Stephen Fry and QI

Mr. Fry and Lady Gaga

 I just got back from Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows which was fantastic. In SH Stephen Fry plays Mycroft, Sherlock's brother. I love Stephen Fry, he's great. He's so so British. I'm not really sure what you'd know him from, not knowing your specific tastes, but he's one of Hugh Laurie's best buds as they were in school together (also a good chum of Emma Thompson). Amongst his British comedic credits are A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster (he's Jeeves). He's also the narrator of the British version of Harry Potter on tape and the Cheshire Cat in the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. He's had a series called Fry in America and on top of all this he was made a millionaire by his rewrite of Me and My Girl before he was 30! I'm sure if you IMDB him you'll find even more lovely things about Mr. Fry.

Mr. Laurie and Mr. Fry

I can't say I have a favorite incarnation of Fry, but I've certainly watched him the most as himself on QI or Quite Interesting a sort of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me plus. Fry hosts this quiz game of comedians and personalities that aired starting in 2003 on the BBC. The point of the game is to give the most interesting answer to questions whose answers are rather impossible and unguessable. On top of his acting credits Stephen Fry is a genius (he saved Emma Thompson's Oscar winning script of Sense and Sensibility from the bowels of her computer), making his hosting this show a no brainer. The series are organized into themes based on letters of the alphabet starting with series A and I think going through H. To Fry's right is always Alan Davies, the ridiculous foil to Fry's genius. The whole thing is just delightful (and rather saucy sometimes). Hugh Laurie has been on, Emma Thompson too and David Tennant. There are Christmas episodes and oh so much Britishness. If you're not acquainted with British humor in general, or vocab or sensibilities you might not like QI too much, but I really think it'll grow on you and if your British IQ isn't great you probably won't be nearly as offended by some jokes as you should be! For lovers of random and frankly useless information this show is the bees' knees.

To watch QI I would give you a great YouTube channel with all the series, but it's been in trouble recently so contact me and I'll get it to you, or search "QI series A" or just QI and have some fun watching short clips, decide if you like it and find a whole episode. I can't tell you how many I've seen, I started at the end, watched some in the middle and then worked through A and B...

Here are some highlights that are just great to wet your appetite.

^Brits as villains and John Sessions impersonates Alan Rickman.

^Stephen being smart, putting Alan in his place and Bill Bailey's Wonderful World of Knowing

^David Tennant looking great and the inevitable Doctor Who jokes.