QI: Difference between revisions

* [[Accidental Pun]]

* [[Actor Allusion]]: Among others, Stephen's occasional [[Blackadder|"baa"-ing]], and:

(''picture of [[Hugh Laurie]] as [[Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|Bertie Wooster]] appears on-screen'')<br />

'''Alan''': Oi!<br />

'''Stephen''': No! }}

** Again in the "Illness" episode of series I. Naturally, this time it showed [[Hugh Laurie]] as [[House (TV series)|Dr. Gregory House]], along with some of his staff.

** When [[David Tennant]] appeared on the show and was gesturing with his pen, the other contestants asked if it was his [[Doctor Who|sonic screwdriver]] and made sound effects for it.

** They've also brought up ''[[Jonathan Creek]]'' a few times;

** And of course, when Daniel Radcliffe guest-starred, they made the whole episode about "Hocus-Pocus" and made quite a few references to [[Harry Potter]]. As Daniel had apparently done some research into real-life tricks and the history thereof, the net effect was to rig the game in Radcliffe's favor.

*** [[It Makes Sense in Context|And then he was decapitated]], so fair's fair...

** Whenever Jeremy Clarkson is on the program, expect at least one reference to or question about cars and motor vehicles, if not a direct reference to ''[[Top Gear]]'' itself.

** In the Shakespeare episode, a question on Lord Byron leads to Stephen referencing a joke he once used in a monologue called 'The Letter' for Footlights Revue.

* [[Adorkable]]: Alan. And [[David Mitchell]], too. And [[Daniel Radcliffe]], who discussed Hardy novels and the Harrowing of the North, all the while apologising in a very British fashion.

** And Robert Webb who, on his appearance in season H, called a helix a spiral (despite knowing the correct answer) just so he could set off the klaxon. When it inevitably went off in response to his incorrect answer he threw his arms in the air, bounced up and down in his seat and ''giggled'', beaming all the while. He then did the same thing ten minutes later while discussing Molotov cocktails.

* [[Aerith and Bob]]:

'''Alan''': And Dave. }}

* [[Anticlimax]]:

** Stephen gets [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUVBXb4XIqE tripped up....]

'''Jimmy Carr''' (''uninterested''): Do they? Hm.<br />

'''Alan Davies''': [[Valley Girl|What-ever!]] }}

** Whenever someone steels themself for the klaxon... and actually gets it right.

'''Stephen:''' ...Yes. }}

* [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?]]: Non-sequitur answers and strange associations abound. Alan is usually good for these, e.g. observing that sperm can survive for several hours outside the body -- "so you should leave the telly on if you're going out."

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]:

'''Alan Davies''': "I don't like it in the water w' the eels! Oowwwwwwwwwwwwww!" }}

* [[Ask a Stupid Question]]: [[Subverted Trope|Not again Allan!]]

* [["BANG!" Flag Gun]]: Used as props in the "Games" episode, during a question about applying game theory to a three-way duel.

* [[Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me|Bathe Him And Bring Him To Me]]: Joked with when Alan tries on the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYpwbPmUa2E scold's bridle]:

'''Stephen''': Actually, [[Homoerotic Subtext|don't bother to have him scrubbed.]] }}

* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: Setting up the question so that reciting one of these is the obvious answer is a common means of tripping up the panelists in the "General Ignorance" round.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Stephen can't stand willful or apathetic ignorance. Naturally, Alan Davies pushes this button whenever he thinks it [[Rule of Funny|might be funny.]] [[Lee Mack]] not only found it in Series H but practically danced on it, leading to the exchange under "Beware The Nice Ones" below.

** David Mitchell is a man of [[Hair-Trigger Temper|many berserk buttons]]. Stephen tread on one with a double-bluff question about "The Man with Two Brains" -- leading to an increase in double bluffs and other provocations whenever David is on the panel.

** Phill Jupitus refuses to believe that the sun sets before we actually see it set.

*** He is also outraged at the notion that there is another moon.

** Sean Lock generally develops a strange kind of annoyance whenever there is a "genius" panel member on board with him, like Rory McGrath or Ben Miller.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Stephen is generally a [[Gentleman Snarker]], who only gently ribs on panelists when they miss the point, then repeats the answer and explains patiently. Unless you go ''too'' over-the-top in Epic Point Missing, and he pulls out the big guns. See: explaining the 'i before e' rule to [[Lee Mack]] in "Hocus Pocus":

'''Stephen:''' Are you completely incapable of rational thought?! You ''cannot be'' that stupid. You ''cannot be'' that stupid! }}

* [[Breathless Non-Sequitur]]: Stephen will do this after questions, occasionally too fast for the panelists to react.

* [[Brief Accent Imitation]]: Stephen does this frequently(and utterly uncannily) with a multitude of accents and regional dialects from all over the world. Some of the other panelists dip into this as well; notably Rob Brydon.

** Alan Davies does a Mexican Spanish accent... badly. The cartoonish manner is hilarious and deliberate though, and he does pretty much the same accent for his German, this being his Stock Foreign Accent.

"''Ze pink Polenta, I lav eet!''." }}

** They sometimes try Scottish, too.

'''[[David Tennant]]''': Oh, that was a Scottish accent? }}

*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AQafwx3h7A "I've got to say, Stephen, it's been a bewildering array of Scottish accents!"]

* [[Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie]]: A Ghanaian funeral custom (being buried in coffins that can look like anything you want) was discussed in the Series G episode "Gothic":

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Alan Davies. Notable are when he got a forfeit for his answer to "How do you do?" and the time'''s''' Stephen ''[[Comedic Sociopathy|hooked his buzzer to the klaxon]]''.

** In one second-series episode, Stephen posed the question "What was quite interesting about the birth of Julius Caesar?", demolished Alan when he gave the obvious-but-incorrect answer, and then admitted that as far as the question-setters knew the correct answer was "Nothing at all", and he'd only posed the question to see if Alan would fall for it.

*** The same thing happened again in Series E with a question about getting impressed into the army.

** Even the one time Alan had control of the questions, turning the tables on Stephen, he couldn't escape this; Stephen actually got the first question right, prompting the most crushed expression of disappointment you've ever seen from anyone on the part of Alan Davies.

** At the beginning of an episode in series "I", Stephen explained that the topic was "Inattentiveness and Ineptitude", and then immediately asked Alan what the show was about. Alan replied with what Stephen had just said, word for word... and then got the klaxon and a points deduction. The actual topic was, fittingly, "Inequality and Injustice". [[It Makes Sense in Context|And then right afterwards, Alan was informed that he'd finished the program in last place with minus one gazillion points.]]

** Also Stephen at those times when everyone gangs up on him. "Stephen doesn't have beer goggles, he has Madeira pince-nez!..." "...You're all rotters and I hate you."

'''Stephen Fry''': Oh God, help. }}

(''Stephen [[Face Palm|head-desks]]'') }}

*** "They say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is..."

* [[Camp Gay]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WIscxut_ak Wo ist mein Handy?]

* [[Captain Obvious]]: Often used as a way of avoiding the klaxon.

'''Sean Lock:''' What they've said turns out not to be true. }}

'''Alan''': Spelling. }}

** Or just for humor..

'''Alan''': [''uncertainly''] With their... consent? }}

'''David:''' ...Not to get its hopes up? }}

** On the subject of pilots' lunches:

'''Bill:''' Because there's ''more than one''... }}

* [[Catch Phrase]]: As yet, averted. This was noted on Series F, which looked at some other famous catchphrases, including "Has your mother sold her mangle?". Stephen noted that they themselves didn't have a catchphrase, and gave the panelists the task of coming up with one, eventually landing on "My bottom is a treasure house."

*** ''"Blue Whale!"'' '''(''{{spoiler|KLAXON}}'')'''

** Every now and again there are [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to [[Actor Allusion|Stephen's character's]] [[Verbal Tic]] catchphrase on ''[[Blackadder]]'', "Baaaa!"

'''Stephen''': Oh, ''bugger'' you. I don't sound like that. (''sounding '''exactly''' like that'') "Baaaaaa. Baaa." }}

** Alan's demanding cry of "Points!" combined with arms thrown in the air whenever he gets something right.

** Also Sean Lock.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: Often, usually in the service of the [[Rule of Funny]].

'''Alan Davies''': [[Sidetracked by the Analogy|What, you mean a kind of squirrel-fur keyboard]]?<br />

'''Rob Brydon''': That's barbaric. Are you saying you want pianos clad in the pelt of a squirrel? }}

* [[Cough-Snark-Cough]]: Stephen is very fond of this.

** In Series B, Josie Lawrence talks about how St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things and guarantees he'll help you.

** And on David Tennant's appearance, after answering a historical question right:

'''Stephen''': (''cough'')He'sacting. }}

* [[Cowboy Bebop at His Computer]]: Sean Lock's attempts to convince Stephen he was an expert on snakes.

** Nina Conti, that a wooden sticklike device she found in her desk was a suppository.

** Jack Dee in "Illumination":

'''Jack''' [''disbelieving'']: Oh, ''God''! }}

** Jo Brand saying the animal that dreams the most was the platypus.

* [[Daydream Believer]]: Bill Bailey, during David Tennant's guest appearance, jokingly insisted ''[[Doctor Who]]'' was a documentary when Stephen called it a work of fiction. Tennant played along and confirmed that it was all real. "Don't listen to the bad man." And then (at Stephen's prompting) he started waving his pen around like a sonic screwdriver...

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Rich Hall, most notably.

'''Rich''': (''buzz'') [[Continuity Nod|Which moon are we talking about, here?]] }}

** And:

'''Rich''': (''buzz'') A [[wikipedia:The Pentagon|Pentagon.]] }}

*** Oddly enough, he was in the right area as the answer turned out to be {{spoiler|Congress.}}

** David Mitchell snarks a lot, too.

* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]:

* [[Depth Deception]]: David Mitchell's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k-l1HLj9Nk bungled "giant tortoise" joke] was a play on this. Probably funnier watching him [[Cannot Tell a Joke|screw it up]] than it would've been if he'd just said it...

* [[Derailed for Details]]: Dara O'Briain's "Twelve Frenchmen and Twelve Mosquitos" story.

* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: The forfeit answers. They not only include commonly held fallacies, but predictable jokes as well. These are often an episode's [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], and the source of much frustration for the panellists.

** Reached [[The Tape Knew You Would Say That]] levels in the XL version of the "Greats" episode, when Jo Brand uttered a particularly long forfeit phrase ''word for word'':

''[klaxon] [Screen: "HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING TO MY HUSBAND?"]'' }}

* [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?]]: After Sean Lock's suggestion that you could put cheese in your pants when entering a sauna and "re-shape" it when you leave...

'''Alan''': You're saying it out loud, you're not thinking it. }}

* [[Die Laughing]]: Discussed in the XL version of "Happiness"; the only person they could come up with who'd died laughing was the man who laughed for 25 minutes and had a heart attack at an episode of ''[[The Goodies]]''.

** And many panelists have produced real pipes from under the table, using them much the same way.

* [[The Ditz]]: Alan Davies, dear ''God'', Alan Davies! This is likely at least partly an act, as he has noted on his Twitter that the producers like it when he plays the idiot, though he also notes this isn't difficult to do.

** Subverted in Series G, when {{spoiler|Alan won three shows in a row (Episodes 4-6), tied for first place in a further two (Episodes 12-13), and to finish up won Episode 16 with the highest score (21) all series, and indeed the highest score since Series D}}.

** All of them play at it sometimes, though, just for laughs. Or at the very least throw out ''completely'' nonsensical answers that are still somehow related.

'''Jimmy Carr''': [[wikipedia:Cream cracker|Jacob's crackers.]] }}

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: In Series F, "Fingers and Fumbs".

** "Dictionaries" has an [[Overly Long Gag]] of this type which Stephen uses to run an unsuccessful joke of Rory Bremner's into the ground and stomp on it repeatedly, effectively making it funny again.

* [[Don't Try This At Home]]:

** In Series G, this warning accompanied a demonstration of the correct pronunciation of "[[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh]]".

** In the Series E episode on Electricity, Stephen attempted to give this warning after demonstrating that gherkins glow when a large electric current is passed through them, but went off on a tangent and ended up saying that you should live your own life and not do things (or avoid doing things) just because some person on the TV told you to.

** Inverted when discussing custard as a non-Newtonian fluid.

* [[Double Entendre]]: Oh so very much.

** It's not French for innuendo either, as Sean Lock found out the hard way in the episode "Imbroglio".

** Jimmy Carr [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA29grik82E lampshades the use of double entendre] in the question, "Why did the inventor of the decimal point encourage his servants to stroke his cock?"

'''Jimmy''': Did he do that purely for double-entendre? ... "Have you seen my massive black cock?" Etcetera. A hit at dinner parties in Edinburgh. }}

* [[Dramatic Thunder]]: Near the beginning of an episode in Series D, as Stephen announces the theme of the night -- Death.

* [[Eagle Land]]: As usual, 80% of Rich Hall's gimmick.

* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: The show was initially split into rounds of questions on various subjects. The B series changed this so there were two rounds, one on one subject and 'General Ignorance', but the show didn't take its current format until around series D.

* [[Epic Fail]]: Sean Lock's final score of -76 in the 'Germany' episode was singled out by Stephen as "possibly a record". It still stands as the lowest score achieved by a guest panelist.

** Assuming Alan's above score of -29,000,000 was actually just -29, for the entire series, Alan is currently on a score of -2180.

* [[Exact Words]]: Rich Hall tries to use this to score points in one of his first appearances.

'''Rich''': [[Blatant Lies|In some parts of the world people use linoleum as currency.]]<br />

'''Stephen''': That ''is'' interesting. Is it true?<br />

* [[Exotic Entree]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k-l1HLj9Nk The giant tortoise], which is currently endangered largely ''because'' it's [[Impossibly Delicious Food|so delicious]].

* [[Expospeak Gag]]: But of course...

'''Jimmy''': Of [[The Internet Is for Porn|gentleman's special-interest literature]].<br />

(''klaxon; screen shows "Porn"'')<br />

* [[Funny Foreigner]]: Rich Hall, as an American comedian on a British program is one of these by default, although he is perfectly willing to play this trope straight for laughs.

* [[Geeky Turn On]]: When Jan Ravens gives "Diogenes the Cynic" as an answer...

** Stephen is accused of this a few times as well. After David Mitchell shows detailed knowledge of a French chef, he gets a teacher's pet fanfare:

** And after Rory and Stephen's discussion about Latin bird names:

** ''Professor'' Brian Cox's extensive knowledge of the Large Hadron Collider.

** Phill Jupitus gets a moment that might count in the "Europe" episode.

'''Phill Jupitus''': I have an erection. }}

* [[Genius Ditz]]: Alan Davies in later seasons.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Witness any moment when Stephen Fry asks a seemingly straightforward question... only for an awkward pause to ensue as no one wants to give the obvious answer, because they think it's a trap.

(''dead silence'') }}

** By the by, {{spoiler|1=[http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=11585&start=0&sid=c2b6336f6ff93a0cca673f08833d390c Apparently] it's a [[Shaped Like Itself|shelled slug]].}}

** Also, players comment on how the obvious answer is often the wrong answer.

** A related phenomenon is people spotting the trap, but giving the wrong answer anyway, just to get it out of the way. Also, it's not unknown for people to give a "wrong" answer, expecting the klaxon, only to find out their answer is the correct one.

** In the Series G episode "Greats", Sean Lock deliberately gave an answer he knows cannot possibly be correct (or rather, not obvious-but-wrong, but inobvious and ''definitely'' wrong) to avoid setting off the klaxon.

'''Sean Lock''': Eh, Dutch. }}

** The contestants themselves wonder how far they need to take this trope, as one Series G episode had Stephen asking the team how old they were. Cue silence and an exasperated Dara Ó Briain wondering how the obvious answer could possibly be wrong.

** ''The klaxon'' gets in on this when it starts predicting the panelists' answers. Namely, Rich Hall triggering it by answering "which moon are we talking about?".

** And sometimes, the panelists will question whether the question itself is valid. Sometimes, this will even be the case.

'''Stephen:''' David...you hit the nail on the head. }}

* [[Gentleman Snarker]]: Mr. Fry himself, of course.

'''Fry''': No. It's all [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s [[Vertigo|fault]], but vertigo is not a fear of heights; it's a specific condition of dizziness...most people who have a fear of heights have a particular phobia. What's the name for it?<br />

'''Alan Davies''': Heightaphobia.<br />

* [[Halloween Episode]]: Has appeared in series D (Death) and H (Horrible).

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: In Geometry, Stephen explains that the pillars of the Parthenon look straight because they are straight. But poor Johnny Vegas. Poor, poor Johnny Vegas:

** "ARE YOU INCAPABLE OF RATIONAL THOUGHT?!"

* [[Homoerotic Subtext]]: Quite a bit, and all played for laughs of course. Aside from the unsubtle flirting between Alan and Stephen, there's a lot among other contestants as well. Most notably, Rob Brydon and Ben Miller kissing in the 'Future' episode of "F" series. And there's the endless innuendo...

'''Stephen Fry''' (''brightly''): Well, quite. }}

** On the subject of Alan and Stephen flirting the was the episode where, if a member of the panel guessed their score exactly right, they would get a prize. Alan's answer, towards the end of the show, to Stephen's question of what that prize was was "We'd have sex." Fry simply made a remark about Alan's wishful thinking.

** Phill Jupitus [[Word of God|went on record]] in the making-of documentary as saying that his [[Troll|unofficial role]] on the show is to be as [[Token Romance|shamelessly flirtatious as possible with Stephen]].

* [[Humans Are Bastards]]: Alan Davies invokes this trope [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grq5Yqg2xSM here].

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: "We never use euphemisms, and we think that people who do are complete front-bottoms."

* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXuA3qGXl7c "We had a Jimmy Glascock at school..."]

* [[I Can't Believe I'm Saying This]]:

** Also a common response to his many [[That Came Out Wrong|That Came Out Wrongs]].

* [[I'd Tell You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You]]: Subverted.

'''Stephen Fry:''' Well it's very interesting, I could tell you, but then I'd have to [[Subverted Trope|eat myself]]. }}

* [[Ignore the Disability]]: In one episode of Series F, the guests were penalized for saying a swear word beginning with ''F'', and in the Series G episode on Germany a similar ban was placed on [[Fawlty Towers|mentioning]] "[[World War II|the War]]" (although the Franco-Prussian War was still fair game).

** "Double bluffs" get steadily more ridiculous, until hitting critical mass in the [[Comic Relief]] special, which opens with "how many sides - ''sides'', S-I-D-E-S - does a right isosceles triangle have?" Two forfeits ("4" and "6") are hit before the correct answer, and it just keeps going like that, with questions like "How many legs does a spider have?" and "What is the capital of France?"

** David Mitchell on wearing vertical or horizontal stripes:

* [[Improbably Predictable]]: Many of the forfeits come across this way.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: So, ''so'' many, often delivered to a groaning audience.

** In the "Holiday" episode, Rob Brydon's joke about stamp collecting earned pained reactions from the panel and an expression of abject shame from Brydon himself.

* [[Informed Ability]]: One episode brought up "[[wikipedia:Little Tich|Little Tich]]", a music-hall performer who inspired [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Buster Keaton]], and whom Stephen Fry proclaimed a comic genius whose name would be remembered when every other comedian on the show would be long forgotten. The panel were unimpressed, pointing out that his name had ''already'' been forgotten -- neither they nor the audience had ever heard of him -- and when a surviving clip of his act was shown, they didn't even think it was all that funny.

** John Sessions was so frequent an offender that he was given a buzzer that consisted of an over-eager child saying "Sir, Sir! I know Sir!"

** Poor, poor Brian Cox.

* [[It Tastes Like Feet]]:

** In an episode in the first series, Alan tells an anecdote about being given a chocolate bar by a nice old lady that turned out (after he'd eaten it) to be well past its use-by date, and "tasted like old ladies' cupboards". One of the other panellists requests reassurance that this isn't a euphemism.

* [[Kansas City Shuffle]] / [[I Know You Know I Know]]: In the Series F episode "Fingers and Fumbs", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcVAcxayiFM contestants lost 10 points every time they said "fuck", but could win them back by playing RockPaperScissors with Stephen.] At the start of the episode, [[Chekhov's Gun|Stephen stated that you should play scissors in such a game, because your opponent expects you to play rock and will play paper]]. This led to a draw every time as both would play scissors, causing Alan to state "somebody play rock!". And then, in the fourth game, Phill Jupitus exchanged a significant look with Alan -- and played ''scissors'', beating Stephen who played paper. Then, in the last two games, Dara and Alan won... by playing ''rock'', Stephen having played scissors.

** Also with the 'hoax cards' in the episode on Hoaxes, which had to be played when the panellists thought they'd spotted a hoax:

'''Alan''': I might use it, but when I use it, it might be a hoax! }}

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Quite literally, in response to the question "What can't remember anything?":

'''Sean:''' [[Refuge in Audacity|Yeah, I kick it real hard in the face.]]<br />

'''Stephen:''' Aw, ''stop it''! }}

* [[Large Ham]]: Well, BRIAN BLESSED was involved. Whereas everyone else's buzzers were little Christmas bells (with the obvious exception of Alan Davies), his was big massive church bells. And everyone cheered!

* [[The Last of These Is Not Like the Others]]: [[Butt Monkey|Alan]] is ''[[Running Gag|always]]'' introduced this way.

* [[Literal Minded]]: Then and again, for laughs.

'''Stephen:''' "I never stand on Bovril. It's a stupid thing to do. But I quite like the taste of it, I have to say." }}

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Averted. Of all the BBC [[Panel Games]], possibly bar ''[[Mock the Week]]'', this one draws from one of the smallest pools of repeat guests. This is probably due to not having any fixed "theme" to the show, so they're unable to pluck participants from the worlds of [[Have I Got News for You|politics and media]], [[Never Mind the Buzzcocks|music]], [[A Question of Sport|or sport]], and mostly makes do with a limited number of comedians. On the plus side this gives the show something of a dinner-party feel, with the old favourites who banter well together making regular appearances.

* [[Long List]]: Stephen is sometimes given these.

** The best example was when he listed everything the Scottish had invented. He got a round of applause at the end of it.

* [[Long Runner]]: Based on the theme naming, it would appear they expect the show to be on for at least 26 series.

* [[Missing Episode]]: The episode "Idleness" was in limbo because the week before its broadcast panellist Jeremy Clarkson made controversial comments on ''The One Show'' about strikers that led to over 30,000 complaints. It was, however, accidentally uploaded to the iPlayer, and somebody managed to get it on [[YouTube]] before the BBC realised their mistake. It ultimately aired in May 2012, one week after the Shakespeare special.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: There's been more than a few instances where the topic turns a bit grim and somber. Of course, the panelists always [[Lampshade Hanging|point this out]] and make up for it right afterwards.

'''Sue Perkins''': Be interesting to see if we can pick it up from there! }}

* [[Monochrome Casting]]: Has had a grand whopping total of ''two'' comedians of colour on in all its nine seasons (Meera Syal in "Aquatic Animals", Reg D. Hunter in "Fashion").

* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]: Stephen accidentally called Sue Perkins "[[Comedy Duo|Mel]]" in the Gothic episode, leading to much embarrassment and [[Running Gag|the panelists giving him grief about it the rest of the episode]].

* [[N-Word Privileges]]: Stephen manages to [[Appropriated Appellation|"reclaim"]] the word 'charioteer' about 2 minutes after the panel suggest it should be a euphemism for gay. That's got to be some kind of record.

* [[The Napoleon]]: Set up and then debunked in one General Ignorance round: political leaders tend to be [[Large and In Charge|above average height]] at the very least, and some are much taller.

* [[Never Heard That One Before]]: Setting Bill Bailey's buzzer to, yes, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home". Alan provides the obligatory Lampshading.

* [[No Export for You]]: The cost of clearing the rear-projected images for international showing has [[Incredibly Lame Pun|put paid]] to no fewer than four attempts to bring the programme stateside. However, Series F has been broadcast in New Zealand, and Australia broadcast Series F and G, then looped back to Series A - E before resuming with Series H. Also, the show has been remade for the Dutch market at least; the host of the Dutch version made a guest appearance during Series G to demonstrate the correct pronunciation of "[[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh]]".

* [[Noodle Incident]]: When Stephen mentions in episode C01 that he would love to finally get some fanmail:

* [[Not So Above It All]]: Stephen Fry, whose main role is to rein in the panel when they go too far. When ''he'' loses his composure, it's often the funniest moment of the show.

** A <s>good</s> spectacular example occurred in Series E, where he deftly disarmed Rob Brydon (who had been repeating the last few words of everything he said) and then bungled his very next line, which was of course "They say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is..."

*** Or the Christmas XL special, in which they started talking about Mormon polygamy and went through the Osmonds to figure out that the [[Doctor Who|Tenth Doctor]] would be killed off by the secret brother Big Graham Osmond ("played by Bill Bailey!"), who lived in the attic and wrote all their songs. Bill Bailey ends up chewing the holly sprig in David Tennant's lapel.

* [[One of Us]]: Jonathan Ross is a comic book fan, which gave him a chance to do a lengthy [[Motor Mouth]] gag in the Series D [[Children in Need]] episode about the origins of [[Wonder Woman]], the [[Triang Relations|private life]] of William Moulton Marston, and the evolution of [[EC Comics]] and its subsequent demise at the hands of the [[Comics Code]] Authority (albeit with a repetition of the myth that the word "FLICK" was banned in case it looked like "FUCK").

** Bill Bailey wears a [[Dragon Ball]] T-shirt in one of the H series episodes. In the following series he sports a [[Naruto]] t-shirt.

** Phill Jupitus once wore a [[Futurama|Planet Express]] shirt.

* [[People's Republic of Tyranny]]: Invoked by Jimmy Carr in a discussion about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If they called themselves 'The Fascist Junta' we might at least respect their honesty.

* [[Pizza Boy Special Delivery]]: Invoked when the panel where discussing the problems of [[Zero-G Spot|sex in space]]. Bill Bailey and Alan Davies started musing about what a porno set in space would be like:

'''Alan Davies:''' Then you'd better come through to the sleeping module. }}

* [[Placebo Effect]]: One of the questions on 'Illness' asks why this works (it turns out that nobody knows).

* [[Porn Names]]: "[[wikipedia:Grant Wood|Grant Wood]]?"

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: [[Sound Effect Bleep|Unfortunately bleeped out]], but Phill Jupitus loves using these.

** Also Fry himself, as part of his [[Sophisticated As Hell]] humor.

** Not to mention:

'''Stephen''': No, because they're all fucking ''German''. }}

** In the episode "Fingers and Fumbs", there was a special forfeit revolving around use of the word "fuck" where whoever said it had to play Rock/Paper/Scissors with Stephen to decide if they would lose points. It was a double bluff, as Stephen said, the contestants were expected to think that "fuck" was such an obvious word to choose as a forbidden word, they would think that the makers would never pick it as such. It came up no fewer than six times (three of them Phill's), and Stephen didn't win ''any'' games. (He kept playing scissors, having claimed it was the best opening move; see [[Kansas City Shuffle]].)

** In Series A, Stephen cut off a discussion on why there aren't any romantic songs that mention the "second moon" (technically a resonant body) Cruithne.

** {{spoiler|Actually, it was discovered to be a "moon" in 1997, but Fry was so keyed up by that point...}}

** In one of the [[Hilarious Outtakes|outtakes]] from Series 1, Stephen turns a fluffed line into a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]]:

* [[Preemptive "Shut Up"]]: Stephen doesn't care for cheap shots.

* [[Proud to Be a Geek]]

* [[Psmith Psyndrome]]: The very first penalty of the series, in the pilot. Alan guesses that Adolf is the 6th most popular boy's name in Germany, and Stephen holds up a card that says [[Did Not Do the Research|Adolph]], claiming the intern didn't fact-check the spelling. Alan then tries to claim he shouldn't be penalized because he pronounced it with an F. Stephen relents and reduces the forfeit to 8 points.

* [[Psycho Strings]]: The forfeit for the "[[Symbol Swearing|F*#@]]" forfeit in "Fingers and Fumbs" was accompanied by its own sound effect featuring these, rather than the usual klaxon.

* [[Rage Against the Author]]: David Mitchell in the "International" episode, leaving Stephen and the audience in stitches:

'''Stephen:''' ''[warningly]'' I wouldn't put it past them. }}

* [[Rant-Inducing Slight]]: David Mitchell is prone to these. The producers have picked up on this, and tend to use more double-bluffs and other tricks when he's on the show. In the Geometry episode, for example, they "targeted" him with a double-bluff regarding the pillars of the Parthenon, which appear straight because they actually are. Strangely, it wasn't David Mitchell who launched into an epic rant after that one, but ''Johnny Vegas''.

* [[A Rare Sentence]]

* [[Re Cut]]: ''QI XL'', a 40-minute version of the show, broadcast the following day.

** Something of an inversion of [[Edited for Syndication]] -- a lot of the apparent points meaning nothing (see below) is ironed out in some episodes by massive forfeits and/or correct answers which were dropped in the edit down to a half-hour; the long edit still drops points, however, and at least once dropped a forfeit (in "Health & Safety," when Alan says "you big gorilla, you," the klaxon can be heard coming in, but is not shown). One presumes that even more than this is normally cut. The repeats on Dave for Series F are exclusively showing ''QI XL'' and not the normal version (and in a few cases even got to air the XL version first because the BBC never bothered).

*** Although this might be because it allows them to stretch it to a full hour of broadcasting with [[Money, Dear Boy|three internal ad breaks]] and a more traditional scheduling pattern, as opposed to other BBC shows the channel broadcasts, which remain unedited (save for a straight cut in the middle for one ad break), but as such take up a forty-minute slot. That being said, they're not doing the same for ''[[Have I Got News for You|Have I Got A Bit More News For You]]''

* [[Released to Elsewhere]]: Phill Jupitus gets off an extended riff on this theme in the context of a discussion of Russian dogs carrying bombs which were trained to destroy tanks.

'''Alan''': His back's broken, but... }}

* [[Running Gag]]: Everything involving Alan Davies, from his comical buzzer noise to finishing last almost every time. Although since he's the only panelist who is on every show, even though he usually loses he's still won more games than any other panelist...

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: The obvious answers. Since the A series, the show has evolved from heading full throttle into them to warily circling the answers to find where the obvious answer is correct.

** Stephen too at the beginning of Series B, when [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMwQxzcGrZg Alan deliberately pressed] his [[Berserk Button]].

(''Alan mimes [[Troll|fishing]]'') }}

** There is the occasional double bluff though, such as "How many brains did ''[[The Man With Two Brains]]'' have?" {{spoiler|Two, duh.}}

*** David Mitchell was [[Rant-Inducing Slight|not pleased by this]]:

** And in the XL version of Series F episode "Fingers and Fumbs"...

[''[[Psycho Strings]]''] [screen shows: [[Symbol Swearing|F * # @]]]<br />

'''Stephen''': It was almost like a subtle double bluff, that it couldn't possibly be that word.. and it was.<br />

[''the panelists go on merrily dropping f-bombs for the rest of the show, the upshot of which is that the winning score is -24''] }}

** Or this one:

'''Stephen''': *pause* Quite right. }}

* [[Seen It a Million Times]]: Discussed in "Films and Fame" of phrases such as "Don't you die on me".

* [[Serious Business]]: In the episode on "Hoaxes", the panel were informed that they had to guess which question was a hoax and, in fact, not true by playing their "Joker cards". At the end, it turned out that the idea of a hoax fact was itself a hoax, and everything had been true. This prompted Sean Lock and Alan to throw their Joker cards across the room in anger, and Danny Baker to say "This is an outrage, this is like the end of ''[[Lost]]''!" When Sean was then announced as the winner, one of the other panelists claimed it was now a "discredited" show anyway.

* [[Shaggy Dog Story]]: In "Hanatomy", Gyles Brandreth spends over a minute laying out a possible answer to a question about [[Marcel Proust]], before suddenly realising that he's got confused and the event at the heart of his theory didn't happen to Proust but to a different French writer entirely.

* [[Shaving Is Science]]: Stephen and Sean discussed the marketing of skin products for men.

'''Sean''': "Obviously they don't want to market 'moisturiser' to men, so they call it 'face protection'. Like, it's stopping bullets hitting your face! ''*mimics a man being shot in the face, shrugging it off*'' Put this on! It's not to do with making me all soft and lovely, it's actually *BANG* and *BASH* it away. People are throwing kettles at me, I'm going *BING*!" }}

* [[Shout-Out]]: In series I a game of [[Never Mind the Buzzcocks|Identity Parade]] is played in "Indecision".

* [[Smart People Know Latin]]: Alan makes a joke about Stephen knowing the Lord's Prayer in Latin, to which Stephen responds by quoting the first line of such at high speed.

* [[Smite Me Oh Mighty Smiter]]: After David Mitchell's long and futile argument with the klaxon (yes, the klaxon), in which he inevitably loses:

'''Stephen''': [[Tempting Fate|I wouldn't put it past them]]. }}

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: The show can swing from very academic to completely filthy, sometimes in mid-sentence. Once Stephen gave a long, detailed, nerdy description of how woodpeckers' tongues work, before suddenly ending with "If the pecker's got wood, why go for tongue, you may ask!" -- resulting in a lot of stares and Jo Brand asking "Could we maybe have an offshoot of this program called ''Quite Unnecessary''?"

'''Stephen''': Oh, yes! Quality! }}

** Also, Rob Brydon's anecdote about his father's choice of swearing:

'''Stephen:''' It's a good phrase, "Hell's bells and buckets of blood". Sounds good. Good for getting it out of your system. ''[[[Beat]]]'' I say "f**k". }}

** "The short answer is 'no'. The long answer is 'fuck no'."

* [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]]: The horse from the "electricity" episode.

** Also the giraffes from the "Ganimals" episode.

'''Sandi Toksvig''': Good job you're tall. }}

** Also, [[Straight Gay|Stephen]] once found himself admiring Jo Brand's breasts:

'''Stephen''': [makes a noise of consent] I may be on the turn. }}

* [[Stupid Statement Dance Mix]]: A rare real-time example. Within moments of Stephen messing up the "They say of the Acropolis..." line, the others have already created a song around it.

** In "Illness", Jo Brand makes a [[Running Gag]] out of insulting Michael Winner. Eventually one of the questions is about what you would call a man who eats everything in sight, to which she answers "Winner"... which happens to be the forfeit (Winner having suffered near-fatal food poisoning in 2007).

* [[That Came Out Wrong]]: Most of the innuendo is deliberate, but even so...

** In the first episode of Series C, Stephen describes an interesting feature of custard (it's a dilatant fluid, which means it becomes more solid the harder or more suddenly you press on it):

'''Stephen:''' ''(facepalms)'' This is raising images. "Your finger slips in smoothly..." No, please, help me out here. [[Digging Yourself Deeper|But if you slap it hard]]-- no. ''(buries face in hands)'' Oh dear. }}

** And in one episode, Stephen explains that you can't get margarine as a substitute for butter anymore.

** One of the outtakes from C series has Stephen discussing the unpleasantness of kissing stubbly men unless they've recently shaved, which is why if you ever kiss boys its best if they're 15 or younger...Oh I didn't just say that!

** From "Incomprehensible", talking about a picture of a ground squirrel:

'''Stephen''': No, when I say, that takes me back a bit ''(franticly trying to speak over the audience laughter)'' I don't mean there was a time...! ''(resigned look)'' It's all gone wrong. }}

* [[Thing-O-Meter]]: The 'Pleasure Gauge' in the episode on Happiness.

* [[Toilet Humour]]: Often supplied by Sean Lock.

* [[Too Much Information]]:

'''Sandi Toksvig''': [[Squick|I don't feel well now]].<br />

'''Alan''': ''[waving arms]'' Don't feel good with that information. [[Brain Bleach|...Send me something else. Give me another image.]] [[It Makes Sense in Context|Danish Pastries! Danish Pastries!]] }}

* [[Uranus Is Showing]]: An episode in Series D has a question about the discovery of the rings around Uranus. The panel avoids making any of the obvious jokes -- not that they need to, since the audience laughs every time the word is said anyway -- until Stephen deliberately provokes them by innocently remarking that he's ''just noticed'' the word might be misunderstood.

* [[Verbal Backspace]]:

* [[Viewers are Morons]]: This is apparently the [http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/08/08/hodgman-activates-rage-gland-against-bbc-america-for-not-picking/ official reason] given for the programme not making it to BBC America. Otherwise, ''generally'' averted.

* [[Westminster Chimes]]:

* [[What Could Have Been]]: At one point the intention was to have Michael Palin as the host, with Stephen and Alan as team captains.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Stephen often has to apologise for mistakes in the research, but nothing beats apologising for the, er, language the Flowerpot Men speak (which was Oddlepoddle, not flobbadob).

** The great debate in "Garden" on how to kill a honeybee.

* [[What Did I Do Last Night?]]: Alan told a story about seeing some pictures from a party he'd been at that showed people playing with sparklers, and he thought he must have been in the bathroom or something since he didn't remember sparklers being there. The next few pictures showed him lighting them and handing them around.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: Jimmy Carr brings this up in "Flora and Fauna".

* [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him]]:

'''[[Top Gear|Jeremy Clarkson]]''': SHOOT IT IN THE FACE. }}

* [[Wilhelm Scream]]: Sue Perkins's buzzer in episode G13, "Goths".