Other great sites to visit, books to read, and products to try, that may just help you in your quest…
* Please be aware that this site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
BOOKS
How To Win Game Shows – the eBook!
Of course, I have to begin with my own modest contribution to the field. My eBook How To Win Game Shows is over 200 pages of all the best bits of this very blog, including loads of interviews with game show winners, producers, hosts, question writers, who all reveal their behind-the-scenes tips. There’s also tons of new and exclusive content, that I’ve written specifically for the eBook, that you just won’t find anywhere else. And all for under $10 AUD! (which is around $7.60 USD, at the time of writing). For more information, and to purchase, simply go HERE.
How To Win A Million by William Laing
I met William on Australia’s Brainiest Quizmaster and bought his book soon after. It’s not easy to track down, but you should be able to find it online. It’s really well written and contains lots of good tips, interesting anecdotes, and cautionary tales…
This classic military / philosophical / self-help text has many insights that can apply to competing on game shows, as I outlined in an earlier post. I really do recommend it – even if you find you can’t apply its lessons and principles to your game show quest, it’s a good bet that you’ll find some other lessons or inspiration in it that’ll be useful to you. It’s been read by millions of people for over 2000 years for a reason, you know!
Yours Quizzically: Confessions of a TV Quiz Addict by David St John
This eBook (available for Kindle at Amazon) is a first-person account from David St John, a professional entertainer who holds the Guinness World record for The Most TV Quiz Show Appearances. It covers all aspects of the process, and details his experiences from go to whoa on over 30 programs over the past three decades. David’s a Brit, and they tend to be largely English quiz shows, so that’s something to bear in mind. I was pleased to be able to interview David exclusively for HowToWinGameShows.com, and you can read the result right here!
Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough, for its section on Memory. The tips and hints here for exercising and improving your memory are invaluable. It’s for the most part an extremely entertaining and interesting read, too. For my full review, have a little look here.
WEBSITES
This is brilliant! Dan Gheesling runs this amazing site, and he knows his subject, having undertaken a long, long journey to get into a reality TV show (in his case, Big Brother), which really, really paid off. In 2008, Dan WON series 10 of the US version of Big Brother, taking home the $500,000 top prize. He has a podcast too, so there’s heaps of great information there too.
http://www.howtogetonrealitytv.net/
Dexter Johnson’s very comprehensive, thoughtful game show review blog. He really knows his stuff!
This is a FANTASTIC site for game show news – one of the best. Constantly updated, they really have their finger on the pulse.
http://www.gameshownewsnet.com/
Ken Jennings is arguably the world’s most famous quiz show champ, having notched up the longest-running winning streak ever on the US quiz show Jeopardy!, and pocketing over $3 million in prize money along the way. Ken lives and breathes quizzes, trivia and game shows, so if you want to learn about being a quiz show champion… learn from the best!
A fascinating blog from ‘Londinius’; a former MasterMind champion and real die-hard quiz nut. Great insights and lots of great links to books and other resources, too.
http://lifeaftermastermind.blogspot.co.uk/
Chat about Who Wants To Be A Millionaire… and a whole lot more besides!
This is an amazing forum for all sorts of game show related chat. Come on in… the water’s fine!
Hey, we chat about all that stuff, too!
And with a name like www.GameShowForum.org, that’s hardly an enormous surprise. Loads of discussions on every element of game shows… well worth a look!
The Australian Game Shows Wiki
Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian Game Shows. And perhaps even some stuff you didn’t…
http://australiangameshows.wikia.com/wiki/Australian_Game_Shows_Wiki
For those of you in the UK, I don’t see how a game show site could get much more comprehensive than this!
One of the pre-eminent blogs on the subject. Blogger Casey Abell describes himself as a “fan of game shows and the internet wars about them”, and his passion really shines through.
http://GameShowFollies.blogspot.com.au/
A different take on our favourite brand of televisual entertainment. They describe themselves as “home to all the worst in game show history”… but it’s all in good fun.
I think.
http://www.GameShowGarbage.com/
MOVIES
Quiz Show is a brilliant, gripping, intelligent movie from 1994, directed by Robert Redford and based on the true story of the scandals that enveloped the TV game show 21 in the 1950s. It really is a masterful film in every department. You can read my review of Quiz Show here, and you can buy the movie on Amazon here.
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Thanks!
That’s great – thanks so much for your kind words.
Remember to keep checking back here every Tuesday, as I post more and more content that will (hopefully) help you even more!
Cheers,
Stephen.