The Lady's great variety quiz
Previously, the quiz has been all about comedy. This year, the theme is variety, and I suspect you will struggle to nd a more varied set of questions anywhere. Do try and laugh your way out of the squabbles the quiz will provoke. The Lady will not be held liable for damage to crockery, furniture or family.
2 Who had to call on his mum for help when he forgot the words to his song at the 1980 show? You get a bonus point for naming the mother.
3 Which bawdy Cockney songbird was very pointedly left out of the 1912 Royal Command Performance at the Palace Theatre?
4 Which residents of Oildrum Lane, W12, paid a visit to Buckingham Palace in a sketch performed at the 1963 show?
5 What was unusual about the 1956 Royal Variety Performance?
6 Who told the Queen she wasn’t ‘bovvered’ at the 2005 show?
7 Who took a night oFF from the Crossroads Motel to host the 1974 Royal Variety Performance?
8 Which unpredictable comedian hauled a fishmonger from Harlow out of the audience at the 1983 show to assist with his act?
9 Which US all-round entertainer stopped the show in 1960 with a dance and comedy routine in a hat shop, assisted ably by Lionel Blair?
10 After the London Palladium, which has hosted the Royal Variety Performance 40 times, which is the next most frequently visited venue?
2 Music-hall star Little Tich was known for massive what?
3 Which star of the 1916 Alhambra Theatre hit revue The Bing Boys Are Here was known as the Prime Minister of Mirth, and had a pub named after him in Finsbury Park?
4 One of the stars of the 1967 London Palladium pantomime was Tanya. What was her act?
5 Which monocole-wearing, pop-picking comedian lost 3st and received £850 in damages after breaking his ankle while working as the ringmaster at Chipper eld’s Circus in 1959?
6 Don Arrol hosted the TV show Sunday Night At The London Palladium from September 1960 to June 1961. Whom did he replace and who replaced him?
7 Which stylish song and dance man, born Frank Ableson, learnt his craft from the top-hatted male impersonator Hetty King?
8 Tessie O’Shea sang about ‘Two Ton Tessie From Tennessee’, but where did the formidable banjolelist hail from in reality?
9 The magician Tom Noddy caused a sensation on The Paul Daniels Magic Show in 1982. What was his skill?
10 Mo Moreland, the Mighty Atom, is best known as one of which dance troupe?
2 James Roderick Moir is the full real name of which modern comedian?
3 Michael Gambon made a rare foray into sitcom with John Esmonde and Bob Larbey’s The Other One. Who was the other one in The Other One?
4 Which hit sitcom began life as a sketch called ‘Double Date’, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais for Clement’s training course as a BBC director?
5 Which Kenny Everett character always did things in the ‘best possible taste’?
6 Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs were permanent residents at which Devonian comedy institution?
7 In the wartime BBC radio comedy show Bandwaggon, where did ‘Big Hearted’ Arthur Askey and Richard ‘Stinker’ Murdoch live, and what was the name of their pet goat?
8 Who starrred in the 1970s stage show Behind The Fridge?
9 Barry Cryer chaired which long-running panel game involving some highly competitive comedians?
10 Which wild-haired Scouse comedian is associated with Dickie Mint and jam butty mines?
2 Which Lancastrian singer, known for her ‘can belto’ rather than ‘bel canto’ style, topped the bill on the first Sunday Night At The London Palladium in September 1955?
3 Who stopped playing his own song somewhat unexpectedly to launch into a cover version of Sunshine Of Your Love on Lulu’s live Saturday night TV show in 1969?
4 Which TV executive and infamous reality-show judge began his career as a dancer with the Young Generation?
5 Who hosted the disastrous 1989 Brit Awards?
6 Which bespectacled singer had a backing band called The Athenians?
7 What connects comedian Jimmy Logan with singer Annie Ross?
8 Who was the original musical director on Strictly Come Dancing?
9 Which US jazz legend provided the musical coda for BBC Two’s opening night?
10 Ronnie Verrell was a long-serving member of Ted Heath’s big band and was later the house-band drummer on The Frank Skinner Show. He was also the real hidden power behind a famously wild percussionist. Who?
1 Jack Benny.
2 Larry ‘JR’ Hagman, and his mother, Mary Martin.
3 Marie Lloyd.
4 Albert and Harold Steptoe.
5 It never happened. It was cancelled at the last minute owing to the Suez crisis.
6 Catherine Tate, in character as mardy teenager Lauren Cooper.
7 Noele Gordon.
8 Michael Barrymore.
9 Sammy Davis Jr.
10 The London Coliseum, which has held the show 10 times.
TURNS
1 Flags.
2 Shoes.
3 George Robey.
4 She was an exceptionally agile elephant.
5 Fred Emney.
6 Bruce Forsyth and Bruce Forsyth.
7 Frankie Vaughan.
8 She was from Cardi .
9 He blew (indeed still blows) bubbles, including, unbelievably, one in the shape of a cube.
10 The Roly Polys.
COMEDY
1 Alan Partridge.
2 Vic Reeves.
3 Richard Briers.
4 The Likely Lads.
5 Cupid Stunt.
6 Fawlty Towers.
7 They lived in a flat on the roof of Broadcasting House with a menagerie including Lewis the goat.
8 Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
9 Jokers Wild.
10 The great Ken Dodd.
MUSIC
1 Jack Parnell, nephew of Val Parnell.
2 Gracie Fields.
3 Jimi Hendrix.
4 ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe.
5 Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood.
6 Nana Mouskouri.
7 They were brother and sister.
8 Laurie Holloway.
9 Duke Ellington
10 Animal on The Muppet Show.
ROYAL VARIETY
1 Who was dragged up to stand in for George Burns’ wife Gracie Allen at the 1961 Royal Variety Performance?2 Who had to call on his mum for help when he forgot the words to his song at the 1980 show? You get a bonus point for naming the mother.
3 Which bawdy Cockney songbird was very pointedly left out of the 1912 Royal Command Performance at the Palace Theatre?
4 Which residents of Oildrum Lane, W12, paid a visit to Buckingham Palace in a sketch performed at the 1963 show?
5 What was unusual about the 1956 Royal Variety Performance?
6 Who told the Queen she wasn’t ‘bovvered’ at the 2005 show?
7 Who took a night oFF from the Crossroads Motel to host the 1974 Royal Variety Performance?
8 Which unpredictable comedian hauled a fishmonger from Harlow out of the audience at the 1983 show to assist with his act?
9 Which US all-round entertainer stopped the show in 1960 with a dance and comedy routine in a hat shop, assisted ably by Lionel Blair?
10 After the London Palladium, which has hosted the Royal Variety Performance 40 times, which is the next most frequently visited venue?
TURNS
1 With what did Kardoma ll the stage?2 Music-hall star Little Tich was known for massive what?
3 Which star of the 1916 Alhambra Theatre hit revue The Bing Boys Are Here was known as the Prime Minister of Mirth, and had a pub named after him in Finsbury Park?
4 One of the stars of the 1967 London Palladium pantomime was Tanya. What was her act?
5 Which monocole-wearing, pop-picking comedian lost 3st and received £850 in damages after breaking his ankle while working as the ringmaster at Chipper eld’s Circus in 1959?
6 Don Arrol hosted the TV show Sunday Night At The London Palladium from September 1960 to June 1961. Whom did he replace and who replaced him?
7 Which stylish song and dance man, born Frank Ableson, learnt his craft from the top-hatted male impersonator Hetty King?
8 Tessie O’Shea sang about ‘Two Ton Tessie From Tennessee’, but where did the formidable banjolelist hail from in reality?
9 The magician Tom Noddy caused a sensation on The Paul Daniels Magic Show in 1982. What was his skill?
10 Mo Moreland, the Mighty Atom, is best known as one of which dance troupe?
COMEDY
1 Which fictional Norvicensian had a TV company called Peartree Productions?2 James Roderick Moir is the full real name of which modern comedian?
3 Michael Gambon made a rare foray into sitcom with John Esmonde and Bob Larbey’s The Other One. Who was the other one in The Other One?
4 Which hit sitcom began life as a sketch called ‘Double Date’, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais for Clement’s training course as a BBC director?
5 Which Kenny Everett character always did things in the ‘best possible taste’?
6 Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs were permanent residents at which Devonian comedy institution?
7 In the wartime BBC radio comedy show Bandwaggon, where did ‘Big Hearted’ Arthur Askey and Richard ‘Stinker’ Murdoch live, and what was the name of their pet goat?
8 Who starrred in the 1970s stage show Behind The Fridge?
9 Barry Cryer chaired which long-running panel game involving some highly competitive comedians?
10 Which wild-haired Scouse comedian is associated with Dickie Mint and jam butty mines?
MUSIC
1 Which drummer and bandleader was also the nephew of the man who ran the London Palladium?2 Which Lancastrian singer, known for her ‘can belto’ rather than ‘bel canto’ style, topped the bill on the first Sunday Night At The London Palladium in September 1955?
3 Who stopped playing his own song somewhat unexpectedly to launch into a cover version of Sunshine Of Your Love on Lulu’s live Saturday night TV show in 1969?
4 Which TV executive and infamous reality-show judge began his career as a dancer with the Young Generation?
5 Who hosted the disastrous 1989 Brit Awards?
6 Which bespectacled singer had a backing band called The Athenians?
7 What connects comedian Jimmy Logan with singer Annie Ross?
8 Who was the original musical director on Strictly Come Dancing?
9 Which US jazz legend provided the musical coda for BBC Two’s opening night?
10 Ronnie Verrell was a long-serving member of Ted Heath’s big band and was later the house-band drummer on The Frank Skinner Show. He was also the real hidden power behind a famously wild percussionist. Who?
ANSWERS
ROYAL VARIETY1 Jack Benny.
2 Larry ‘JR’ Hagman, and his mother, Mary Martin.
3 Marie Lloyd.
4 Albert and Harold Steptoe.
5 It never happened. It was cancelled at the last minute owing to the Suez crisis.
6 Catherine Tate, in character as mardy teenager Lauren Cooper.
7 Noele Gordon.
8 Michael Barrymore.
9 Sammy Davis Jr.
10 The London Coliseum, which has held the show 10 times.
TURNS
1 Flags.
2 Shoes.
3 George Robey.
4 She was an exceptionally agile elephant.
5 Fred Emney.
6 Bruce Forsyth and Bruce Forsyth.
7 Frankie Vaughan.
8 She was from Cardi .
9 He blew (indeed still blows) bubbles, including, unbelievably, one in the shape of a cube.
10 The Roly Polys.
COMEDY
1 Alan Partridge.
2 Vic Reeves.
3 Richard Briers.
4 The Likely Lads.
5 Cupid Stunt.
6 Fawlty Towers.
7 They lived in a flat on the roof of Broadcasting House with a menagerie including Lewis the goat.
8 Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
9 Jokers Wild.
10 The great Ken Dodd.
MUSIC
1 Jack Parnell, nephew of Val Parnell.
2 Gracie Fields.
3 Jimi Hendrix.
4 ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe.
5 Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood.
6 Nana Mouskouri.
7 They were brother and sister.
8 Laurie Holloway.
9 Duke Ellington
10 Animal on The Muppet Show.