The Chase

[Head Gardener]

just had an email confirming my audition for The Chase on April 19th!

[acrow]

is it a quiz audition or just to make sure you don't have swastikas tattooed on your forehead?

[Small Man Big Horse]

I went to see one of the celebrity editions being filmed once as the other half had always wanted to see a game show shot live. For the first hour and a half it was pretty fun stuff, but by the time it ended around the three hour point you could sense the whole audience was desperate to leave. Indeed iirc a couple of old people were trampled to death in the exodus, but Walsh managed to have that all covered up. But anyway, good luck, and I hope you win a huge amount of money and then come to a CaB meet and spend it all on us.

[Head Gardener]

I only emailed them about going on last week and they phoned me this afternoon and did a 'spot quiz' to make sure I wasn't thick.
It was pretty tricky though and no music questions but thank god I know that a Moray is a type of eel is all I can say.
I hope to get some money for CRMK my radio station, we're cash strapped and could do with some nice mics etc so it's worth a punt!

[Dr Syntax Head]

Given the choice, which chaser do you fancy your chances against?[nb]with[/nb]

[acrow]

can you remember any of the other test questions? i've always fancied a go but i have so many blind spots and i'm sure that's all that would come up.

also, if you get that chubby lass with the glasses that we're told is attractive as the chaser, could you please tell her that she looks exactly like this canadian girl who once sat on my friend's face. ta.

[Uncle TechTip]

I only emailed them about going on last week and they phoned me this afternoon and did a 'spot quiz' to make sure I wasn't thick.
It was pretty tricky though and no music questions but thank god I know that a Moray is a type of eel is all I can say.
I hope to get some money for CRMK my radio station, we're cash strapped and could do with some nice mics etc so it's worth a punt!

Push this as a "what will you do with the money" line and as long as you're not a complete bellend you'll walk it onto the real show. Consider throwing a couple of questions at the audition if you find you are cruising.

[Head Gardener]

thanks for the tips, I am hoping for a grand at least as that'll also pay towards some sound-proofing egg-boxes to staple to the studio walls.
3 more of the questions were what do Christian Bale/Michael Keaton/George Clooney have in common?[nb]Batman[/nb] and what's the name of The Simpsons youngest child?[nb]Maggie[/nb]
and one I had to think about for about 5 seconds, what UK city is the nearest to Z in the alphabet?[nb]York[/nb] so not too tricky.
I did win the phone guy from ITV over by doing my party trick down the phone[nb]trim-phone impersonation[/nb] which I would no doubt be called upon to perform, BGT awaits!

[Harpo Speaks]

Best quiz show on TV by a country mile. Ever seen that one where Mark lost the final chase, punched the console and stormed off in a huff? Class.

Still not warmed to The Vixen, she seems very uncomfortable in front of the camera. The Gala Bingo ad bumpers she's been doing with Shaun are absolutely excruciating.

It's annoying that every now and then the show will try to blatantly engineer some sort of viral moment, with Walsh unconvincingly corpsing to a question that mentions a 'beaver' or whatever, but I'll let it off for the sheer amount of questions you get with minimal bullshit.

[Large Noise]

I only emailed them about going on last week and they phoned me this afternoon and did a 'spot quiz' to make sure I wasn't thick.
It was pretty tricky though and no music questions but thank god I know that a Moray is a type of eel is all I can say.
I hope to get some money for CRMK my radio station, we're cash strapped and could do with some nice mics etc so it's worth a punt!

No dude, that's so they can distribute dummies and smart people evenly so that the team isn't too stacked or too weak on any given episode.

You should've pretended to be a bit stupid so you'd have been teamed up with a couple of smart people and ended up with a really strong team.

You idiot.

[Maurice Yeatman]

I hope you get a privileged glimpse of Bradley rehearsing one of his pretending-to-suppress-hysterics-while-hoping-to-generate-a-viral-video routines.

[Ambient Sheep]

Consider throwing a couple of questions at the audition if you find you are cruising.

I heard that when applying for Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, you rang them up and you got asked a set of questions (possibly just five, I think).  I don't know if it's true, but I heard that if you got them all right, you were automatically deselected.  The trick to getting on the show was allegedly to get one (but only one) wrong.

[yesitsme]

As a perma-fixture on the TV Quiz shows here are my tips.

Audition.

They're not interested in people who get 100% right on the tests.  They want people who know enough but not too much.  It's a tea time quiz show and granny sat at home has to be able to play along and when you get one wrong go 'tut, fancy not knowing that'.  I'm not saying throw a couple of wrong answers in on purpose just don't worry if you get a few wrong.

What they after more is people who can string two words together without dropping the F bomb or throwing racial slurs around.  Be normal, be chatty, have a story pre-loaded in the chamber, make one up if you don't have one.  About the time you met X, the day you went to Y or just about the time you fell down a Z.

They'll ask you 'How much money would it take to change your life' - tell them, £30k, £40k, £100k - They want people who are going to play the game, say £100k - you never know they might offer it you.  I said £40k - they offered it me.

You'll play a version of the game.  DON'T TAKE THE LOW OFFER.  Have a bit of fun.

Don't be zany.

Don't wear a whacky shirt.

And don't start acting the cunt in the foyer amongst your other hopefuls.  You're not on the telly yet. 

If you've got this far you're almost certainly already on.  You can only mess it up.

The Show.

For fucks sake - LISTEN TO THE QUESTION.  THERE ARE NO TRICK QUESTIONS.  I misheard one question, tried to second guess myself and shot myself in the foot. 

It IS different when you're on set.  Playing at home there's no jeopardy when you're up there and your heart is pounding you get one question wrong and it all folds like a pack of cards.  If you do get one wrong.  Stop and compose yourself.  You can take as long as you like.  It's not live.  You can take a step back, have a little think and start again.

You've been up since the crack of dawn, on a train/flight, then another train, then shoved in a room, fed stuff they wouldn't be allowed to serve in prison while the Chasers have been sat in a comfy lounge, relaxing, boning up and generally getting prepared.

You'll be sat around doing loads of eff-all then suddenly it's all go-go-GO! 

Try and relax.  Don't let the day get under you skin.

Then go out and get all your questions right.

That's all there is to it.

[Head Gardener]

cheers for that yesitsme, it's funny really as I always thought The Chase was a satellite show
as it's always on Challenge TV, it never occurred to me it was on terrestrial, I don't watch much
live telly - and then my lad pipes up that it's on at teatime on ITV then the penny of doom dropped
that it will be watched by thousands! then I did a little bit of wee in my pants

[Rolf Lundgren]

I heard that when applying for Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, you rang them up and you got asked a set of questions (possibly just five, I think).  I don't know if it's true, but I heard that if you got them all right, you were automatically deselected.  The trick to getting on the show was allegedly to get one (but only one) wrong.

I could be wrong but don't think that would be true. The Fastest Finger First round was a pretty good leveller and I'm sure many very clever people got knocked out at that stage by virtue of not being quick enough, especially on questions that were straight forward like put the days of the week in alphabetical order.

[yesitsme]

Oh yeah here's another one.  They want WINNERS.  The show wouldn't be on if the Chasers won every time and contrary to popular belief it's better for the show if they give the money away.  They like it to be close but they do want the Chasees to win.

If they ask you what subjects are your strongest tell them, be specific - don't say 'Comedy' say 'Mrs Brown's Boys', don't say 'Sport' say 'golf' - they'll chuck in a couple of your chosen topics.

[yesitsme]

I could be wrong but don't think that would be true. The Fastest Finger First round was a pretty good leveller and I'm sure many very clever people got knocked out at that stage by virtue of not being quick enough, especially on questions that were straight forward like put the days of the week in alphabetical order.

If you got the phone-in question right your name went in to a hat.  They pulled (say) 100 names out of the hat for a call back and asked them a 'nearest the bull' question like 'How far in miles is the moon from the Earth?'  The ten closest answers went on to be in the pot for contestants row but there was still the interviews, the audition and then you had to pray that mashing the key pad would get you the correct answer in the fastest time.

Too many hoops to jump through.

Fuck Tarrant.

[Head Gardener]

If you got the phone-in question right your name went in to a hat.  They pulled (say) 100 names out of the hat for a call back and asked them a 'nearest the bull' question like 'How far in miles is the moon from the Earth?'  The ten closest answers went on to be in the pot for contestants row but there was still the interviews, the audition and then you had to pray that mashing the key pad would get you the correct answer in the fastest time.

Too many hoops to jump through.

Fuck Tarrant.

yes! that happened to me when I tried to get on WWTBAM yonks ago, this show's phone in test was much easier

[Bazooka]

Best quiz show on TV by a country mile. Ever seen that one where Mark lost the final chase, punched the console and stormed off in a huff? Class.

Still not warmed to The Vixen, she seems very uncomfortable in front of the camera. The Gala Bingo ad bumpers she's been doing with Shaun are absolutely excruciating.

It's annoying that every now and then the show will try to blatantly engineer some sort of viral moment, with Walsh unconvincingly corpsing to a question that mentions a 'beaver' or whatever, but I'll let it off for the sheer amount of questions you get with minimal bullshit.

I agree with all of this. Good luck to you Head Gardener, it's a show I have really considered applying for, I would never go for the minus offer, might as well forfeit even if the other 3 members have bowed out.

[clingfilm portent]

I hope you don't get on purely so I don't have the anxiety of explaining who you are to people, how I know you but not really, and then simmering in silence at the paucity of my banter. Good luck though.

[Rolf Lundgren]

If you got the phone-in question right your name went in to a hat.  They pulled (say) 100 names out of the hat for a call back and asked them a 'nearest the bull' question like 'How far in miles is the moon from the Earth?'  The ten closest answers went on to be in the pot for contestants row but there was still the interviews, the audition and then you had to pray that mashing the key pad would get you the correct answer in the fastest time.

Too many hoops to jump through.

Fuck Tarrant.

That rigmarole is understandable for most quiz shows but it's really harsh to make a contestant do all that for the 1-in-10 chance to play the game. The money on that show was ridiculous though. Your average person on the street could get up to 4/8 grand very easily and a keen quizzer would be aiming for 32. The only ones that compare recently are the Lottery ones. In It to Win It and the list one with Nick Knowles I forget the name of both give huge amounts of money for not a lot of work.

What they after more is people who can string two words together without dropping the F bomb or throwing racial slurs around.  Be normal, be chatty, have a story pre-loaded in the chamber, make one up if you don't have one.  About the time you met X, the day you went to Y or just about the time you fell down a Z.

They'll ask you 'How much money would it take to change your life' - tell them, £30k, £40k, £100k - They want people who are going to play the game, say £100k - you never know they might offer it you.  I said £40k - they offered it me.

I echo all this. I managed to get onto The Chase by having two facts about me thought out as anecdotes and generally being very smiley and friendly in the audition. If you look like you're having fun then that's as important as getting questions right.

Sometimes they're looking for a certain demographic which can either go with or against you. I find they're oversubscribed with middle-aged and retired men so you need something quite different about you to make you stand out if you fall into that group. Young women in the 20s have a much better shot of getting on by virtue of fewer of them being interested in going on quiz shows.

On the what would you do with the money question, the stranger the better. Everyone either says holiday or house deposit so anything vaguely quirky is going to go well. If you tell them you'll spend 50 grand on plastic surgery they're not going to hold you to it.

[Serge]

On the what would you do with the money question, the stranger the better. Everyone either says holiday or house deposit so anything vaguely quirky is going to go well. If you tell them you'll spend 50 grand on plastic surgery they're not going to hold you to it.

"Well, Brad, this underground sex pyramid isn't going to build itself."

[Ambient Sheep]

it's funny really as I always thought The Chase was a satellite show as it's always on Challenge TV, it never occurred to me it was on terrestrial, I don't watch much live telly - and then my lad pipes up that it's on at teatime on ITV then the penny of doom dropped
that it will be watched by thousands!

You mean millions...

This is fucking hilarious!

Good luck with it, anyway. :-)

[Head Gardener]

millions....?  [nb]fuck[/nb]

[yesitsme]

millions....?  [nb]fuck[/nb]

The one I was on is considered 'a classic'.  Well, if not that good enough to be shown every bastard bank holiday since it was recorded in 2014.

I know when it's on because my phone starts going 'Bzzzzzzt', 'Bzzzzzzt', 'Bzzzzzzt'.  I know it's 'You're on the telly!' by the way it buzzez.

Bastards,

[Ambient Sheep]

millions....?  [nb]fuck[/nb]

According to Wikipedia...

With a regular audience of three to five million, The Chase is one of ITV's most successful daytime shows ever.

The one I was on is considered 'a classic'.  Well, if not that good enough to be shown every bastard bank holiday since it was recorded in 2014.

I know what I'll be setting the TiVo for then...

[Small Man Big Horse]

According to Wikipedia...


I know what I'll be setting the TiVo for then...

I can't remember where I read it but there was an interview with a Chase contestant who said that when his episode aired he checked twitter only to see that a fuck load of people sit their reacting to it live, and that many of the comments are pretty cruel. So yeah, don't do that once it airs!

[yesitsme]

When I did Two Tribes I got TWO FUCKING QUESTIONS WRONG on the entire show, one about something I can't remember but the other was 'In her terrible dirge what did Adele set fire to?' Or something along those lines.

I have never heard of Adele or her music (heh heh) and went for 'the sky?' - fuck me, you'd have thought I'd said 'a baby'.

'Ha ha! Thick cunt doesn't know it's 'rain'!'
'Who is this idiot?'
and other such classics.

When i say I only got 'two' wrong.  I didn't know the answer in the final round but I'd had a smashing day Osmond you scruffy twat.

[Head Gardener]

Just back from the audition which was really hard, but... I got through yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!I don't know when the filming is but it's before the end of the year I guess, and it's done down at Elstree Studios.
They also told me not to tell anyone on the internet about it so I've fucked that up already, but fingers x for the show!

[BlodwynPig]

Just back from the audition which was really hard, but... I got through yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!I don't know when the filming is but it's before the end of the year I guess, and it's done down at Elstree Studios.
They also told me not to tell anyone on the internet about it so I've fucked that up already, but fingers x for the show!

Dare you to give "Amon Düül 2" as an answer.

Well done.