Share

cover art for Define Fascinating with Sami Shah and Alice Fraser

The Saturday Quiz

Define Fascinating with Sami Shah and Alice Fraser

Season 2, Ep. 31

Both this week's guests are award winning comedians and podcast hosts who studied English literature at international universities.

But that's not all they have in common. Sami Shah and Alice Fraser are also both quite good at the quiz and neither seems impressed by John's additional facts about Thailand's flag, the past host of Australian Survivor or a long dead Prime Minister.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 19. Magnetoreception with Nadine Garner and Fayssal Bazzi

    40:00||Season 6, Ep. 19
    Most performers I know have all had one of those anxiety filled nightmares of finding yourself on stage on opening night, with no idea what the play is about, who your character is, or what your lines are. So it is a special kind of masochist who would willingly put themselves in exactly that situation. Nadine Garner and Fayssal Bazzi are two such masochists. They are about to take on Iranian writer and theatre maker Nassim Soleimanpour's new play: ECHO: Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen. Each night a new performer takes to the stage not knowing what is going to be asked of them. Unrehearsed and deliberately unprepared, the script becomes their only guide as they journey through the story of the playwright, connected live from his home in Berlin. ECHO is an invitation to consider what home means to each of us. Fusing new technology with the oldest tricks in the book, this is an ambitious, magical and profound production where no one travels yet everybody is present.
  • 18. Up Your Coriolanus with Marco Chiappi and Gareth Reeves

    38:24||Season 6, Ep. 18
    A charismatic, egocentric strongman politician with contempt for the population he leads, rides roughshod over the conventions of democracy to drive through decisions he makes, having little regard for opinions other than his own.Sound familiar?If it does, then I am slightly surprised, since this play has not been performed in Australia for thirty years!The Bell Shakespeare production of Coriolanus has just opened at the Neilson Nutshell in Sydney, tranferring to Melbourne's Arts Centre in late July.Two of the cast members take on this week's quiz - Gareth Reeves and Marco Chiappi.Get tickets to Coriolanus here:https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/coriolanus
  • 17. Dewey & Louie with Louise Leary and Martin Boyce

    40:00||Season 6, Ep. 17
    My eldest sister Louise is one of the most avid listeners to this podcast. So when I told her it was likely I wasn't going to be able to put out an episode for the second week in a row, her disappointment was such that I could convince her to step in to make it happen. On this episode she is joined by her husband Martin and they both do very well at the quiz.Hope you enjoy the listen.
  • 16. One Volume with Rebecca Massey and Gabrielle Scawthorn

    36:42||Season 6, Ep. 16
    As an actor who also produces and hosts a quiz-based podcast, it's safe to assume that a piece of theatre about a pivotal historical figure who happens to hold the very quiz-friendly distinction of being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields - is going to be right up my alley. So when my friend Rebecca Massey told me that she and Gabrielle Scawthorn were about to appear in the Australian premiere of The Half-life of Marie Curie at The Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli in Sydney, I was delighted to invite them both onto this episode of the quiz.
  • 15. Poetry Slam with Zöe Coombs Marr

    34:56||Season 6, Ep. 15
    Zöe Coombs Marr is no stranger to this podcast - possibly making the most appearances on the quiz. Her show "Wrap It Up with Zöe Coombs Marr" kicks off next week as part of Melbourne’s Rising Festival. It is described as a live, late night taping of your favourite variety tv show. A place where there’s only ever five minutes of taping to go, and a lot to get through. If you’ve ever seen any of Zöe's shows before, you know that that means it will be a fever dream, teetering on the edge of collapse, somehow kept together by her comedic expertise.Get your tickets to Wrap it Up here:https://2025.rising.melbourne/program/wrap-it-up-with-zoe-coombs-marr?tab=session-details
  • 14. The Two Larrys with Laurence Boxhall and Laurence Coy

    44:39||Season 6, Ep. 14
    It's not often you get two Laurences in one show. But that's what the Australian production of The Lord of the Rings Musical has. And so does this episode of the quiz!
  • 13. Competition with Claire Hooper and Lehmo

    44:26||Season 6, Ep. 13
    If you like this podcast - and I'm assuming you do, because why else would you be here - then there is a very strong chance that you will love the ABC tv program "Claire Hooper's House of Games"This is not a paid endorsement of the show, I just think it's a delightful thing to watch every weeknight at 6.30 - or at any time on ABC iView!The eponymous host Claire Hooper is a guest on this episode of the Quiz. And one of the guests on her show joins her as a guest on this show. Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann is a well known and much loved Australian comedian.Watch Claire Hooper's House of Games now:https://iview.abc.net.au/show/claire-hooper-s-house-of-games
  • 11. Nom de Pun with Nicole da Silva and Gareth Davies

    42:18||Season 6, Ep. 11
    Nicole da Silva and Gareth Davies are both currently performing in a double bill of plays by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. “The Lover” and “The Dumb Waiter” are on at the Ensemble theatre in Kirribilli in Sydney right now, playing Tuesday to Sunday until the 7th of June.Gareth has been a guest on the quiz several times before, but this is Nicole's first time. Will Gareth's experience trump Nicole's beginners luck? You'll have to listen to find out.Get tickets to the Pinter double bill here:https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/the-lover-the-dumb-waiter/
  • 11. Shared Narrative with Onjuli Datta and Mikaella Clements

    44:57||Season 6, Ep. 11
    Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta are a married couple who write novels together! Their first novel “The View Was Exhausting” is a rom-com about an A-List Hollywood actress and a millionaire’s son using their fabricated romance to control the narrative, and was named by Vogue magazine as a “perfect summer read”.Their new book is an entirely different beast - “Feast While You Can” is a dark and sensual queer love story set in a remote town that blurs the line between love and terror.They have returned to Melbourne for the Melbourne Writers Festival.https://mwf.com.au/program/horror-hauntings-and-monstrous-femmes#authorhttps://cityofliterature.com.au/explore/writers/mikaella-clements-and-onjuli-datta-feast-while-you-can-castlemaine/