Merry Fishmas! is the fifth non-numbered special of No Such Thing As A Fish, and the third New Year's Special. It is the fifty-fourth and final episode of 2017. It consists of clips removed from the previous episodes of the podcast.
It features regular presenters James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski, and Dan Schreiber, and guest QI Elves Alex Bell and Alice Campbell Davis, and guest presenter Jason Hazeley.
Facts[]
- Anteaters, who have famously long tongues, have very few tastebuds. (Murray)
- In France, the word "Camembert" is used as the equivalent of our word "pie chart". (Schreiber)
- Wattana the orangutan can tie knots and nobody knows why. (Ptaszynski)
- King George VI said he was an expert on the British national anthem, and that it should be sung at 60bpm, slowing to 52bpm for the end. (Harkin)
- In 1850, the English Civil Engineers and Architects Journal reported that the French were proposing a cross-channel suspension bridge. (Ptaszynski)
- Medieval artists drew elephants with trumpets for trunks. (Harkin)
- A Harvard study proposed the "IKEA effect", which says that people place more value on furniture they've built themselves. (Bell)
- When McDonald's introduced sliced apples, consumption of apples tripled in the subsequent 10 years. (Ptaszynski)
- The badger hair for modern badger-hair shaving brushes is obtained from China, where they are considered a pest. (Harkin)
- Parental Advisory stickers exist due to Al Gore's wife, who was offended at Prince's sexual lyrics. (Murray)
- The CGI cow from the movie Twister was originally a zebra from the movie Jumanji which they modified because it was easier than making an original cow. (Murray)
- The Victorians claimed that the dying words of Nelson were not "kiss me, Hardy", but "Kismet, Hardy", because they were squeamish about the idea of two men kissing. (Ptaszynski)
- Danny Dyer being related to Edward III is not interesting news because the odds are such that them being related is more likely than not. (Murray)
- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is too big to fit in most of the cars in the Fast & Furious movies. (Harkin)
- When crocodiles die, they float for over a month because their skin is so thick it keeps in all the intestinal gasses. (Ptaszynski)
- The Gömböc shape will always self-right when knocked over, and is the same shape that allows some tortoises to self-right. (Harkin)
- The Apollo 11 astronauts were quarantined when they returned to Earth. Several people went in by accident and had to stay there. (Schreiber)
- The Walnut Sphinx caterpillar makes a noise like a bird to freak out birds. (Murray)
- Auctioneers watch videos of other auctioneers at their best. (Schreiber)
- Cockroaches suffer from Isolation Syndrome. (Ptaszynski)
- A UFC fighter shat herself during a fight, and was later offered a sponsorship deal by a wet wipe company. (Schreiber)
- The Elfstedentocht is a 200km, 11-city ice-skating tour, where competitors race across the Netherlands on frozen rivers. (Bell)
- In the 1930s, the USA started applying patent law to plants. (Murray)
Trivia[]
- This is the last episode of 2017.
- This is the fifth non-numbered special after No Such Thing As Unbroadcastable Material, The One Show Special, No Such Thing As John Johnson, and Extra Bits.
- This is the third compilation episode after Unbroadcastable Material and Extra Bits.
- This episode features audio from many episodes, and thus many locations, primarily the QI Offices.
- Alex Bell guests, making his thirty-second appearance.
- Alice Campbell Davis and Jason Hazeley make their second appearances.
- Cockroaches becoming rear-heavy with age is later mentioned in Episode 251: No Such Thing As An Accidental George.
- Dan and Anna talk about caterpillars in an instance of I Don't Think They Even Know They're X.
- Cockroaches liking physical contact was discussed in Episode 186: No Such Thing As Russian Hacking in the Cockroach Election.
- Bell's fact about the Elfstedentocht was given to him by Lieven Scheire.