OUR speaker this week was Rob Hemming of Badsey, a self-confessed obsessive contestant of TV quiz shows and author of the book ‘Shazam’ about Evesham’s Regal cinema. He is currently writing a novel and he spoke about trivia.
He explained that whilst each of us has absorbed a huge amount of information in our lives, much of it trivia, the trick is to be able to recall it. After giving up running, he was a member of Birchfield Harriers, he turned to game shows to continue his competitive spirit. As well as becoming a member of MENSA, he has appeared on a wide variety of popular TV shows, including Weakest Link, Mastermind, Brain of Britain and more recently, Two tribes. He described how the application, audition and filming processes worked and voiced his opinions of Ann Robinson, John Humphrys and Richard Osman among others.
He readily confessed that his best result has been runner-up, largely because whilst he knew the answers, the wrong one came out of his mouth! His advice for potential contestants is “do your homework – particularly on topical issues” and eat lots of oily fish”. He also asserted that none of these quiz shows are fixed.
We thanked Rob for an excellent talk which he had delivered with humour and confidence.
We will meet at the Fleece at Bretforton to hear about the Bell Tower restoration on September 17 and on September 24 we shall hear about Beethoven by our own Dr Tony Davies. Please do feel free to join us every Thursday at 10am at the Evesham Boathouse.
CHRIS DONOUGH
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here