News Quiz!
Oct. 30th, 2006 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slemslempikeAfter a train ride in which I tried my hardest to work and got through a chapter about something I understand very little of, but of which now have a dilligent set of notes, I walked across to Russell Square to meet Cee. On our way back to find coffee (a rare treat for us denizens of the backward North, I tell you) we were given two mini samples of deoderant. I don't think they were singling us out, but they were very useful in any case. I made the rookie mistake of hot chocolate and chocolate cake, but luckily Cee was able to balance it out. She has promised not to like Booker. I can't imagine it will be a difficult promise to keep, but then people are rather strange. Someone has commented to my JUMP! vid on youtube with the username SamaraBookerFan.
I had arranged to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lsugaralmond at the Drill Hall at 5.30pm as I am mildly obsessive about being early for things. However, the Drill Hall does not share the love, and wasn't even open until 6pm. Lightweights. The earliness did mean that we got seats in the bar, though the talking about the delights of earliness was so involved that we very nearly missed the stickers-on-the-tickets lady. Eventually though, we were all stickered up and filing into the room for the recording. The set was wonderfully knackered. One of the desk panels had the old logo, and another was missing a corner, and the chairs looked mightily uncomfortable. It was all very radio. They did however have two bottles of water each.
The producer came out first and did a little bit explaining about the fire exits, but we weren't told when to clap or anything, just trusted that we would of course applaud at the apposite moments, and that the panel would be funny enough to warrant it. While the producer was talking Sandi Toksvig was peeking through the door, and strolled on beaming when she was introduced. She had champagne in one hand, and this was in aid of Alan Coren, who was making his return to the News Quiz after many months during which he was ill. They talked about it a bit during the recording, he had a flesh eating disease in France, and they put maggots in him to eat the dead meat. I think I might actually rather die than have the maggots - he said you can feel them moving about inside you. Everyone was really pleased that he was back, and Sandi made a presentation of some special whiskey at the end.
They recorded for an hour and a half solid, no retakes, and it was really funny the whole way through. A couple of times someone would say "this bit isn't for broadcast", and seemingly just trust that of course it would therefore be cut. My uncle adores the News Quiz, but hates hignfy, because he thinks it's just hate-fuelled, and thinking that that wouldn't ever have worked there makes me kind of see what he means. The guests were Andy Hamilton and Phil Hammond, and then Jeremy Hardy and Alan Coren. Corrie Caulfield was reading the clippings - she sat in the middle next to Sandi, and I don't know why but that was the strangest bit. I kind of assumed she sat a little over to the side away, but no. When they were doing chatty bits for level she related how they were backstage and Phil said he didn't like trousers with buttons because they were uncomfortable, and Andy had turned to her and said "that must be like having breasts". Corrie reads the bit about who's been on the News Quiz live over the (properly spontaneous) applause at the end. When they were about to start Phil said "if you've ever wondered what people use the pads for, Andy's written "News Quiz" on his" and showed us. Later he nicked the pad again and claimed that the doodle was of a rectum. "Oh, it's George Bush's look, you can see Tony Blair".
Sandi was absolutely superb. She kind of swivels towards people when she's talking to them, and she was good at getting people to keep up with the show. When she was announced as the replacement chair, I was a bit worried that she wasn't going to get to giggle and talk as much, but she really does. For the firest question (the one about Becket and Endgame) she said "I like this question because it shows at least one of the writers has had a proper education."
The bit about Pinter was longer - Alan told a name dropping story about meeting him, and how he was rather frail and probably wouldn't be around long, so the play was cut to twelve weeks and Jeremy said "twelve weeks is still quite a long play though".
On the subject of Jeremy I do like the voices he does for posh people and pervy people, which sound rather similar.
The Polish shout was very funny. Around the same time Jeremy claimed to be able to count to twenty in Romanian, and tried to prove it but got stuck at seven. Then a bit later he said "I can't do seven, but I can do eight to twenty for you" and even later suddenly remembered what seven was. He also claimed to be able to say "two beers please" in every language. Either Phil or Andy said that "two beers and my friend will pay" would be more useful.
I did love Andy saying he was reduced to making car noises in his electric car because it was too quiet. Also I was at the recording of hignfy with him and Jeremy Clarkson!
They played Duke of Earl before the cash for honours question and Jeremy sang bits of it to Alan who didn't know what it was.
I liked Phil Hammond saying the Lancet was the medical equivalent of the News of the World. Not that I know anything at all about the Lancet, it was just amusing. When they were talking about the face transplant, Alan said "this isn't for broadcast" and then went off on one about how the doctor in question was just vainglorious and they weren't actually medically ready for it, he just wanted the fame. Phil Hammond said "um".
Alan tried to tell the Nottinghamshire police story earlier, with the man sweeping up in front of a sign that said "ottingham" but Sandi said "there must have been even more letters missing than you thought, because it's Northamptonshire".
About the height criminal thing, Andy told about the time he was in Cambridge and there was a serial rapist who was described as his height that was on the loose. He also had a penchant for dressing up. Andy was on his way back from a rehearsal or something and stopped by the police and asked to answer a few questions so that they could rule him out. It was all going well until they asked what was in his bag and he had to produce a whip, thigh high leather boots and something else rather suspicious. He had to get a letter sent assuring the police that he was a bonafide actor and not a violent criminal.
When they'd finished talking about the calories expended in putting a condom on a flaccid penis versus an erect member, Sandi said "we'll move on. Becuase I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about". I love it when she professes ignorance and disinterest in male sexual organs and heterosex. One of my fondest memories of her is her absolutely collapsing because she got a thing through the door about condom sizes which had cut out holes, and someone asked whether it was for "cooked or al dente spaghetti" and she gasped out "that never occured to me". And I like her relationship with Alan Coren, in fact I don't think I'd like him very much if it wasn't for her.
I love Jeremy's description of hoodies as "cardigans with lids". I love Jeremy anyway. It was a little odd seeing him so soon after isihac, and I'm seeing him in stand-up next month, but he's so lovely everywhere that it's just better and better.
All in all, it is one of the best things I've ever been to see, and just brilliant. You can still hear it until Saturday through listen again. I'm so grateful tolsugaralmond for coming with me you can't imagine. She was also terribly kind and gave me not only a bed for the night, but Humphrey Lyttleton's autobiography, which is BRILLIANT. As is she. If I got to the News Quiz again, and I definitely want to, she is top of the list for companions. And I now know what time to queue from!
I had arranged to meet
lsugaralmond at the Drill Hall at 5.30pm as I am mildly obsessive about being early for things. However, the Drill Hall does not share the love, and wasn't even open until 6pm. Lightweights. The earliness did mean that we got seats in the bar, though the talking about the delights of earliness was so involved that we very nearly missed the stickers-on-the-tickets lady. Eventually though, we were all stickered up and filing into the room for the recording. The set was wonderfully knackered. One of the desk panels had the old logo, and another was missing a corner, and the chairs looked mightily uncomfortable. It was all very radio. They did however have two bottles of water each.The producer came out first and did a little bit explaining about the fire exits, but we weren't told when to clap or anything, just trusted that we would of course applaud at the apposite moments, and that the panel would be funny enough to warrant it. While the producer was talking Sandi Toksvig was peeking through the door, and strolled on beaming when she was introduced. She had champagne in one hand, and this was in aid of Alan Coren, who was making his return to the News Quiz after many months during which he was ill. They talked about it a bit during the recording, he had a flesh eating disease in France, and they put maggots in him to eat the dead meat. I think I might actually rather die than have the maggots - he said you can feel them moving about inside you. Everyone was really pleased that he was back, and Sandi made a presentation of some special whiskey at the end.
They recorded for an hour and a half solid, no retakes, and it was really funny the whole way through. A couple of times someone would say "this bit isn't for broadcast", and seemingly just trust that of course it would therefore be cut. My uncle adores the News Quiz, but hates hignfy, because he thinks it's just hate-fuelled, and thinking that that wouldn't ever have worked there makes me kind of see what he means. The guests were Andy Hamilton and Phil Hammond, and then Jeremy Hardy and Alan Coren. Corrie Caulfield was reading the clippings - she sat in the middle next to Sandi, and I don't know why but that was the strangest bit. I kind of assumed she sat a little over to the side away, but no. When they were doing chatty bits for level she related how they were backstage and Phil said he didn't like trousers with buttons because they were uncomfortable, and Andy had turned to her and said "that must be like having breasts". Corrie reads the bit about who's been on the News Quiz live over the (properly spontaneous) applause at the end. When they were about to start Phil said "if you've ever wondered what people use the pads for, Andy's written "News Quiz" on his" and showed us. Later he nicked the pad again and claimed that the doodle was of a rectum. "Oh, it's George Bush's look, you can see Tony Blair".
Sandi was absolutely superb. She kind of swivels towards people when she's talking to them, and she was good at getting people to keep up with the show. When she was announced as the replacement chair, I was a bit worried that she wasn't going to get to giggle and talk as much, but she really does. For the firest question (the one about Becket and Endgame) she said "I like this question because it shows at least one of the writers has had a proper education."
The bit about Pinter was longer - Alan told a name dropping story about meeting him, and how he was rather frail and probably wouldn't be around long, so the play was cut to twelve weeks and Jeremy said "twelve weeks is still quite a long play though".
On the subject of Jeremy I do like the voices he does for posh people and pervy people, which sound rather similar.
The Polish shout was very funny. Around the same time Jeremy claimed to be able to count to twenty in Romanian, and tried to prove it but got stuck at seven. Then a bit later he said "I can't do seven, but I can do eight to twenty for you" and even later suddenly remembered what seven was. He also claimed to be able to say "two beers please" in every language. Either Phil or Andy said that "two beers and my friend will pay" would be more useful.
I did love Andy saying he was reduced to making car noises in his electric car because it was too quiet. Also I was at the recording of hignfy with him and Jeremy Clarkson!
They played Duke of Earl before the cash for honours question and Jeremy sang bits of it to Alan who didn't know what it was.
I liked Phil Hammond saying the Lancet was the medical equivalent of the News of the World. Not that I know anything at all about the Lancet, it was just amusing. When they were talking about the face transplant, Alan said "this isn't for broadcast" and then went off on one about how the doctor in question was just vainglorious and they weren't actually medically ready for it, he just wanted the fame. Phil Hammond said "um".
Alan tried to tell the Nottinghamshire police story earlier, with the man sweeping up in front of a sign that said "ottingham" but Sandi said "there must have been even more letters missing than you thought, because it's Northamptonshire".
About the height criminal thing, Andy told about the time he was in Cambridge and there was a serial rapist who was described as his height that was on the loose. He also had a penchant for dressing up. Andy was on his way back from a rehearsal or something and stopped by the police and asked to answer a few questions so that they could rule him out. It was all going well until they asked what was in his bag and he had to produce a whip, thigh high leather boots and something else rather suspicious. He had to get a letter sent assuring the police that he was a bonafide actor and not a violent criminal.
When they'd finished talking about the calories expended in putting a condom on a flaccid penis versus an erect member, Sandi said "we'll move on. Becuase I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about". I love it when she professes ignorance and disinterest in male sexual organs and heterosex. One of my fondest memories of her is her absolutely collapsing because she got a thing through the door about condom sizes which had cut out holes, and someone asked whether it was for "cooked or al dente spaghetti" and she gasped out "that never occured to me". And I like her relationship with Alan Coren, in fact I don't think I'd like him very much if it wasn't for her.
I love Jeremy's description of hoodies as "cardigans with lids". I love Jeremy anyway. It was a little odd seeing him so soon after isihac, and I'm seeing him in stand-up next month, but he's so lovely everywhere that it's just better and better.
All in all, it is one of the best things I've ever been to see, and just brilliant. You can still hear it until Saturday through listen again. I'm so grateful to
lsugaralmond for coming with me you can't imagine. She was also terribly kind and gave me not only a bed for the night, but Humphrey Lyttleton's autobiography, which is BRILLIANT. As is she. If I got to the News Quiz again, and I definitely want to, she is top of the list for companions. And I now know what time to queue from!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 07:36 am (UTC)And thankyou for inviting me! I'm glad you liked the Humphrey Littleton.
Really sorry to ask, but did you send back the Tate card yet? It hasn't arrived.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 09:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 09:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 10:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 10:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 10:57 am (UTC)