Round 1: The Five Things
1 What weighs as much as 21bn suns, is 10 times the size of our solar system, breaks down the physical laws of space and time, and can swallow itself and everything around it?
a) Eamonn Holmes’s stomach
b) The newly discovered largest ever black hole, in the NGC 4889 galaxy
c) Louise Mensch’s nose
d) Greece’s sovereign debt
e) ITV’s Daybreak
2 The third series of BBC1’s The Impressions Show, starring Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, began broadcasting in October this year, but this time around the show was forbidden from making jokes about which significant natural phenomenon?
a) Eamonn Holmes’s stomach
b) The newly discovered largest ever black hole, in the NGC 4889 galaxy
c) Louise Mensch’s nose
d) Greece’s sovereign debt
e) ITV’s Daybreak
3 What tried to stem the departure of hundreds of thousands of loyal followers by setting the costly toby-jug-faced man Adrian Chiles free this month?
a) Eamonn Holmes’s stomach
b) The newly discovered largest ever black hole, in the NGC 4889 galaxy
c) Louise Mensch’s nose
d) Greece’s sovereign debt
e) ITV’s Daybreak
4 What has, highly probably, had some of the drugs Nigel Kennedy was contemplating near it, been nuzzled by Metallica’s manager, and sniffed out corruption at the News of the World?
a) Eamonn Holmes’s stomach
b) The newly discovered largest ever black hole, in the NGC 4889 galaxy
c) Louise Mensch’s nose
d) Greece’s sovereign debt
e) ITV’s Daybreak
5 What was downgraded to category CCC, the world’s lowest, following an EU/IMF audit in June this year?
a) Eamonn Holmes’s stomach
b) The newly discovered largest ever black hole, in the NGC 4889 galaxy
c) Louise Mensch’s nose
d) Greece’s sovereign debt
e) ITV’s Daybreak
Round 2: Comedians and comedy
1 Which football-loving comedian told the Archbishop of Canterbury he thought atheists were as big a threat to humanity as climate-change deniers?
2 Who wrote on their website that Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear was “one of the funniest shows on TV … one of the very few programs at the Burka Broadcasting Corporation still worth seeing”?
3 Which wealthy Hollywood-based comedian spent much of the year bravely trying to reclaim the word “mong” from its apparent misuse?
4 Which beloved male American comedian was mistakenly referred to as “she” on live TV in a piece on his untimely death by the abysmal expat journo Piers Morgan?
5 Which insolent comedian spent most of September vomiting and retching, having guzzled a cocktail of E coli, salmonella and hepatitis, while arrogantly defying nature by attempting to swim the length of the Thames out of sheer vanity?
Round 3: The Tories
1 Which of the following has never been a nickname for chancellor George Osborne?
a) Cabin Boy George
b) Oik
c) Pencils
2 All the following politicians were members of the exclusive, room-trashing, window-smashing, student dining society the Bullingdon club. But who dismissed these escapades, while applauding zero tolerance for summer rioters, by saying: “We all do stupid things when we’re young”?
a) David Cameron
b) George Osborne
c) Boris Johnson
3 Which of the following current or former Conservative MPs has not been the victim of opportunistic late-night burglars?
a) Oliver Letwin
b) Louise Mensch
c) Liam Fox
4 Which confusing Tory MP reveals their surprising sensitivity to black American jazz and the personal struggles of its economically and socially disenfranchised proponents in a series of thoughtful documentaries on BBC Radio 4?
a) Ann Widdecombe
b) Oliver Letwin
c) Ken Clarke
5 Which Tory MP looks the most like a cross between a blinky lemur and an ambitious eel?
a) Michael Gove
b) Louise Mensch
c) George Osborne
Round 4: Rock – true or false
1 The British Museum currently displays a glazed pot depicting Mark E Smith, of Manchester rock survivors the Fall.
2 Soon after the breakup of REM, Michael Stipe appeared on a US TV chatshow competing in a quiz alongside Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.
3 The actor-comedian Russell Brand secretly blows into an ocarina belonging to the Amorphous Androgynous collective on Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds album.
4 In his autobiography, Rob Brydon claims, amusingly, that he lost his virginity while listening to side two of the 1975 album Maximum Darkness by the Welsh progressive rock band Man, specifically during John Cipollina’s guitar solo on the band’s version of the folk-blues standard Codeine.
5 Glenn Gregory, of Human League and Heaven 17, has invented a device that enables him to hack into supermarket PA systems and broadcast facetious announcements to confused shoppers.
Round 5: Punk postmen
1 Which punk proto-goths backed postman Frank Bell on the 1979 single I’m a Cult Hero?
2 Name one of the three bands fronted by Birmingham punk legend and sometime postman Robert Lloyd.
3 Which comedian played Manchester punk scenester John the Postman in the film 24 Hour Party People?
4 Which punk postman recorded with Subway Sect?
5 Which British blues guitarist, whose drunken 1976 on-stage anti-immigration rant inspired punk’s Rock Against Racism movement, once worked as a postman, delivering letters through a letterbox, rather than, as a drunk man, delivering race hatred through his mouth.
Want to know how you did? Then check the answers here.
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Z-factor, Twitter.
Z-factor, Twitter.
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Joycey, readytogo.net
Joycey, readytogo.net
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Fowkes81, Twitter
Fowkes81, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Borathigh5, Youtube
Borathigh5, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Mearecate, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Keilloh, Twitter
Keilloh, Twitter
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Anamatronix, Youtube
Anamatronix, Youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Guest1001, Youtube
Guest1001, Youtube
Tin Frog, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Danazawa, Youtube
Danazawa, Youtube
Anon, westhamonline.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Idrie, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Wharto15, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Jackmumf, Twitter
Jackmumf, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Funday’schild, youtube.
Funday’schild, youtube.
Len Firewood, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Visualiser1, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Chez, Chortle.com
Chez, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Kozzy06, Youtube
Kozzy06, Youtube
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter