sombre for too long and equilibrium has to be restored.

So we’ve suffered the recession, chipped the ice of the inside of our window panes during the coldest winter in decades and seen one too many photographs of David Cameron wearing a jogging suit.

Something has got to give.

So here’s the result: a glut of news stories that can only deserve the response of Ricky Gervais’s Extras catchphrase “Are you havin’ a laugh!”

First up is the revelation by online pollsters that “all mums really want on Mother’s Day is a hug”. Oh really.

They might like to think that’s true, and maybe it once was when you were still little and cute and made really rubbish gifts (mine once got a toothsaver made from an After Eight box stuffed with loo roll).

But any grown-up child would get a very different reaction if they turned up with their arms opened wide but no card/flowers/present to go with the embrace.

Mums may not be all that bothered about getting a big bouquet or box of chocolates, but they would certainly be upset that you hadn’t thought of getting them any.

Next up is the graffiti knitting in New Jersey.

Believe it or not, someone is creeping out under cover of darkness to cover tree branches and lampposts with little sweaters.

Best of all, nobody knows why.

Many residents say they are enthralled by the rainbow-coloured designs, but the local mayor, Pam Kaithern, says it is technically against the law.

Maybe this is the next step for Liverpool’s eccentric public art scene.

We’ve had superlambananas, giant penguins and now we’ve got Manky Monkeys so why not tree-cosies?

And now that we may be losing our Banksy, after the Berry Street pub that the guerrilla artist used as a canvas has been sold, graffiti knitting could fill the gap.

Then there’s the news that the life of Anna Nicole Smith is to be turned into an opera.

Sounds bizarre until you consider that the Playboy centrefold’s relatively short existence ended as tragically as Mimi in La Boheme or Bizet’s Carmen.

It makes even more sense when you hear the show has been co-written by one of the creators of Jerry Springer: The Opera, but then the story goes wonky again when you learn it’s been premiered at one of the UK’s most venerable institutions, the Royal Opera House.

None of these oddities can compare, however, to the announcement of former Liverpool footballer Peter Crouch as Britain’s Funniest Man in Sport. The 6ft 7in striker has topped a poll of the best one liners and comedy football moments of all time.

His cheeky response to the question: “What would you be if you weren’t a footballer?”( “A virgin”) scored the first comedy goal.

Then he cemented his position with 24% of a 2,000-strong poll voting for his debut performance of the famous “robot dance”, which he performed to celebrate a goal against Hungary in a pre-World Cup friendly.

While the robot has become the new Moonwalk at least in terms of embarrassing uncles attempting it badly at weddings, it is really true that nobody in the history of sport ever said or done anything funnier?

What about Gary Lineker’s first Walkers crisp advert, or Dennis Law’s infamous backheel that relegated Manchester Utd.

Either way, now the news is out, you can bet spin doctors will be getting David Cameron or Gordon Brown to practise the robot in front of the bedroom mirror ready to reveal at the upcoming TV debate.

READ more of Laura’s columns at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/lauradavis