Fingers On Buzzers

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Fingers On Buzzers

125 episodes

4 months ago

Fingers on Buzzers is brought to you by comedian and keen amateur quizzer Lucy Porter, alongside The Chase's very own Jenny Ryan.

Whether you’re a Pointless armchair aficionado, nostalgic for the days of Going for Gold, or a bona fide Mastermind, this is the podcast for you.

Jenny and Lucy speak to a host of people who work behind the scenes of our favourite TV quiz shows, including James Harkin (QI), Roger Tilling (the ‘Voice’ of University Challenge) and Jenny Hawker (Only Connect); plus we hear from epic winners and losers of quiz shows past and present, from Bullseye and Blockbusters to Britain's Brightest Family and everything in between.

Lucy and Jenny will also discuss the BIG issues including the etiquette of pub quizzing, new quizzing technology and how questions have changed with the times.

All the BIG questions will be asked (and answered.) What IS the difference between quiz shows and game shows? With the help of experts and enthusiasts alike, Jenny and Lucy get to the bottom of that and much, much more besides.

There's also plenty of opportunities to play-along, as week-by-week Jenny coaches plucky layperson Lucy on the ‘quiz syllabus’, and in-turn Lucy tests the mettle of general knowledge guru Jenny with a weekly pop-quiz.

Whether you're an Only Connect know-it-all, still dine-out on your Fifteen To One appearance from 1993, or only indulge in Trivial Pursuits on December 25th, this podcast is for you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All content for Fingers On Buzzers is the property of Fingers On Buzzers and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Fingers on Buzzers is brought to you by comedian and keen amateur quizzer Lucy Porter, alongside The Chase's very own Jenny Ryan.

Whether you’re a Pointless armchair aficionado, nostalgic for the days of Going for Gold, or a bona fide Mastermind, this is the podcast for you.

Lucy and Jenny will also discuss the BIG issues including the etiquette of pub quizzing, new quizzing technology and how questions have changed with the times.

Whether you're an Only Connect know-it-all, still dine-out on your Fifteen To One appearance from 1993, or only indulge in Trivial Pursuits on December 25th, this podcast is for you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedy

Society & Culture,

Leisure

Episodes (20/125)

Fingers On Buzzers

Staring in the Face of Defeat, with Tony Dunn

HELLOOO! So lovely to see you again! Lucy and Jen just wanted to pop in to announce that not only is a brand-new series of FOB imminent, but that they will also be making a reappearance at this year's Bolton Comedy Festival on Saturday 12th July 2025! Get your tickets HERE...

Our hosts also thought you deserved a fantastic guest for this little standalone ep and so decided to invite an erstwhile adversary of our Jen's, who garnered quite the reaction on social media on account of looking slightly more intense than he'd thought while appearing on The Chase back in 2019.

Tony was kind enough to share some of the more brutal social media posts with us, while Lucy takes us play by play through the episode, some parts of which our Jen still suffers with PTSD as result. The episode can be found on ITV Hub (S15 and due to be repeated on Friday 28th June 2025) and you can find Tony's hilarious videos here and here!

You'll be hearing from us again very soon, in the meantime, like, subscribe, tell your friends and come and see us in Boltin this June! Ta ra for now, chuck X

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HELLOOO! So lovely to see you again! Lucy and Jen just wanted to pop in to announce that not only is a brand-new series of FOB imminent, but that they will also be making a reappearance at this year's Bolton Comedy Festival on Saturday 12th July 2025! Get your tickets HERE...

Our hosts also thought you deserved a fantastic guest for this little standalone ep and so decided to invite an erstwhile adversary of our Jen's, who garnered quite the reaction on social media on account of looking slightly more intense than he'd thought while appearing on The Chase back in 2019.

You'll be hearing from us again very soon, in the meantime, like, subscribe, tell your friends and come and see us in Boltin this June! Ta ra for now, chuck X

He's beeeeen!

NOW it's Christmas, as our Lucy and Jen finally let us hear what happened when they spoke to the one, the only, Christopher Biggins earlier this year, live on stage at The Museum of Comedy.

As you would expect, there's not a game or quiz show in the land that hasn't been graced by this national treasure's presence and so we get to hear some cracking anecdotes from dinner with Sinatra to hugging Ben Shephard, Biggins has done it all.

And as he is of course, the ultimate panto dame, Lucy and Jen test his knowledge on the subject... oh yes they do!

The FOB team will be back in '25 with lots more fun to be had, but in the meantime, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and HUGE thanks for all your support.

Don't forget to tell your friends about us, so we can keep making the show and if you wanted to give us something for the festive season, why not pop a nice review on your podcast app?!

See you soon, much love,

Lucy, Jenny and Producer Amanda Xxx

Despite being recorded back in the spring of 2024, this episode felt very much like Christmas Eve, as our Jen, Lucy and the audience hotly anticipated the arrival of Christmas in human form, Mr Christopher Biggins!

In act one of a fantastic night at The Museum of Comedy, our hosts quizzed and quipped in this very lively episode, where our star guest makes a brief appearance ahead of his big moment, which you'll be able to hear in our Festive special, next week!

But for now, enjoy some classic facts about celebrity solids and the fan museum!

If your home library is still missing Lucy and Jen's own tome, then you can find it here

Happy reading!

After the announcement of Junior Taskmaster, our Lucy and Jen got all nostalgic for their childhood quiz shows and so, decided to revisit them, as well as some from waaaay before either of their times. So, IS Jen smarter than a 12-year-old from 1963?

Have a listen to find out, and you'll also get to hear which quiz shows probably shouldn't be adapted for kids to play... ooohhh I crush a grape!

The crowds came out in full force to see the first, long planned for, FOB live in Bolton AND not only that, as anyone who came, got to see a rare glimpse of Dan Skinner, not in the guise of his alter ego, Angelos Epithemiou, as Dan kindly agreed to be our very special guest as himself!

And now, YOU get to hear what went down ... ENJOY!

We all love a good pub quiz, but what if you've realised your appetite goes beyond being a member of 'Let's Get Quizzical' every Wednesday down at The Crown?

Well, did you know there are various quiz leagues you can join to step up a notch, without sending an application for Mastermind?

In this episode, Lucy and Jenny are on hand to talk about all about how you can pursue your interest in quizzing beyond answering all the TV quiz questions from your armchair!

For anyone out there who has tried to write their own quiz (anyone else getting lockdown PTSD?), you'll know that it's not a straightforward process and that you'll soon be made aware if a question hasn't hit the spot, or even worse if you misjudged the audience entirely.

Luckily, Lucy and Jen are on hand in this episode to give a few pointers, and reveal that their own perspectives on the same questions come from radically different places!

Thank goodness our hosts are here to quiz each other senseless all about women - someone give them their own quiz show please, it's about time...

The gang are back together again, as our Jenny and Lucy come together to bring a brand-new series of FOB, and what a glorious start it is, as the one and only Pop Master himself, Ken Bruce is on the show!

Yes, Lucy's restraining order was lifted for one weekend, so FOB could host a Q&A with the legend of the airways at the beautiful Warner Hotels at Studley Castle, with the Radio Times curating a marvellous Bank Holiday for us all.

As well as being joined by Ken, the fantastic adjudicator extraordinaire, Michael Lawrence was also on hand to make sure everyone played by the rules... including our Lucy!

It's lovely to see you all again and we're very excited to bring you what we hope is another brilliant series!

Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)

Something incredible is happening this summer involving a number of our Lucy's favourite things, which are (in no particular order)

Ken Bruce

PopMaster

Jenny Ryan

Quiz

And our Jen also won't be disappointed either, as she'll be spending the weekend of 23rd - 26th August 2024 at the beautiful Warner Hotel at Studley Castle, Warwickshire, immersed in pop quizzing, while Toby Anstis spins the wheels of steel. And guess what - you can come too!

So consider this episode as a prequel to what promises to be a very fun occasion, and a great way to wet your PopMaster appetite.

Information on how you can come along is here

And you can also have a read on what our Ken is looking forward to about the weekend in this fantastic Radio Times article.

It'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 XXX

We'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!

As 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 ....

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.

This 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!

Fingers on Buzzers: From Bullseye... by Ryan, Jenny (amazon.co.uk)

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.

Join Lucy and Jenny in their wild celebrations of the show's centenary episode, when you've guessed it, the quiz they night away with the theme ONE HUNDRED as a guide to the games and questions.

It seems there are indeed a hundred ways to quiz your lovers, and the team show no signs of stopping now and are certainly not letting the fact that this is the one hundred and FOURTH episode stop them.

So get involved in the 100th(ish) edition of FOB and here's to one hundred more!