Category Archives: ‘Mastermind’

George’s ‘Mastermind’ Adventure – Part 2 (of 2)

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Hello, and welcome to Part Two of fame show veteran George Long’s Mastermind adventure. When we left off, George had only JUST missed out on winning his first episode of Mastermind – it had come down to a tie (with Gavin finishing on 29 and George also finishing on 29)…

It’s a tie!

… But during his rounds, George had made just one more “pass” than his opponent Gavin and, as such, Gavin was deemed the winner of the game. However, there WAS still a chance for George to earn a place in the semi-final…

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GL: I was very disappointed. but still hoped to qualify for the repechage semi-final as one of the highest-scoring losers. Unfortunately, though, three contestants from the same heat in Bath made it through, along with one other – leaving me as the fifth-highest loser. I had to stay on standby in case one of them fell ill… But sadly, they were all healthy!

I later realised that being picked for the first show of the Mastermind Comes of Age series meant the producers thought I could win. In fact, it was clear they saw it as a showdown between Gavin and me; a real winner-takes-all knockout. Gavin went on to win the final convincingly…

‘Mastermind’ host Magnus Magnusson posing with Gavin Fuller and his ‘Mastermind’ trophy.

… And later finished third in a ‘Champion of Champions’ contest. He held the record as Mastermind’s youngest-ever winner at 24, until a new champion beat him by just 90 days in 2024.

I took plenty of positives from my narrow defeat. I had beat Gavin by three clear points on General Knowledge, and was the only one to do so. Here are two key tips for doing well on Mastermind:

  1. Never say “I don’t know” or “pass” after the bell; either of these count as a “Pass” and could cost you the win. 
  2. Don’t change your answer once one pops into your head. I switched from “Chippendale” to “Hepplewhite” and paid the price! In that split second, I thought, “The answer ‘Chippendale’ is too obvious,” so I went for the second-best-known 18th-century furniture maker. Wrong!

In Magnus Magnusson’s definitive book on the show, I got a whole page to myself. It covered my quiz background and noted how awful he felt not being able to prompt me, knowing it would be such a tight contest.

GL: Magnus’s dedication to me in his book ‘I’ve Started, So I’ll Finish: The Story Of Mastermind’. I get a whole page to myself because of what happened at the end of the specialist round.

The episode sparked major controversy and media buzz for weeks. Critics argued that Gavin’s specialist subject Doctor Who wasn’t cerebral enough, and that the show was being “dumbed down”. I even featured on Steve Wright’s popular Radio 1 Breakfast show the next morning, where listeners criticised the choice of Doctor Who as a specialist subject and insisted that “that nice George should have won”. Nice to fuel a national debate!

While being Champion of Champions on Sale of the Century was an incredible thrill, doing well on Mastermind was an even bigger buzz. A score of 29 is huge, and there’s no shame in it. And beating Gavin Fuller on General Knowledge – by three points – earns a gold star in itself.

George’s ‘Mastermind Club’ membership card! No word yet as to what benefits (or discounts?) it entitles the holder to…

I slipped back into my everyday life, with some pub quiz wins along the way, assuming my TV quiz adventures were over. That is, until National Geo-Genius came calling…

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And THAT experience (which you’ll be able to find right here next Tuesday afternoon) will bring us neatly to the end of George’s game show adventures. So I’ll catch you back here, seven days from now, for a fitting climax to this fantastic series of guest posts from George!

Until then, then!

George’s ‘Mastermind’ Adventure – Part 1 (of 2)

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Hello and welcome to the latest guest post from game show veteran George Long, where this week, he discusses his time on Mastermind. Ah yes… Mastermind! It’s been going for decades, and in that time, thousands of people have braved the spotlight to be grilled in that  Big Black Chair – I know I have! But what was George’s experience like? Let’s find out, shall we? Take it away, George! 

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When Mastermind first appeared in 1972 on BBC2, it was very much a minority show. It later moved to BBC1 and became a classic of its genre, parodied on The Two Ronnies and many other programmes. In the UK, it was seen as the ultimate test of knowledge and gave us catchphrases such as “I’ve started, so I’ll finish” and “Pass”. Its indomitable host, Magnus Magnusson, presented the show until his retirement in 1997.

Over the years, I applied a number of times to be a contestant, but was never called for an audition. In 1992, however, I was finally offered one, at The Dolphin Hotel in Southampton, a venue known for hosting several Jane Austen–era balls. I felt I had done well at the audition – and I had. I was invited to appear on the program’s 21st anniversary series, Mastermind Comes of Age.

For the series, I had to choose three specialist subjects: one for the heat, one for the semi-final and one for the final. Mine were: Clarice Cliff and English Art Deco ceramics (1928–1936), The Life of Anne Boleyn and the novels of Isabel Allende. The producers apparently liked the spread. I spent about four months researching all three topics, which I already knew a fair amount about. I wrote key points out by hand, then condensed them into two A4 pages, just as I had done for my German degree years before. I needed to be 100% ready on the first subject and largely prepared on the second, as I would have gone into the first semi-final if I won. I could also potentially get into the semi-final if I was the highest-scoring loser of the four contestants who didn’t make the grade, and I kept that possibility alive in the back of my mind.

I had already done my initial research on my third subject – Isabel Allende – but hadn’t yet started serious memorisation. I decided to leave that cramming until nearer the time, if necessary. I particularly didn’t want my head full of Isabel when it needed to be full of Clarice, and then Anne!

The show was to be recorded in Bangor, North Wales. The BBC paid me an appearance fee and covered my accommodation. As Southampton to Bangor is a long journey, I decided to drive. The final stretch through North Wales was very picturesque… if not especially fast. I arrived in Bangor just in time to grab a sandwich and head to Bangor University, where the recording would take place. I had brought a suit carrier with my outfit. Heaven knows why I’d chosen a green jacket for the recording… but I had.

The green jacket in question.

The contestants were:

  • Gavin Fuller, a part-time archivist on HMS Warrior in Portsmouth (the first of the 19th‑century ironclad warships). He had chosen Doctor Who as his specialist subject.
  • Peter Feint, a wine shop manager from Bristol,
  • David Penfold, a financial economist from Berwick St John in Dorset who chose Admiral Lord Jellicoe as his specialist subject, and
  • Me. (An International Medical Assistance Coordinator from Southampton).

We all barely made it to the recording in time, and I was a little flustered when I had to change into my outfit for the dress rehearsal. The huge Victorian hall in Bangor University was intimidating, as were the spotlights when it was my turn in the black chair. I did not do well at all in the rehearsal – I was extremely nervous, and finished fourth. It was more or less a dead heat between the other three. Not a great way to start.

We then had a break, and I managed to calm down a bit. (A great tip: if you’re wound up, you will underperform.) The audience took their seats, and we were ready to go. We sat in our places as Magnus introduced Bangor and the university, before introducing us, in order. And off we went.

George in the ‘Mastermind’ Big Black Chair, with host Magnus Magnusson.

Gavin, answering questions on his specialist subject Doctor Who, scored 16. I actually thought his questions were reasonably easy, as I got four of them right myself. Peter went next and scored 8 – ouch. Then it was my turn.

I found my questions reasonably straightforward, although I’d had to broaden my subject to “Art Deco Ceramics 1928 – 1936” rather than just Clarice Cliff. There were a couple of questions I think I should have challenged, but I didn’t. I finished on a very creditable 14, though I struggled with the last question, which was not on Clarice. David followed, was plainly nervous, and scored 5.

George on 14 points…

For the General Knowledge round, we returned to the black chair in order from lowest score to highest. David went first and scored 12, which took him to a final score of 17. Peter also scored 12, finishing on 20. I then managed 16, taking me to 29. That meant that Gavin needed to score 14 in the General Knowledge round to win the game. He scored 13, and he and I finished tied, on 29 points each.

It’s a tie!

In the case of a tie, the rules state that the winner is the contestant with the fewest passes. I came to regret the fact that I said “I don’t know” after the bell. That was counted as a pass, which meant that I has 5 passes to Gavin’s 4. It had never been explained to me that “I don’t know” counted as a pass, and I realised I should have challenged the two ambiguous questions in my specialist round.

As an aside, David Penfold – the contestant who chose Admiral Lord Jellicoe as his specialist subject – spooked me, though not intentionally. At the time, I lived in a street in Southampton called Rockstone Lane. The next street over was Cranbury Place, where Jellicoe once lived. As if that coincidence weren’t enough, my grandfather, George F. Long, had served under Jellicoe as a young seaman. Once I knew all this, I felt a bit “Jellicoed out” with all these Jellicoe connections – it all felt a bit Matrix‑like, and played on my mind at first. But by the time battle commenced in the Mastermind studio, I had managed to put it out of my head.

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So what did George learn from all of this? And how can those lessons help YOU? Find out next week, right here, at Howtowingameshows.com. 

Until then, then!

My EXCLUSIVE interview with game show winner (and TikTok sensation) Miles Glaspole – Part IV

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Welcome to the final instalment of my interview with Mastermind Australia‘s 2023 Grand Champion – AND the winner of Mastermind Australia‘s Champions Week in 2024 – Miles Glaspole. Now let’s bring this thing home by getting stuck right into the nitty-gritty of elite quiz show preparation…

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SH: When it comes to studying your special subjects, is there a particular method of studying or revision you like to use? Could you take us through it?

MG: I tried to put myself in the question writer mindset – what are the questions about this topic that would be interesting to non-fans? What facts feel like something that would be fun to ask another me? The flipside is knowing what *not* to study from that point of view – for example, AFL Grand Final crowd figures would be impressive to see someone get right, but if they’re off by one and say that 99,982 people went to the 2016 grand final, it’s a) just a number, so it’s not that interesting anyway, and b) they would be 0.00001% incorrect. Not great TV in either sense. So it’s about walking through the available orchard of facts and taking note of what is potentially the ripest fruit.

SH: When you became Mastermind Australia‘s fifth Grand Champion last year, you won the Grand Prize; a magnificent engraved bowl. What did you do with it?

MG: It has pride of place on my Ikea Kallax shelving unit. I also kept a couple of strips of the confetti they set off on the day.

There it is… Don’t drop it, Miles!

SH: And the trophy they awarded you when you won Champions Week at the start of this year?

Miles in the ‘Mastermind Australia’ studio, being interviewed after his win!

MG: Right next to it. Less useful as a container. Potentially better as a weapon.

SH: So as someone who’s been there and done that (twice!), what tips, hints or advice would you have for anyone wanting to be a contestant on Mastermind Australia?

MG: I think the energy that comes through from both watching and being on Mastermind is just how much of a labour of love it is – it’s a show by nerds, for nerds. The Chase and Tipping Point do look for that sharpness on camera, while Hard Quiz does have one eye out for people who could provide decent backchat to Gleeson. Mastermind is the purest celebration of unfettered individuality. So don’t feel like you haven’t got the right charisma or vibe for it. If you like your subject and are passionate about it, you have the right vibe. Let that shine! Let your freak flag fly!

SH: You’ve been on Hard Quiz too, in 2016. What was your special subject there, and how did that experience compare to Mastermind Australia?

MG: I did! The very first episode! I was Tom’s first victim. I got ahead of likely thousands of other ABC viewers to be the Doctor Who expert. That one was less harrowing; a studio audience gives you something to play to, and they really get around you if they can sense Tom is really getting stuck into you. I think that’s the brilliant balance that show strikes.

SH: Do you have any plans to go on any other game shows? The Chase Australia, for example?

MG: I went on The Chase way back in the very first season. God help me, I was only 19 – at the time, I believe, the youngest they’d had. And we were THRASHED by the Supernerd. Since then I’ve written for the show and befriended a few Chasers – Mara (the Smiling Assassin) is a good mate, I’ve Zoom quizzed with Issa (Supernerd) and Cheryl (Tiger Mum) plus quizzed in person with Brydon (the Shark). They’re so impressive at what they do.

SH: What’s next for you?

MG: I’ve put the TikTok10 on hold for now – but I’m working on a couple of ideas for longer-form quiz formats. Maybe they’ll emerge some day! Otherwise, I’m going to stick to my very non-online existence of baking and community theatre. And the quizzing circuit, of course!

SH: That’s excellent to hear. Miles, congratulations on both of your richly deserved Mastermind Australia wins, all the very best for all your future quizzing endeavours, and thank you very much for speaking to me today for www.HowToWinGameShows.com!

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I’d like to thank Miles again for giving so freely of his time, and for his very thoughtful and entertaining answers! I’ll see you back here before too long…

My EXCLUSIVE interview with game show winner (and TikTok sensation) Miles Glaspole – Part III

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‘Mastermind Australia’ Grand Champion Miles Glaspole!

Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of my interview with Mastermind Australia Grand Champion Miles Glaspole. Before we moved on to discussing his extremely successful run on the show, I wanted to address a little controversy that occurred while he was still compiling the TikTok10…

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SH: A couple of years ago, there was some drama when you discovered that The Herald Sun had been stealing some of your questions and using them in their quiz! You were even interviewed about it on The Project. How did that all end up, and have there been any similar incidents since then?

MG: I received a lovely apology note from the Herald Sun‘s puzzle editor. Those questions were written by an employee phoning it in, in their last week on the job. Turns out their verifiers were all of a certain age – they wouldn’t know to check TikTok!

SH: Ah, I see. Miles, what do you like about writing quiz questions?

MG: As above – I love creating questions that make people smile and feel like their interests are valid. And because I’m annoying, the troll ones are fun too.

SH: Ha! What do you not like about writing quiz questions?

MG: Easy questions are a finite resource – only so many elements on the periodic table people know the symbols for, only so many capitals people are usually familiar with. And given media audiences are becoming more and more fragmented, the amount of pop culture that’s considered universal is dwindling by the month. Once you’ve written enough of them for a show, you can reach “peak easy”, just like “peak oil”. Scratching around for what’s left can be a slog.

SH: What common mistakes do you see contestants making when answering quiz questions on TV?

MG: Every single person who you’ve interviewed has said it, Stephen: READ. THE. QUESTION. (Or listen to it properly if it’s being yelled at you by Todd Woodbridge) There’s more reward in comprehension than speed. Take a beat to digest all the words in the question in the order that they’re written. Little words could be the Jenga brick upon which the question rests. One I did on TikTok: “What is the lowest odd prime number?” A lot of people said “two.” I very clearly said odd…

SH: (I think I already know the answer to this, but) did writing all those quiz questions every day for the TikTok10 help you on Mastermind Australia?

MG: In my experience the people who do better at quizzes are better at guessing, and that’s something that does take practice, or repeated exposure in my case. That makes it sound like radiation (and it’s had a similar effect on my life). There are a few twists of phrase that usually only mean one answer – the “Spanish surrealists” category. “Spanish surrealist” usually always means Salvador Dali, Kylie is our pop princess, Drake is the only Canadian rapper. The other handy thing to know is your etymology – Latin and Greek root words for things come up more often than you would think. I don’t know about mushrooms, but being asked about a mushroom “whose name means “beautiful woman” in Italian” was gettable. All the “tri-”, “bi-” and “quad-” openings. That sort of thing. (Belladonna, for those of you playing at home)

SH: In your various episodes of Mastermind Australia, you chose a wide range of special subjects: the bands Sparks and Tears For Fears, the TV series Dark… and AFL Grand Finals! What made you want to learn as much as possible about those particular subjects?

MG: If you only have a passing interest in your subject and feel like you’ll need to augment your knowledge with study – maybe avoid that subject unless you can absolutely dedicate your time to that study. Existing knowledge brings answers to mind readily and quickly and in a time-based show like Mastermind, that makes the difference.
I’m a born and raised Melburnian so AFL’s kind of inescapable. Luckily, I’m quite interested in it and have been to six of the last seven grand finals. Tears for Fears was a large chunk of my pop music diet in third year uni, and Sparks was the same in 2022 after the Edgar Wright doco came out. TV shows are more studyable (is that a word?) than anything else – there’s a finite number of episodes and actors. Dark was Netflix’s first original German commission and a supremely twisty time travel drama, so I’d already dedicated a lot of time in trying to understand it, just so I knew what was happening on the screen!

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And that’s where we’ll leave it for today. Next week, as our chat concludes, I ask Miles for his Top Tips for Mastermind success, we discover what he’s done with the show’s trophy, and what he’ll be up to next… So I’ll see you back here for all of that, almost exactly half a fortnight from now! 

My EXCLUSIVE interview with game show winner (and TikTok sensation) Miles Glaspole – Part II

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Miles Glaspole, on the set of ‘ Australian Mastermind’

Hello and welcome to Part Two of my four-part interview with Mastermind Australia Grand Champion – and TikTok 10 creator – Miles Glaspole. when we left off last week, Miles and I had just started chatting about writing quiz questions. (He’s written thousands of them, you know.)

Now read on…

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SH: What’s the secret to writing a good quiz question?

MG: Quiz questions are a test of your instant recall, but good ones tickle something Pavlovian as well, I reckon. They have to be one of three things: challenging, interesting, or heart-warming. Challenging ones give you a sense of achievement on figuring them out, interesting ones make you have that “wow” moment where you feel like you’ve learned something, and heart-warming ones are the ones that tug at nostalgia, the ones that make you think of something that makes you smile or laugh, or take you back to childhood.

There’s a fourth kind, which I think is fun in small doses: the troll question. The ones that make people question everything before hearing the answer then comment “I nearly threw my phone at a wall.” My favourite one of these that I’ve ever written was “In which country is Fiji Water *actually* produced?”

It’s Fiji. Where else could it have been?

SH: Argh! Are there any topics or subject areas that you return to often, when you’re writing questions?

MG: Like my dad I’m a huge lover of music, and extremely unlike my dad, I love all things pop music. Every era, every style from bubblegum to new wave. My dad’s a bit of a punk, anti-establishment etc. Some of my earliest memories are listening to the Kraftwerk album ‘Radio-Activity’. I love that album now, but my teenage rebellion was a Lady Gaga phase. Pop music is also a quick shortcut to heart-warming when question writing – every couple has their song, everyone has their comfort playlist. When I want to be really self-indulgent, I’ll write one about Eurovision or AFL. I didn’t do much AFL on TikTok (on account of the global audience) but it would occasionally find its way in there.

SH: What’s an example of a question you’ve written that you’re really proud of?

MG: One of the joys of writing for TikTok was being able to write questions about media/culture that simply doesn’t get on TV. Questions about up-to-the-minute music, memes, Internet creators. I think people who are more used to legacy media look down on Internet culture, but below a certain age, it’s the mainstream. A really cool side to bringing a legacy format to the internet was seeing TikTok, especially younger users, feel as though their favourite online media was just as worthy of a trivia question as Madonna or Emmanuel Macron. I’ve been in network TV quiz writing sessions where someone like Sabrina Carpenter was deemed too difficult for a show. To the TikTok crowd, that’s medium difficulty, at worst! And sometimes, if I asked about a fellow creator, their fans would tag them and say “Hey! You’ve made it!” These people would sometimes have millions upon millions of followers or views, but being a quiz question somehow gave them more legitimacy. That’s the power of quiz.

SH: Are there any specific rules that you follow when you’re writing quiz questions?

MG: Never make someone feel stupid. Quizzing is a test of recall, not intelligence. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people say that they’re not very smart because they’re not good at trivia when of course, that’s not true – good quizzers have a well-stocked filing cabinet, not a tidy office. So, a question should always have some sort of hook for someone to guess the answer – at worst a player should feel like they’re learning, not being punished for a lack of it.

SH: Have you ever written any questions that turned out to be controversial?

MG: A tricky aspect of TikTok was writing questions for a global audience. The US/UK/Aussie divide was particularly tricky at times – asking a question about “which girl’s name is also a standard traffic light colour” didn’t play well in the US, for instance. And pop culture isn’t universal. Another complicating factor was the “well I’ve always known it as…” people. A lot of people would ask if I got the questions from a website or something. No! I write and research them myself! And that isn’t necessarily well-understood. I asked “Which snack food is known in US slang as a goober?” and a lot of Americans came into my comments saying “Well I’ve never heard it that way.” Respectfully your opinion doesn’t matter Amanda, I checked it in dictionaries!!
… you might have poked a nerve, Stephen.

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Whoops – sorry about that, Miles. Okay, then maybe we should just take a break, have a little bit of a breather, and reconvene here next Tuesday afternoon. Sound good? Good, great, let’s just do that. Okay, I’ll see you then, then. Bye!

My EXCLUSIVE interview with game show winner (and TikTok sensation) Miles Glaspole – Part I

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Miles Glaspole on the set of ‘Mastermind Australia’.

Hello and welcome to my latest exclusive interview. Apologies for my absence over the last few months, but during that time I’ve been busy recording three interviews with three very different and delightful game show winners, and I’m very pleased to bring the first one of these interviews to you today.

Back in June 2023, content creator Mile Glaspole became the fifth Grand Champion on Mastermind Australia, with his incredible knowledge of one of his many special subjects, ‘AFL Grand Finals from 2000 to 2022′. Then this year, he beat six distinguished contenders (including previous Mastermind Australia Grand Champions Troy Egglestone and William Laing) to take home the trophy in the Mastermind Australia Champions Week tournament!

I recently spoke to Miles about his TikTok phenomenon the TikTok10, about his quizzing, his TV game show adventures, and much more besides…

==================================================================SH: Miles, welcome! Thanks so much for speaking to me today for www.HowToWinGameShows.com! Now, I only met you very briefly on our Mastermind Australia record day back in February but I do feel I know you, through watching your appearances on the show and of course through your hugely popular daily quiz The TikTok 10… but I believe quizzing’s in your blood, isn’t it? Can you tell us about your parents’ involvement in the world of quizzing?

MG: Hello Stephen! Long time reader first time caller. Quizzing is very much a family pastime. Every summer at the beach house we would have a big extended family Trivial Pursuit game – me as host – and my dad or mum would always win. The real inspiration came in 2006, though: the year my dad went on RockWiz. His celebrity teammate was Kate Ceberano, and the victory was comfortable.

SH: It would seem that you were destined to come up with the TikTok 10! But what was the impetus for beginning it? And – I have to ask – why do you do it in your car?

MG: I was 24 and TikTok was really starting to erupt as the video app of choice for gen Z (and millennial cuspers like myself). More than the app of choice, it was almost like TV – people were discovering their communities and subcultures on it, they were getting their news and documentaries from it. I had the same nagging you would probably have in my position: where’s the game show? That new year I’d made a resolution to do some video diaries for mindfulness, and in doing so realised that the door of my Smart car perfectly cupped a Google Pixel 5 (other tiny cars and smartphones are available), so the setup was perfect. It also helped the general format of the show – the set was distinct, but portable. I also think a lot of successful TikTok content has appeal in its personal, lo-fi quality. Where a lot of quiz shows thrive off their intimidating vibe (looking at you Gleeson and Mastermind), it felt like the setting would make it approachable.

SH: By now, how many questions do you think you would have written for the TikTok10?

MG: The show’s on indefinite hiatus for now but I’ve produced 498 standard episodes, so 4980. There’s also been a theme week, Christmas specials, sponsored episodes, plus I’ve done around 50-100 custom videos for people to use as gifts. I’d say we’re looking at well over 5000.

SH: Whoa! Is the workload ever too much?

MG: It did become that. I started making them in May 2021. I did 140 in 2021, and 210 in 2022, so that’s, what? 42 out of 52 weeks in 2022? Amazing. I’ve never worked that hard on anything in my life. But this year I had a lot of headwinds hit my life at the same time – being a freelance quiz writer isn’t the most stable of gigs – and something had to make way. I found myself decompressing more without having to write and research a daily quiz show.

I’m not ruling out ever going back to creating videos, but I think if I do, I’d like to make a longer-form quiz show for YouTube or another online platform. There are some wonderful game shows out there on the internet. If you like comedy quiz shows a la Hard Quiz, Dropout.tv (the artists formerly known as CollegeHumor) produce an amazing one called Game Changer, where the contestants have to figure out the game as they go along. There’s also Nebula’s Jet Lag: the Game, which is a kind of Amazing Race for the internet era. These shows are so well-produced and compelling on fairly limited budgets, and I would love to do something similar. But right now there’s no plans for more TikTok10.

SH: What’s the most surprising comment or response you’ve ever had from a follower?

MG: When I was right on the brink of burnout, one comment said I looked “spiritually empty.” Always have been, Bernie!

SH: Ha! What’s the most or touching, or moving, response you’ve ever had from a follower?

MG: The two that come to mind: the amount of people who told me I’d become part of their daily routine. People often sent their lists of daily puzzles – Wordle, New York Times Mini, Bandle, all the websites with an “-le” suffix, and my show was with them! The other one was hearing just how many people found it a comforting habit to maintain during COVID lockdowns. Making it did the same for me.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; one of the (sometimes-not-so-obvious) great things about quizzing and trivia is its capacity to bring people together. A very valuable thing, particularly in trying times. Meet me back here next week for Part Two of this four-part chat with Miles, when we discuss all aspects of the quiz question writing process: the good, the bad and the ugly…

See you back here for that, next Tuesday!  

My ‘Mastermind Australia’ journey – Part 9: the aftermath and conclusion

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And that’s that. Thank you and goooodnight!

Hello! If you’ve been following this chronicle of my Mastermind Australia experience over the last nine weeks here….

A) Jeez Louise, don’t you have anything better to do?

B) Thank you.

C) You’ll know that it’s all about my preparations for – and experiences during and after – my appearance in THIS particular episode of the popular long-running quiz show: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2314487875992

and

D) You’ll also know that I ended last week’s instalment right after losing the game by one point, meeting up with my wife Judi and leaving the studio. Now read on…

==============================================================After our episode, when Yael, Kieran and I were back in the contestant greenroom, a producer thanked us for taking part in Mastermind Australia‘s Champions Week, and gave we three Quiz Champions our consolation prizes for all the work we’d done in preparing for, and competing in, our episode.

We were each given a Mastermind fridge magnet.

The ‘Mastermind’ fridge magnet.

Judi and I said our goodbyes, and the producer walked us to the SBS café and buzzed us in, so that we could buy ourselves some lunch. 

I received kind text messages from Troy Egglestone (who’d won the first episode recorded that day) and Andy Zito (who was currently competing in the third), and from another one of the show’s producers, who said I was very entertaining. 

I’ve obviously had a lot of time to reflect on the whole Mastermind experience since the record day. In hindsight, I’m kinda glad I didn’t get through to the Champions Week final (the fifth and final episode recorded that day). That would’ve meant waiting around in the greenroom for another six hours or so, before taking my chances with another batch of General Knowledge questions, and then the ‘Slow Burn’ round. Having studied the show as closely as I did, I suspect the potential for failure is much greater when there’s no Specialised Subject round in the episode. At least you can control how well you do in the Specialised Subject round. With whatever batch of General Knowledge questions they assign to you, and whatever ‘Slow Burn’ question you end up with… well, you’re pretty much thrown to the wind. And good luck.

The way things played out, I got to show off my specialist knowledge, I hope I was a good guest, and I think I gave the show a good (and feelgood?) episode. I really hope I lost with a bit of good grace and dignity.

After we left the SBS studios, Judi and I drove to Newcastle (where we were going to attend a wedding the next day), unwound with a few drinks in our hotel’s bar, and had dinner at a Thai restaurant.

I ended the Mastermind record day by watching the first episode of the new series of Australian Survivor, where Frankie was the first player voted out. I realised that whatever Mastermind-related feelings of defeat, disappointment or humiliation I might’ve had would have been roughly 1% of what poor Frankie’s must have been; after a long (and no doubt gruelling) application process, she had finally, finally got herself onto Australian Survivor, with sky-high hopes of winning the ultimate prize of $500,000… only to be summarily chucked out at the very first opportunity.

And chucked out not because she didn’t know the answers to a few General Knowledge questions… but because the majority of other people on the show actively wanted to get rid of her, and worked hard conspiring to do so.

Now, THAT would have been rough!

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And that’s it for this particular gameshow-related adventure! I hope you enjoyed my behind-the-scenes account of my Mastermind Australia experience, from go to whoa. I’ve absolutely no idea when my next gameshow-related adventure (as a participant) will be, but when I do have one, you can rest assured that I’ll definitely be chronicling it all for HowToWinGameShows.com!  

My ‘Mastermind Australia’ journey – Part 8: THE SHOW!

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All present and (usually) correct. From left to right: William Laing, me, (Host) Marc Fennell, Kieran Magee and Yael Blinco.

Hello! When I last left you, I was finally about to enter the studio, for the recording of my particular episode of Mastermind Australia (which you can find right here, on SBS OnDemand: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2314487875992)

Now read on…

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So Kieran, William, Yael and I troop into the studio, and are introduced to the show’s host Marc Fennell, who curtsied when he met me. Must admit, I wasn’t expecting that.

We settle into our contestant chairs, and before we know it, we’re away! William was first in the Big Black Chair with his specialist subject; Herbert ”Doc” Evatt.

He did well and scored 11 points.

After William’s round, and a quick wait while Marc rerecorded a couple of questions, it was my turn, with my specialist subject: Bottom. It had all been leading up to this; I was about to see if all my research would pay off. I did ever so slightly better than William – 12 points. I was pleased that all of the questions I was asked, I had previously written (in one form or another) in my 19-page document…

My ‘Bottom’ questions – Page 3 of 19

with just one exception…

In the Series 1 episode Contest, how much did Eddie pay for the second-hand copy of Parade magazine?

I never wrote that question! Bugger! I really should have. I ventured “5 quid?” but the answer was, of course, £1.50. There was one other question in this round that I got wrong, and which, in retrospect, I wish I’d challenged at the time…

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My ‘Mastermind Australia’ journey – Part 7

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Darius Horsham (a character I used to play on ‘Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell’) sitting in the ‘Mastermind’ Big Black Chair… by the brilliant cartoonist Tanaya Qoifoog (https://twitter.com/qoifoog)

Hello and welcome to Part 7 of my account of my Mastermind Australia experience. Here’s the link to my episode on SBS OnDemand: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2314487875992

Now, an AWFUL lot happened on the actual day of the record, so what you’re about to read is actually my diary entry from the next day… after I’d had a chance to digest it all, make sense of it and write it down. Now read on…

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02/02 – The day after The Big Day

Well, what a day that was.

Up at 6:30 and thought I’d have the buffet breakfast advertised in the hotel; that’d be convenient, and fuel me up for the day. Advertised in reception and in my hotel room as being on from 7:00 – 9:30 AM in the hotel’s restaurant. I got to the restaurant at 7:00, aiming to do half an hour’s revision over breakfast, but the restaurant was closed. I managed to find a café 5 minutes away, and sat outside in an effort to find somewhere quiet for my revision… but couldn’t get much done, thanks to a middle-aged man at the next table very loudly talking at a young woman about all the TV shows and movies he liked, and which she HAD to watch. Noise pollution.

Back to the hotel room, collected the notes – and extra shirts – that I wanted to take with me, jumped into the car and drove the 10 minutes to SBS.

I parked in the building’s car park, signed in at reception, and noticed a few contestants milling around in the foyer. Had a nice chat with Mastermind Australia Season 1 winner Troy Egglestone, who I’d previously interviewed for the blog and we grabbed a couple of “Before” pictures, noting that ‘Oh yes, we’re all smiles now…’

Troy and me, before the festivities begin.

Two of the show’s producers led us through to the greenroom, where I (re-)introduced myself to the people I’d be competing against today:

1. William Laing (who I’d juuuuust managed to beat by One Point on Australia’s Brainiest Quizmaster, back in 2006): 

https://www.facebook.com/Howtowingameshows/videos/315088905776740/

2. Yael Blinko (who’d won big on WWTBAM, and who I’d competed against in a Temptation Quizmasters heat, also in 2006):

https://www.facebook.com/Howtowingameshows/videos/803808249662933/

and

3. Kieran Magee, a Millionaire Hot Seat winner, who I hadn’t met before.

The greenroom was small, and featured a couple of couches, a few chairs and a mirror or two. It also accommodated the wardrobe rack and makeup table, so space was at a bit of a premium. The production had supplied some bottles of water for us and a few packaged snacks. On the wall was a screen with a video feed patched in from the studio.

I chatted to William quite a bit… and of course, we both realised that Mastermind was framing this meet-up between the two of us as a grudge match (later, during the show, Marc did indeed half-heartedly ask each of us how much we intended to CRUSH the other one.)

From the greenroom, the four of us watched the first episode play out.

Competing in that first episode were (L-R) Troy Egglestone, Kate Buckingham, Xavier Lawlor & Sally West.

There seemed to be quite a few delays during the record, as various questions were challenged, and Marc re-did questions he’d stumbled over. I really felt for Xavier; a teacher whose special subject was Survivor All Stars. He spent a lot of time in the big black chair waiting for the production to work through these various delays. My heart went out to him, and I found myself hoping that my rhythm and concentration wouldn’t be subject to that many delays when my turn came…

During my chat in the greenroom with William, I complimented him on his book How To Win A Million, which I’d been re-reading and learning from over the last few days. At one stage, he looked over my shoulder as I was reading through my Bottom questions (yet again), and asked me what I was doing. I told him I’d written 19 pages of questions on my specialist subject, so surely some of them should overlap with the questions the show had in store for me… he said “Oh that’s a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that”.

Eventually, the first game of this five-game Record Day finished. Troy won by a large margin (he really DID know a lot about NRL State of Origin 1985 – 2005!), and it was time for those of us competing in Episode 2 to go into the studio.

Deep breath. Here goes…

“And…. ACTION!”

My ‘Mastermind Australia’ journey – Part 6

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Hello and welcome to Part six of my PatentedHowToWinGameShowsBehindTheScenesReminiscence of when I went on Mastermind Australia that time.

Here’s the link to my episode on SBS OnDemand: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2314487875992

The past few weeks have been all about study and preparation, but now we’re finally, inevitably, getting down to the pointy end…

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31/01

It’s 9:51 the night before Mastermind.

I’ve been here at the Twin Towers Inn since 2:00 this afternoon. As I steel myself to compete in Mastermind Australia‘s Champions Week tomorrow, my mind drifts back to 2006, when I was in Melbourne’s Crown Promenade Hotel, the night before competing in Temptation‘s ‘Quizmasters’ tournament. I relate that experience in detail – all its highs and all its lows – in Chapter 13 of my eBook How To Win Game Shows. I think my preparation regime was sound on that occasion – I do remember the cramming, the early night, the big hotel buffet breakfast, and feeling well-prepared, well-rested and well-fuelled when the driver arrived to take me to the studio… Now, I don’t want to spoil the end result of that endeavour here, but I can reveal that the title of that particular chapter in the eBook is Champion of Champions? Not so much…

Having said that, I must admit I absolutely love the Temptation Quizmasters consolation prize – a magnificent Maurice Lacroix watch – which I save for special occasions.

I’ll be wearing it tomorrow for luck.

Today I’ve done quite a bit of study, completing my couple of notes on each Time magazine Person of the Year…

… re-watching three more episodes of Bottom and dreaming up more questions about it.

Jude and I have driven up to Sydney, and are working tomorrow’s record into a week-long trip up here. Last night, we stayed at a friend’s place, and her daughter kindly tested me on loads of Bottom questions from my Master Document. I got them all right. (And so I blummen well should – there’s not really any excuse for getting them wrong, since I wrote them all!)

For some reason, she put crosses next to the ones she asked me, that I got correct.

Also tonight I finished all the Bottom online quizzes at Funtrivia.com and pretty much got all of them right; just a couple of misses. So I’m feeling fairly confident about my knowledge of the Bottom TV shows. I’ll do a little bit more revision of the live shows tomorrow morning.

I’ve just skimmed through and read a fair bit of William Laing’s book How To Win A Million, which has quite a lot of nice little trivia questions buried in it, which I’ve absorbed (and hopefully they’ve all gone in).

I’ve also now finished the Time magazine ‘Person of the Year’ exercise, going into Wikipedia for each of them, finding a couple of interesting facts about them, and writing ’em down next to their names. I think – and hope! – it’s been a very useful exercise.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll go through the list of all the Oscars for Best Picture and just jot down their directors. That won’t be difficult.

A jarring thought – AND A HUGE OVERSIGHT – occurred to me earlier today: why haven’t I printed out the Periodic Table, and had that with me at all times? Argh.

I’m due in at the studio at 8:50 AM. It’s 5-10 minutes drive from here. I’ve set the alarm for 6:30. Tomorrow morning I’ll go to the hotel’s restaurant, have their buffet breakfast, and fuel up for the day.

Generally, I’m feeling pretty good about Bottom, but am also resigned to the fact that there will always be gaps in my general knowledge. I’m feeling very familiar with the format of Mastermind: Two minutes on the Special Subject, 90 seconds on the General Knowledge and of course the ‘Slow Burn’, should I win my way through to Friday’s episode.

So I’m feeling fairly excited but relaxed.

I haven’t had dinner tonight, but I had an enormous chicken parmigiana at the North Bondi RSL for lunch. So I don’t necessarily need to eat tonight, but I’ll make sure that I’m definitely fuelled up tomorrow morning.

Turning in now. It’s 10:00, and I’m setting the alarm for 6:30. Earplugs in, air conditioner on. Hopefully I’ll sleep right through – because I didn’t last night – and I should be relaxed, well rested, and with a head full of recently acquired knowledge that I can access quickly and effectively, should it be required.

Good night, everybody.

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Good night, me.

I’ll see you (by which I mean me) back here next time, for The Big Day!