Viewers of the first episode of QI will know that the Q stands for quite, and the I denotes interesting. The previous sentence is an example of pointless trivia, and pointless trivia is the core theme of QI.
Stephen Fry, who is seemingly an expert on everything, poses questions - each episode has a theme that the trivia revolves loosely around - and a panel of four comedians/journalists/professional-personality-types fumble around their memory banks for answers.
There is a twist though. All of the questions have a fake answer and a real answer. The fake answer is a common belief that has come to be understood by most people as the truth. Say the fake answer and you loose points. Say the real answer, or just anything distinctly interesting, to gain points.
QI is currently in its sixth series and this week perennial panelist, Alan Davies was joined by Jeremy Clarkson, Danny Baker and Bill Bailey to ponder the theme of being ecological.
They cover everything green from the original colour of Frankenstein’s monster (which was yellow and not green, as most people think), to the amount of gold contained in mobile phones, to the fact that wind turbines cause bats (but not birds) to fall out of the sky.
Along the way the panel take the conversation on detours, with Bill Bailey imagining turning his pet tortoise into a cold blooded remote control car and Danny Baker regailing everyone with a tale of how his car was once smothered by cows.
Predictably enough in quiz on ecology, Jeremy Clarkson comes last, but he does point out the set design of QI, which involves Fry being flanked by two panelists and one big screen on each side, is waste of energy. As a result Bill and Alan relocate to Jeremy and Danny’s side of the set so one of the screens can be switched off, thereby saving electricity.
The show is built on the charm and wit of Stephen Fry. He could be absolutely wrong about everything, but his delivery of knowledge is so confident that you would believe him if he told you that your parents were badgers.
Most pub chats revolve around the X-factor or Eastenders or some other pointless bollocks. QI plays like the type of chat you want to have down the pub. Sophisticated, witty and clever. If only Stephen Fry and the other writers would take up residence in my local.
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