Nobody loves a smartarse
I've always loved learning facts, so at high school when they were looking for potential team members to participate in BBC Radio Stoke's Top School Quiz, I volunteered, got through the in-school qualifier and ended up as team captain. Several (pre-recorded) appearances on local radio ensued with no disasters, fortunately.

Because of that experience, when I reached 6th form the Headmaster invited me to be one of the school's 2 representatives in a live debate on Signal Radio into private schools (I was on a scholarship). That was more of a disaster - I only said 2 words in the whole hour and all the time was sweating like a Brazilian electrician on a tube train.

Fast forward 20 years and the smartarse gene kicked in again on holiday, when during the evening's "entertainment" the audience was asked to identify the TV show for which the theme was being played over the PA. After a few people got it wrong, smartarsiness overcame the fear of being singled out and I correctly identified the "Stingray" theme and awaited my prize. But NOOOOOOOOOOOO, my embarrassment was only just beginning, because that was just the qualifying question.

The three people who had correctly answered questions were dragged onto the stage and made to sing the theme from a soap (I got Eastenders and restricted myself to the instrumental version with der-der-ders rather than Anita Dobson's execrable "Anyone Can Fall in Love"). Despite nearly popping every facial capillary as I turned beetroot, I won.

My prize? A bottle of the cheapest, nastiest fizzy white Spanish wine I've ever had the misfortune to taste. It was SO worth the angst. Not.

I'll tape my gob shut next time.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Fri 19 Aug 2011, 12:51, Reply)