Super-brain The Shark on Beat the Chasers, crashing a pub quiz and how to be a trivia champion
Brydon Coverdale, the brains behind the Shark Quiz, opens up on the rivalry between his fellow Chasers, and shares his secrets so you too can be a trivia champion.
SmartDaily
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When four of the superbrains from The Chase were in Sydney taping some special editions of the hit game show recently, they thought it would be a bit of fun – and good team bonding exercise – to drop into a pub quiz night.
So, relative newcomer Cheryl Toh (aka The Tiger Mum), dragged along three of her founding fellow Chasers, Brydon Coverdale (The Shark), Issa Schultz (The Supernerd) and Matt Parkinson (Goliath) down to her semi-regular competition to try their luck.
Which, if you think about it, is a bit like having half of the Liverpool Football Club drop into your weekly kickabout in the park, or having LeBron James and Steph Curry turn-up for your pick-up basketball game.
“I was half expecting people might be a bit put out but they genuinely weren’t,” says Coverdale with a laugh. “I think because it was a regular place that Cheryl has been to a few times. So, they knew she does the show and I think people were actually quite chuffed we’d come along.”
Needless to say, they smashed it. “Which was good because it wouldn’t have been good for our reputations if we hadn’t,” adds Coverdale. “I’m not even sure there was a prize – if there was, I never saw it.”
Teamwork is the order of the day for Beat the Chasers, which airs on Sunday night, and pits the combined brain power of the show’s regulars against some formidable foes who have already proved their mettle by winning big on Sale Of the Century, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and Temptation.
Where a regular episode of The Chase pits four contestants against one Chaser, this format flips the script by pitting individual challengers against combinations of up to all four Chasers together. Coverdale says the new dynamic took some getting used to but the fact they have now been shooting the show for five years, and all get along well off screen, made the transition easier. The sometime cricket journalist and father of three from Melbourne admits there is a friendly rivalry between the Chasers, but they were more driven by not wanting to be the weak link that enabled the challengers to get the better of the team for a big payday.
“We’re more than happy for players to win the money — that’s the whole point of the show — but we want to make them earn it by being very good players, more than by us making silly mistakes,” he says. “So, there’s a bit of friendly rivalry to make sure each of us is pulling our weight and not letting the team down.”
Coverdale also knows what it’s like to be in challengers’ shoes, having earned his place as one of the original Chasers by winning $307,000 on Million Dollar Minute in 2014 as well as more than $30,000 on both Pass the Buck and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Having seen things from all angles — as well as being SMARTdaily’s resident trivia guru — he’s perfectly placed to know what it takes to become a quiz champion.
DO QUIZZES – LOTS OF THEM
It goes without saying the more quizzes you do, the more trivia you’ll pick up. Coverdale’s interest was sparked by playing board games and watching Sale Of the Century as a kid and he reckons if you are getting more than half of his questions right in the SMARTdaily quiz, you’re in with a shot.
“If you are someone who is getting 15 out of 20 on a pretty regular basis then that’s an indicator that you are a pretty strong player and could be having a crack. And if you are regularly getting up around the 20 mark, then probably just stay away because I don’t want to have to play against you.”
WRITE YOUR OWN QUESTIONS
Coverdale says one of the secrets to his success is trying to get inside the heads of the quiz masters by writing his own questions. He has been challenging himself in that way since he was first trying to get on to game shows while at uni and The Chasers regularly write each other questions as prep for the show.
“The process of researching it and writing it down just helps imprint it in your mind. If I am actually looking into it myself and writing it I am much, much more likely to remember it.”
DO YOUR RESEARCH
There are certain topics that come up repeatedly — such as Oscar-winners, sporting tournament champs, capital cities, national currencies and the like. Coverdale uses an app called StudyStack to create flash cards, and he rigorously updates it to add the latest information. “If I was going to be a contestant on a show, I would certainly try to spend a bit of time cramming. Because you never know what is going to come up, but equally there are certain things that are basic quizzing – stock-standard stuff that you can really help yourself by trying to memorise a few of those lists.”
BE INTERESTING
Having good general knowledge is only half the battle for would-be contestants. Shows are also looking for some personality to go along with the intellectual firepower. “They are always looking for people who are interesting and can have a chat and a bit of banter with the host. I guess people who are going to be good to watch and have something to say rather than someone who is just answering questions and that’s it. Fortunately, there are a lot of people out there who have had both of those and we have had some fantastic contestants over five years on The Chase, but also the contestants on Beat the Chasers were really, really good, so that was a lot of fun.””
Beat the Chasers, Sunday, 7pm, Channel 7
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