Big Fat Quiz of the Year

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

An annual British event and comedy show which has appeared every year since 2004 (2007 also had a variant, the Big Fat Anniversary Quiz, celebrating 25 years of Channel 4). Hosted by Jimmy Carr, it takes the form of a pub quiz on the events of the year, with three teams of two celebrities as the contestants. Jonathan Ross (whose production company makes the programme) is a regular contestant;[1] the other guests change every year, but the more regular ones include David Mitchell, Rob Brydon, David Walliams, Russell Brand and Noel Fielding.

Several editions are available on Youtube here

Tropes used in Big Fat Quiz of the Year include:
  • Adorkable: David Mitchell, unequivocally.
    • Also, Richard Ayoade
    • Together, they are the Specky Nerdy Fucknuts!
  • Annoying Laugh: Jimmy Carr, as frequently pointed out and ridiculed by the guests and Jimmy Carr himself.

I do realise that when I laugh, it sounds like a seal is being molested.

Jimmy: I don't believe anyone as pretty as Denise [van Outen] could tell a lie.

  • Black and Nerdy: Ayoade, who is of Nigerian descent, and can be quote as saying:

I'm a nerd, okay? Leave me be.

  • But You Punch One Goat
  • Camp Gay: Alan Carr, as is the norm for him.
    • And Louie Spence, to an inconceivable degree.
  • Camp Straight: Michael Mcintyre, as was lampshaded many times by Jimmy.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Noel Fielding and Russell Brand.
    • And Sharon Osbourne.
    • Pretty much the stance every team will adopt when they don't know an answer.
    • Richard Ayoade deserves special mention for the segment concerning his cold water problems which seemed to confuse even Noel Fielding...
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Shockingly averted with Gordon Ramsey's appearance.
  • Deadpan Snarker:
    • Richard Ayoade in the 2010 edition.
    • Interestingly David Mitchell in the Channel 4 Anniversary edition, but of course, he was teamed up with Richard.
      • It's weird because in at the next quiz, the 2007 edition, he was all in for winning and no sarcastic answers, but it was all because he was teamed up with Rob Brydon.
  • Double Entendre:

Jonathan Ross: (On the topic of George Michael's car crash) He didn't choose which shop to crash into. It's not like he was cruising up and down saying, 'Which one will it be tonight?'.
Jimmy Carr: I think you'll find he definitely was saying, 'Which one will it be tonight?'.

  • Golden Snitch: Played for laughs in the 2006 edition, when Jimmy gave Noel and Russell 22 points for a single question, the amount they needed to stand a chance of winning.
  • Guest Host: While the host is the same every year, there are often guest-questioners.
  • Ho Yay: Noel and Russell had this in spades when they were The Goth Detectives.
  • Hypocritical Humour: Every time Jonathan Ross makes a reference to one of the other panelists being uncool, middle aged men.
  • Large Ham: Unavoidable on a show composed almost entirely of comedians, trying to out-funny each other.
  • Like an Old Married Couple: Rob Brydon and David Walliams.
    • Alan Carr and Jack Dee, after a while.
  • Loophole Abuse

David Mitchell: The question was, "can you name something Charlie Sheen claimed separated him from mere mortals?" So I could answer 'no' and get the point!

Don't let the glasses fool you, I am very stupid.

Jimmy: Jonathan, what - those aren't your glasses.
Jonathan: What you're looking at here is a masterclass in quiz psychology. When they look over here now, they see a movie star [points at Russell Brand] and a scientist.
David Mitchell: I can tell there is no glass in those glasses.

Jimmy Carr: That would possibly be the campest walk out in history.

    • Richard Ayoade walked halfway out of the show, but that was not due to any sort of annoyance, it was just him being weird.
  • Serious Business: Following the incident in Golden Snitch above, Rob Brydon and David Walliams took great offense at Brand and Fielding "winning".
    • Their predicted offense was admittedly much of the reason Jimmy let Brand and Fielding win...
  • Sophisticated As Hell: Frequently.
    • After Rob Brydon insulted Russell Brand's outfit:

Rob! Why have you elected to attack my apparel? I have these appurtenances and I look grand, and fine, and pleasant. Whereas you look like you've robbed C & A in an 'urry.

    • It's also common to have high-brow presenters reading from or describing something low-brow, such as Dr David Starkey describing Jedward as if they were a medieval legend, Sir Ian McKellen reading nonsensical passages from the "auto"biographies of minor celebrities, and Jon Snow describing the events of a song ("It transpired that she was just 'bluffing with her muffin'... witnesses later described her expression as 'unreadable'") as if was a news story..
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: When a question, the answer to which was 'Giant German Rabbit', was asked, Noel and Russell were the only ones to get a point, due to their paying attention to silly news stories.
    • Not only did they get that question right, they won the show that year as well.
  • The Stoic: Jack Dee.
  1. ↑ The exception being 2008 on account of his involvement in the Sachsgate scandal
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