Which guest insists on seeing the questions beforehand? - QI (2003) Discussion

Rory McGrath, perhaps? His knowledge base is above and beyond the scope of all the questions.

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[–] Lord-Z 13 years ago

I am certain he did, but he can hardly be called a regular, appearing in two episodes, several series ago.

I am kind of thinking Jimmy Carr. I don't think he researches the answers, but I can imagine him looking for good places for jokes.

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[–] Deviant_Strain 13 years ago

I'd of said it would of been either Jo Brand, Sean Locke or Phil Jupitus

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[–] AGood 13 years ago

Like I said in the other topic Rory McGrath did it for They think its all over so its likely him.

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[–] BekaAv 13 years ago

I'd say Jimmy Carr too. He usually performs either as a presenter, whose dialogue is fully scripted, or as a standup, whose shows are also completely planned out beforehand. He's never shown any particular improvisational ability. I don't think it's McGrath, he seemed to know a huge amount about birds because ornithology is a hobby of his. He didn't seem unusually knowledgeable about any other subject.

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[–] jurus1 12 years ago

I'd say Jimmy Carr too. He usually performs either as a presenter, whose dialogue is fully scripted, or as a standup, whose shows are also completely planned out beforehand. He's never shown any particular improvisational ability.

He makes plenty of jokes/funny comments on the spot, while debating with the audience or other comedians.

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[–] Lord-Z 12 years ago

He has been accused of using plants in the audience, with people swearing that they went to see him twice, only to experience the same heckler and Jimmy responding the same way. If that is true, it certainly betrays a certain lack of self-confidence, a fear that he would freeze in the face of a real heckler. And, again, if true, one could infer that he might feel like he needed to see the answers on QI.

I don't think he researches the answers, but he wants to be the first one with a joke. As Stephen said, of the "mystery guest", I don't think he absolutely needs it, but he is terrified of freezing up.

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[–] WonderWaage 8 years ago

In Denmark he opened up the floor to hecklers. And asked us to heckle him for 10 minutes. But maybe he has danish plants too? They were too *beep* at english to be english!

I leave you with this:

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[–] svenf50 13 years ago

I've always thought it was perhaps Rich Hall. He has won a lot of games. Can be coincidence though.

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[–] star_325 13 years ago

I've always thought it was Jo Brand, She's a regular and Stephen mentions that it was a woman b/c he says he considers giving "her" the wrong answers...

Allons-y Alonzo

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[–] Petals121 13 years ago

No he says "his or her name".

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[–] psymonb 13 years ago

I wish he hadn't said anything about it. This way everyone falls under scrutiny when there's an abundance of improvisational talent on the show.

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[–] bayla_rox 12 years ago

I read somewhere that it was Rich Hall

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[–] Storm_Mickche 12 years ago

i'd think Jeremy Clarkson, otherwise you would wonder why they would keep having the guest on.

um yeh,so the other day i was watching a Chaplin film with the subtitles on...

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[–] starry_skies23002 12 years ago

Dave Gorman seemed to know every answer last night...

He's no regular though

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[–] Jeff-The-God-Of-Biscuits 12 years ago

And he's a very clever chap and a bit of a geek. It wouldn't surprise me if he really knew all that stuff.

~ I am the Stig! ~

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[–] fluffybunnyrainbow 12 years ago

I would guess at Sean Lock, just because of that one episode where Stephen Fry appears to fall out with him after he makes a sarcy comment about the prop he was given.

It's the only time i've seen him (seemingly) annoyed at someone on the programme.

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[–] douglashicton 12 years ago

Which episode was that? I don't recall it.

I remember Stephen getting a little testy with Rich Hall in one of the early Season A episodes.

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[–] fluffybunnyrainbow 12 years ago

It was either Imbroglio or Inventive (i'm leaning towards Inventive).

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[–] adrian_royals 12 years ago

yeh inventive with the water grenade

as well as rich hall in the astronomy episode fry seemed pissed off at lee mack when they were talking about i before e & ceiling in the first ep of this season

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[–] tenonceb4 12 years ago

as well as rich hall in the astronomy episode fry seemed pissed off at lee mack when they were talking about i before e & ceiling in the first ep of this season

I don't think Fry gets really pissed off, he just likes to keep things going so the taping doesn't go into the wee hours.

re: Rich Hall in the episode Astronomy, I don't think you would tell someone you are pissed off "Rich Hall, I think I love you." (Rich had asked "which moon are we talking about?" to the question "what man made object can you see from the moon?")

You are only limited by your own imagination.

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[–] TheReelMcCoy 12 years ago

Rory McGrath

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[–] AGood 12 years ago

I was watching this on youtube and my first thought was reminding me of this topic

http://youtu.be/m9tWYaujtD4

No way would anyone be able to on the spot come up with "Put Smarties on Cats legs and make them walk like a robot" totally on the fly using up every letter.

Jimmy Carr is either a certified genius, or he had the word to use as an anagram in advance.

If those that do not know an anagram is; a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.”

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[–] mackay254 12 years ago

I think it might be Rob Brydon.
Don't know why. Perhaps it's yet another example of anti-welsh racism.
Ha!

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[–] Squeeth2 8 years ago

Chauvinism, not racism.

Marlon, Claudia & Dimby the cats 1989-2010. Clio the cat, July 1997 - 1 May 2016.

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[–] OnkelCannabia 12 years ago

When I first saw it I was wondering how he did it. Did he just get very lucky or is he a genius. Maybe it was neither. Seems to be the most compelling argument I have seen so far.

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[–] OnkelCannabia 12 years ago

NVM, I've just seen a few clips with John Sessions. Not only does he know too many answers, he is also very secure with them. No trying to recall the facts, no pause to think, no stuttering, he just "knows". Very suspicious.

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[–] mackay254 12 years ago

Nah, John Sessions is a phenominal brain on legs!
You only have to look at his improv skills to realise he would not be the one that was being referred to.

Rob Brydon or Rory McGrath for me.

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[–] Evil_Bob 12 years ago

But Fry has said that its NOT Rob Brydon.

A lady walks into a cocktail bar and orders a Double Entendre.The barman gives her one

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[–] Squeeth2 12 years ago

I heard that Brydon gets all the answers by watching the interminable repeats on Dave.

Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

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[–] alfa-16 12 years ago

It won't be a regular.

Rory McGrath for me. Pratt.

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[–] stebsmeister 12 years ago

While I agree McGrath's a pratt - and I loved Fry's put-down of him in "Series C", when, to loud whoops of audience approval, he testily remarked "You are just beginning to try my patience now". However, earlier in the same episode, Fry approvingly remarked on just how knowledgeable McGrath was - which would be odd if the latter simply looked bright because he'd researched the questions already.

Logically, it wouldn't be a regular, as I don't understand why they'd keep inviting someone on who wasn't really playing by the spirit of the show. At the same time, it can't be a one-off; so, it's a quasi-regular.

Jimmy Carr? I can't explain why I think this, other than that I think he fits the above criteria. And he bugs the hell out of me.

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[–] Petals121 12 years ago

I agree about John Sessions. He is a walking brain on legs. So I don't think it's him.

I think he's sort of in the same league as Fry when it comes to knowledge.

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[–] BobStage 12 years ago

I think it's either Jeremy Clarkson, Jimmy Carr, or Clive Anderson.

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[–] eljay64 12 years ago

I am pretty sure they always include a couple of pre-fed answers in all episodes, no matter who the contestants are. Just to get some extra good laughs. I have noticed that Jo Brand on several occasions has burst into a slightly embarrased laugh, even before she has finished giving the answer, as if she just couldn't keep up appearances. I believe this is quite common in TV quizzes and similar types of shows.

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[–] wPatriot 12 years ago

I have no way to debunk the whole thing - and it's not my intention - but haven't you ever started laughing before finishing something you thought was funny? Again, not saying this makes the whole thing untrue because I simply do not know, it's just that simply laughing before finishing a sentence is hardly indicative of a rigged show.

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[–] Lord-Z 12 years ago

Well, if you look at Bill Baileys board, it is much more sparsely decorated, so Jimmy probably borrowed a bunch of letters. The Smarties on Cats is, I believe, an old joke from his stand-up act.

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[–] james-ogdon 12 years ago

I totally agree with that as i remember seeing him say that joke long before it was said by him on QI and at the time it seemed odd to me.I think he originally said it in an advert by channel 4 where celebrities were doing little monologues promoting the channel.So it could be him!!

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[–] nikkkane 11 years ago

I don't think this (Jimmy Carr's anagram) is as difficult as it might originally seem. Remember there is a lot of time editing, the shows are two hours long in raw footage. It wouldn't be difficult, given two hours to arrange the letters into words and then pick out a theme and arrange a sentence like that. Also I doubt that a list of which letters he would get would be included in a list of the questions that would be asked. I'd say try it for yourself; write a load of random letters on post-it notes and then give yourself an hour or two to come up with a sentence. Also there's nothing to say that if he had a couple letters leftover that he didn't pocket them. I don't think that it's quite a feat of genius. Just my two cents...

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[–] onefilmchic 11 years ago

It's not. A friend of mine has those magnetic letters on the fridge for her kids, and I ended up making multiple phrases in matter of minutes while waiting for them to get ready. You start off with making words like "is", "the" "and" "or" and then with the left over letters out figure out what you can create and then put it all together. Helps if you love Scrabble. Lol

I imagine Carr did something similar.

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[–] scottyfox 11 years ago

I have heard Jimmy use the 'smarties tube' joke in another routine or show. Whether it was before or after, I can't tell you, but it did seem a little convenient!

--
As with many things, your mileage may vary.

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[–] mr-mitchell 12 years ago

Am I the only one that thinks it's Sandi Toksvig? She is clearly an intelligent person, but her breadth of knowledge is simply too great. She always seems to know the inobvious correct answers. There have been many guests with specific knowledge, but she seems to know way too much for it to be genuine.

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[–] Petals121 12 years ago

Maybe she's just really smart. If Fry was a guest on the show he wouldn't be cheating by knowing the answer to most things. He's just that smart.

Maybe Toksvig is the same way.

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[–] eljay64 12 years ago

Judging by the Wikipedia article on her, she just might be.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Spektakelkrakel 12 years ago

I immediately thought Jeremy Clarkson. Then I thought about it for a minute and, yeah, still Jeremy Clarkson.

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[–] djensen1 12 years ago

I agree. I think Fry would give a pass to Rich Hall because, as an American, Hall is at a disadvantage with cultural references. And Jimmy Carr seems more interested in responding to other panelists than to the questions themselves. And Rory McGrath's annoying knowledge is just too deeply nerdy to be memorized shortly beforehand. I wouldn't put it past him to cram, tho.

But everything about Clarkson suggests that he'd stoop to skirting the rules, plus he's a writer rather than a comedian and therefore not a natural improviser. And he's enough of a celebrity guest that he would have the pull to make such a demand and still be asked back.

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