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Fingers On Buzzers
01 - Roger Tilling’s Milking Stool & A Blockbusters Epic Fail.
In today’s episode, your hosts Lucy Porter and Jenny Ryan discuss what the difference is between a game show and a quiz show. What defines a quiz show? Could it be evening dress and pipe-smoking? Do cargo nets make it a game not a quiz? Join in the discussion on our Facebook page.
For a blast of nostalgia, we are joined by Dermot Finch, who didn’t exactly make a great account of himself when he appeared on Blockbusters as a sixth former. Thankfully he not only has fond memories of Bob Holness but he’s even uploaded the show for your extreme viewing pleasure: https://vimeo.com/13579742
Our second guest, giving us a glimpse behind the curtain of quiz show production, is Roger Tilling aka the Voice of University Challenge. Roger shares with us some behind-the-scenes tidbits and tells us about his biggest pronunciation challenges – all in those inimitable mellifluous tones.
And Lucy and Jenny will start to work their way through the Quiz Syllabus, testing each other on those topics which, with a bit of attention, will make you a better quizzer. Every episode will feature mini-quizzes on two topics - listen out at the end of the show for next week’s subjects so you can get some revision in! This week, Lucy sets Jenny a champagne cork-popping pop quiz on Wine Bottle Sizes, and Jenny attempts to ease Lucy in with a warm-up set of questions on British Comedians.
Thank you to our guests: Dermot Finch and Roger Tilling
Get in touch with us! Facebook / Twitter @FingersBuzzers / fingersbuzzers@gmail.com
Produced by: Amanda Redman
Artwork by: Brendan Appleton
Music by: Justin Edwards & Kevin MacLeod (Happy, Happy Game Show).
Voice Over: Pete Donaldson
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BOLTON SPECIAL
28:13Helloooo! Lucy and Jen decided to pop in to see us, as excitement is ramping up for their first ever appearance in Jenny's homeland of BOLTON!What better way to celebrate opening the Bolton Comedy Festival, than to record a special, bonus ep all about the town that has given us the likes of, Vernon Kay, Johnny Ball and Sarah Cox?The gals will be joined by the very funny Dan Skinner, aka Angelos Epithemiou - you'll have to buy a ticket to see which one we end up with. Next week, we also have a special bonus ep about our August Bank Holiday outing to Studley Castle, for a weekend of delights featuring, Ken Bruce, Popmaster, and Toby Anstis, hosted by our very own Lucy and Jen. Ticket links for both events are here: BOLTON COMEDY FESTIVAL - Friday 12th July 2024 at 4pm POPMASTER WEEKEND AT STUDLEY CASTLE - 23rd - 26th August 2024FOB AT THE BOLTON COMEDY FESTIVAL
00:26See Lucy and Jen in Vixen's very own homeland - BOLTON! FOB live will be at The Bolton Comedy Festival on Friday 12th July - full info and tickets HERE - Bolton Comedy Festival | Octagon Theatre Bolton (octagonbolton.co.uk)110. 110 Quizmas Stocking Fillers
56:14It's that time again, when our hosts get all festive and invite past guests back to contribute a question in their quizmas open house!It's a yuletide trip down memory lane, where the wonderful people who were kind enough to appear on the show are also generous enough to be bothered for MORE of their time and come up with a question that will stump our Lucy and Jen - and possibly you, too!And this isn't just ANY quizmas special, as there's an extra treat at the bottom of Santa's stocking, which is a veritable box of delights, as well as being incredibly funny. Thanks to all our wonderful guests from this year - and years gone by - but most of all, thanks to all of YOU for your continued support and we look forward to seeing more of you in 2024. Happy Christmas, from Lucy, Jenny, and Producer Amanda XXXBUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)109. 109 ALWAYS a Crossword
45:12We're back to the cutthroat world of crosswords in this episode, as we hear from The Times Crossword Champion 2023, Matthew Marcus!Matthew tells us about his journey to the top and how he managed to snatch victory from the reigning champ.Matthew also shares his quizzing life with us and it would appear that he's not too shabby at that either, also doing pretty well in US quiz show, Jeopardy … although some of the online attention he attracted is right up there with the most crazy conspiracy theories.AND, Jen shares with a quiz she made-up with her family, which will keep you and yours occupied all over the festive season, start brushing up on your music knowledge now to be at the head of the leader board!BUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)108. 108 Banishing Boredom with Board Games
36:08As Christmas was looming large at the time of recording, Lucy and Jenny are fully focused on how to keep the family entertained on the big day itself, and so test out two of this year's big hitters -and one could argue rivals - in the festive boardgame market.How does playing Taskmaster IRL compare with an in-person version of Richard Osman's House off Games?Our hosts get involved and have a play, to help you make that all important decision.We also find out how well our Lucy's quizzing knowledge has moved on since Jen started coaching her all those years ago ....BUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)107. 107 Slapstick Quizzing, with Robin Ince
56:04It's finally happened! After several attempts, diaries finally aligned with the stars and Lucy and Jenny could welcome the delightful Robin Ince to the show... Well, almost aligned, as it turned out that Jenny had to dash off for a secret TV gig during Robin's visit, but for a short time, we were able to have all three in the same room. Robin, as you can imagine, has infinite stories about quizzing on and off TV, and tells us why a quiz experience from his youth made him resist Mastermind for so many years. Lucy and Robin also discuss who would be on their ultimate pub quiz team and which comedians would not get an invite. Plus, we gain some incredible general knowledge about the world of slapstick comedy and Robin uses the short time he had with our Jen to ask her some burning questions. BUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)106. 106 Going Blankety Blank, with Nigel Crowle
29:32This week, Lucy and Jenny are delighted to welcome a man to the show who has worked in more TV shows than even he can care to remember, from Blankety Blank, to Odd One Out with Paul Daniels, and Talking Telephone numbers in between.Nigel Crowle has had an incredible career in TV and radio production, working on a huge number of shows and tells us about some of the productions he's been behind, and how he had a hand in setting-up Lembit Opik with Sian Lloyd!Nigel takes us on a fantastic journey of nostalgia, as we revisit some iconic shows and moments in TV history, through his eyes, as well as what went on when the cameras were turned off! BUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)105. 105 Booking Time with Lucy & Jenny
30:10As the need for filling up the Christmas stocking gathers pace (at the time of record and release, anyhow) Lucy and Jenny have decided we deserve an early Christmas treat in the form of a snippet of their book, Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye to Pointless, a celebratory journey through the history of the Great British Quiz!As well as being available online and from all good bookshops in print, it's also in audiobook form, and as listeners know, Jenny and Lucy really are a proper treat for the ears. Not only do we get a glimpse of what to expect from their book, but we also get a look behind the covers of two curious tomes from the past, including The Antiques Roadshow quiz book, presented to us by lovely listener, Alan Dunn AND we also delve into a quiz book from a star of the silver screen and not a lot of people know that he loves setting questions about historical happenings with incredibly tenuous links to days of the year....You were lonely supposed to answer the bloody questions.BUY THE FOB BOOK HERE!Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)