It has been said to me by more people than I can remember, that ‘laughter is the best medicine’. In the past, I have often wondered if indeed it is true to some extent. However, given the appalling injustice in the world these days with the continuing war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza, I can attest that it certainly does help in retaining your sanity; in fact, I suspect I am depending on it. After spending parts of the day reading emails, doomscrolling on Substack or simply reading or watching the news, I get so disgusted, saddened and enraged by the rows of the shrouded adult bodies, the mutilated babies, toddlers and other children of Gaza that I feel like doing a Peter Finch (in the movie Network) leaning out of the window, and shouting ‘I can’t take it any more!’1 However, I will never give up.
When I get to that stage of approaching despair, which is usually in the evenings, I’ll sit down in front of the television just for a breather from the horror, and watch some comedy or write a rant for this blog. This is the latter about the former.
What comedy you may ask. They are varied, and a proportion of them are married with quizzes, and I suspect that using what remains of my brain in the quizzes also takes my mind off the horrors. The shows include:
Spicks and Specks. This is an Australian music quiz show, which is chaired by comedian Adam Hills, and has two teams of three people, each with a team captain (Alan Brough, Myf Warhurst) with four guests for each show (two per ‘team’), usually two of which are musicians, while two are comedians. The show has been going, off and on, for 20 years2,3.
Hard Quiz. This is an Australian quiz show, but unlike many others, does not take itself seriously. The quizmaster is comedian Tom Gleeson, with four contestants mostly quizzed on their self-nominated field of expertise. These topics may range from single movies, bands, actors, musicians, generals, wars, politicians, aircraft, sporting events, sporting teams, sportsmen, sportswomen, novels, novelists, royalty, scientists, artists, eyes, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, among others. The show has been going for a decade4,5.
Would I Lie To You? This is a British show with two teams of three people, each of whom recites an event supposedly from their lives, while the members of the opposing team have to decide whether the story is true or not. The moderator is comedian and comic actor Rob Brydon, with each team having a captain (David Mitchell, Lee Mack). The show has been going for 19 years6,7.
QI. This is a British show moderated by Sandi Toksvig, comprising two teams of two each, one of which is comedian Alan Davies. The other guests are usually comedians or actors. The teams attempt to answer questions posed by Sandi Toksvig, which tend to be obscure or based on misconceptions. The show has been going for 22 years8.
Eight Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown. This is a British comedy panel show in which two teams of two each compete in two types of quizzes; one in which they have to make the longest possible word from a selection of nine letters, while in the other they have a selection of six numbers with which they have to add, multiply, divide or subtract to get to, or as close as possible to a number provided by a random number generator. The show is moderated by comedian Jimmy Carr, with the mathematics assessed by Rachel Riley, and the words assessed by Susie Dent, who has a guest assistant who is also a comedian and who occasionally gets to do a short routine. The show has been going for over 12 years9.
While I usually giggle at some of the stuff they get up to, occasionally, they have made me laugh out loud, with some instances being among the funniest things I have ever seen on television. There are compilations on YouTube of various highlights of Spicks and Specks10, Hard Quiz11, Would I Lie To You?12, QI13, and Eight Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown14.
Sources
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_network
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spicks_and_Specks_(TV_series)
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448300/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Quiz
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6256660/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Would_I_Lie_to_You%3F
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055238/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QI
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Out_of_10_Cats_Does_Countdown
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYgVbSU9T9s
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhusGAsXpzM
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIz8nFRVRig
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdxJ_JQSxxA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFFYSust14
