Numberwang
From Ultimatewiki
Numberwang is a recurring sketch featured on Robert Webb and David Mitchell's BBC sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look, and previously on their BBC Radio 4 show That Mitchell and Webb Sound.
Contents |
Format
The sketch centres on a maths-based game show consisting of a series of rounds with completely inexplicable rules, mostly featuring the two players shouting out apparently random numbers until the host exclaims "That's Numberwang!". The sketches are written by James Bachman and Mark Evans, and the phrase 'That's Numberwang!' was invented by David Wolstencroft, the creator of Spooks.
The BBC's That Mitchell and Webb Look webpage features an online version of Numberwang, and also defines the show's rules as follows:
- How to play
- 1. There are 10 rounds.
- 2. Each round lasts 10 seconds. You're up against the clock!
- 3. Play your numbers, as long as they're between 0 and 99.
- 4. That's Numberwang!
However, this has little connection to the game as "played" on television, in which a round can continue for an arbitrarily long time, and numbers outside the given range are often played.
As each number is shouted by the contestants, a number on the scoreboard lights up, although it is always a number wildly different from that shouted by the contestant. Although middle rounds vary, the final round of the game is always "Wangernumb", a reversal of the title. After each round the host gives an update on the scores, which is generally nonsensical, along the lines of "Simon is on 28 and Julie is also on 7". Partway through the game, the host shouts "Let's rotate the board!" and the contestants' deck is briefly spun round to reveal something on the other side. Things on the other side of the board have included:
- Two different contestants who wave as the board makes a 360 degree turn, so they never play.
- A shocked newsreader (Mitchell).
- A Nativity scene.
- The torture scene from Marathon Man.
- The Russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter.
In the TV series, each Numberwang sketch features the same two contestants, Simon (announced as hailing variously from Somerset, Northampton, Space and Anglesey) and Julie (announced as coming from Somerset, Southampton, Dulwich and Anglesey). Most of the games are won by Simon. Julie's only victory came in the October 5, 2006 episode, although as she won by being the first to inhale a lethal dose of poison gas number 2, this could be considered a pyrrhic victory.
Alternate versions
Also seen in the series are the German version of the game, "Nümberwang", (entirely performed in German, with Julie and Simon billed as a Hamburger and a Frankfurter (a joke reference to Hamburg and Frankfurt) respectively and the timeless line "Rotieren das Brett!" (Rotate the board). James (embarassingly) can recite from memory the entire script for this episode.) and a spin-off version called "Wordwang" (in which Simon was announced as hailing from "a factory" and being "made of some kind of metal", at which point he slapped himself on the head, producing a metallic clang). The live version of Numberwang performed on their live tour added a few in-jokes for regular viewers, such as the presenter rotating instead of the contestants (to the confused look of Robert Webb who is then replaced with David Mitchell), and Webb telling the audience that Simon and Julie have "regenerated into cheaper actors" (a reference to Doctor Who.)
Cast
Olivia Colman plays Julie, Paterson Joseph plays Simon, and the host is played by Robert Webb except in the German version where David Mitchell portrayed the host.
Links
- You can see the German Nümberwang on the videos section of The Ultimate Site.
