Skip to main content

University Challenged: Volume Twenty-Eight (27.03.17)


They say the show ain’t over until the fat lady sings, but in the case of this series of University Challenge, it ain’t over until another team winds up facing the wrath of Wolfson Cambridge, AKA Team Monkman.

It’s well known how much humour the man can inject into such a potentially dry and joyless show; every small utterance is delivered with comedic gusto, except you know that no writing was involved. He’s an natural in his unnaturalness and a human antidepressant; I laughed nearly every time he spoke.

See below for my mostly Monk-themed tweets; there’ll only be more to follow when he returns next week.

Emmanuel Cambridge Vs. Wolfson Cambridge (27.03.17)

8:03pm: Monkman: a God Amongst Monkmen.
`
8:04pm: Monkman's made special effort tonight with his hastily scissored fringe.

8:05pm: Monkman has the look of a man who's delighted to be sitting on his spike.

8:07pm: Thomas Moore Moore Moore...how do you like it? How do you like it?

8:07pm: Has Monkman worn the same outfit for every show?

8:07pm: I'm gay for Monkman.

8:09pm: Hill's back with his Joe Brown hair.

8:15pm: Imagine sitting next to Monkman. Imagine being in the same room as him. Imagine his voice vibrating your eardrums.

8:17pm: I have to say @Bobby_Seagull's looking particularly dapper this evening.

8:19pm: My nan used to have a Barton-Singer in her sewing room.

8:19pm: Cosgrove can be found in the dictionary, under 'nonchalant'.

8:20pm: Monkman favours a fake collar over an actual shirt.

8:22pm: Monkman has the face of a man who regrets sucking that lemon.

8:24pm: Chaudhri has the expression of a man who's smug about the poo he secretly hid in Paxman's fridge.

8:27pm: Chaudhri reminds me of Doug.


8:28pm: Monkman is my religion.

8:30pm: Sad at the loss of Seagull. Delighted at the promise of more Monkman. Bittersweet.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...
Read more