The Next Great Magician

By | November 7, 2016

I chanced upon this last night and quite enjoyed it, and despite not expecting anyone to have watched it it didn’t actually completely collapse against Strictly (3.3m) and did fairly decent demos.

Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes invite six magic acts to show off their skills. After performing, each act suggests what they’ll do if they make the final. The acts will decide between them which one will go through to the final where the winner stands to win a special worth £500,000.

Like Go For It it’s quite nice to see a show fit lots of segments throughout the hour – some of the magicians get lengthy filmed introductions, others tend to get to their performance quickly. Stephen (who is a proper magician let’s not forget) and Rochelle are only really there in compere form, there’s not much filler. We don’t get to hear the acts deliberate their judging which is a pity but there are understandable reasons why – professionals not wanting to give away their secrets.

It seemed a shame that most of the acts when asked what they’d do in the final suggested either flying or catching a projectile, hopefully the magicians that make the final will show a bit more variety than that.

Last night’s winner was uploaded to Youtube, I’ll hide it behind a page cut if you don’t want to know. Continue reading

Train racing and minor skulduggery

By | November 6, 2016

Our French chum Cosser alerted us to this the other day which is actually quite exciting and also I’d wager good Sunday afternoon fare: an episode of La Carte aux Tresors with English subtitles – you’ll need to turn them on so you might need to watch this on the Youtube site. I found it quite difficult initially to watch the subs and take in the scenery at the same time.

 

It’s a fun episode (although there are edits, the contestant intros and the SMS game are cut) and the English subs very much help to clarify what’s going on. At this point in the show’s run the clues are in the form of “Meet [a person] with/at [an object/a cryptic place]” with a visual hint, so it’s a game of inferring significance,  going around and getting information on one half of the clue helps you solve the other. In helicopters.

I’m slightly worried about how close the contestants insist on holding the mics to the public’s faces as said member of the public is driving them around.

Let’s hope they don’t get the questions wrong

By | November 4, 2016

Tomorrow’s a big day as three of the Chasers (Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha and Mark Labbett) go on Tipping Point: Lucky Stars (point of note, the logo behind Ben in these celeb specials features a colon but the titles do not) in what must surely be the ultimate quiz challenge. That’s at 6pm on ITV.

Tipping Point is not known for its tough uncompromising questions, I saw a celeb special a few weeks ago which had lots of questions where the answer was a word in the question, although now I can’t think of one off the top of my head.

Some telly quizzes

By | November 2, 2016

We were alerted to this on Twitter the other day, somebody has uploaded an episode of the much maligned gritty Telly Addicts reboot from 1998. Is it actually that bad? Probably not in retrospect, its main crime being being a completely different show to the show that people had liked perfectly well enough for the previous ten years, now with lousy unmemorable theme tune.

 

But delve into the suggestions from that and we hit what is surely peak Paul Ross with UK Gold’s TV quiz Telly Stack from 1996. The first round and the final is quite good fun, I find the second round a bit tedious.

 

And we still haven’t finished! Because also for UK Gold here’s the impossibly cheap Goldmaster with Mike Read, part Mastermind specialist subject round, other part lengthy quickfire quiz. Intrigued how Read just refers to the contestant numbers in the buzzer round rather than the contestant’s actual names.

Who lives in a house like this?

By | October 31, 2016

Fun at the weekend as someone pointed out that the Taskmaster House is listed on Foxton’s Estate Agents for rent for the low low price of £4,117 per month.

This three bedroom and two bathroom, 1,009 square foot des res features both a “modern kitchen” and “guest WC” and is within a short distance of Barnes Bridge, Mortlake and Chiswick railway stations in London’s popular Zone 3 district.

On top of four grand you’re likely to have a hefty council tax bill, and with an energy efficiency rating of 1 (out of 100) high heating costs too – it might have a modern kitchen but apparently no insulation. This is probably why it also has an environmentally friendly rating of 14 (out of 100).

Why not try and predict which room is the one they put all the plastic sheeting up around?

I’ve often wondered how this works for filming, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen the letting, but at some point in the next six months they will be filming two more series there.

The last in the series is tomorrow night on Dave.

Edit: Hot of the Twitter Press:

Quite a good line-up, not a Noel Fielding fan but can understand what he might bring to the table. Lolly Adefope is in my blind spot. I think Joe Lycett will be good value, and Mel and Hugh are old hands.

It’s Bother’s Bar Game Night 4! #bbgn

By | October 29, 2016

Saturday, 9:30pm
Right here and on Youtube

 

A new Jackbox Party Pack has been released and that sounds like a good excuse for another Game Night! Join us as a panel of eight battle it out over games of wit, creativity, knowledge and bluff in a bid to become Game Night champion.

And whatsmore we’re MORE INTERACTIVE than ever! YOU can answer the questions, YOU can spot the lies and YOU can judge the answers! Your responses can and will affect the results of the evening. All you need is a smart device (or a second window), go along to jackbox.tv put the four-letter room code in and a name and join the fun.

I will also be keeping an eye out on Twitter if I can and reading out your messages, please use hashtag #bbgn.

Not only do we have a ton of new games to play, for the first time we should be able to stream the sound. I’m afraid we’re still streaming at about 3 frames per second, but what can you do.

The live stream will be embedded here and will go live at 9:30pm. It’s aimed to finish at 11:30 but it’s LIVE so might go on for a bit longer. Dip in and out or join us for the whole evening as you see fit, but do join us!