The Saturday Quiz

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.

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

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!

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

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/

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/

Both Toby Schmitz and Luke Arnold are actors who have recently turned their storytelling talents into actual stories in actual books!Toby's debut novel "The Empress Murders" is described as both a razor-sharp, mind-bendingly clever whodunnit and an excoriating look at the excesses of the British Empire, just as the sun is beginning to set on it.And Luke is releasing "Whisper in the Wind" his fourth book in his Fetch Phillips series of Fantasy-Noir detective novels set in a fantasy world where the magic has disappeared. 

Rosie and Nicola Dempsey are otherwise known as the comedy music double act Flo and Joan. The two previous times they’ve been on this show, Nicola’s pieces of trivia were both about Andrew Lloyd Webber - and there was even a question related to Lloyd Webber in last year’s episode - at the time, the depth of their knowledge about the man was somewhat surprising. But now we understand why, since they were writing their show One Man Musical which is about Andrew Lloyd Webber. They've just been performing the show for the last month, garnering a nomination for Most Outstanding Show at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival awards, which will be announced after this episode is uploaded.

It’s become something of an Easter tradition to have Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis on the show the week before Good Friday to promote the very special Rockwiz event The Really Really Good Friday Spectacular at the magnificent Hamer Hall.Quiz aficionados themselves, they get surprisingly stuck on a few of the questions this time around. But it's always a joy when Brian and Julia are on the show.Get your tickets to Rockwiz's Really Really Good Friday Spectacular here:https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2025/contemporary-music/rockwiz