May the Farce Be With You Trivia Quiz

Answer: New Orleans

"A Confederacy of Dunces" (1980) was written by John Kennedy Toole and published eleven years after his death, winning a posthumous Pulitzer Prize. The story, narrated by the self-obsessed and work-averse Ignatius J. Reilly himself, centres around his adventures and encounters in New Orleans in the 1960s. His efforts at employment include a stint as a filing clerk in a failing pants manufacturing company (nothing gets filed) and time spent as a hot-dog vendor (often refusing to actually sell the hot-dogs). As well as Reilly, the book is crammed with other bizarre and eccentric characters.

(Question by cazza2902)

Answer: Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan was born in India in 1919 of an English mother and Irish father, but lived most of his life in England. He was called up into the British army in WWII and entertained his fellow soldiers by writing and performing comic sketches as well as using his musical talents. After the war he became famous both for his humorous scriptwriting and his performances as a radio, TV and film comic actor. He is probably best remembered for his role as a member and scriptwriter of the anarchic "Goon Show", which continues to provide a template for British comedy to this day.

(Question by Calpurnia09)

Answer: Douglas Adams

"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" was the fourth book in the science fiction comedy series "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Douglas Adams originally wrote this comedy as a series of radio plays in 1978. From there it grew into a series of books, a TV series and a movie with a huge cult following. Always remember that the meaning of life is 42!

(Question by em1958)

Answer: Skullion

Written by Tom Sharpe in 1974, "Porterhouse Blue" is a satire on life in the fictional Cambridge college of Porterhouse. Skullion is the head porter who is so concerned with tradition and the reputation of the college that, when the college is burning down, he refuses to let fire engines in until he has finished popping the inflated condoms lying all over the college lawn. Eventually, through a misunderstanding, he is named Master of the College but then suffers a 'Porterhouse Blue' (a massive stroke) brought on by excessive indulgence in the college's legendary cuisine. In 1987 the book was made into a TV series, with David Jason taking the role of Skullion.

(Question by Christinap)

Answer: 'The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus'

The poem relates the tale of Jabez Dawes who denied the existence of Santa Claus, until he comes face to face with him one Christmas Eve and is turned into a Jack-in-the-Box. Ogden Nash was a prolific comic poet. Many of his verses were short, sweet and to the point, such as "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker" and "The Lord in his wisdom made the fly, and then forgot to tell us why." He died in 1971.

(Question by StarStruck60)

Answer: Mince and slices of quince

Edward Lear was a nineteenth century English writer and illustrator who was primarily known for his nonsense poetry, prose and limericks. For a short time he taught art to Queen Victoria, but he had some difficulties in conforming to palace protocols, so the employment was somewhat brief. He lived his later years with his cat in San Remo, on the Mediterranean coast, in a house which he named 'Villa Tennyson'. He died there in 1888.

(Question by Dutty4eva)

Answer: Joe Orton

"Loot" mocks The Catholic Church, Death and the Police. It was first staged in 1966, but the following year the author was bludgeoned to death by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. Orton sold the film rights for a small amount, convinced that the film would bomb, which it did. Bad luck associated with the play continued into the 1980s when comic actor Leonard Rossiter died while waiting to go on stage during a production.

(Question by irishtinytim)

Answer: '1066 and All That'

"1066 and All That" was written by WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman and first published in serial form in the satirical magazine "Punch". This wonderful parody of English history from Roman times to the end of World War I contains delightful descriptions such as of the Cavaliers of the English Civil War ('Wrong but Wromantic') and the Cromwellian Roundheads ('Right but Repulsive'). Its style, which has since been borrowed by other 'histories' of America and Australia, certainly makes all those dusty dates learned at school come alive!

(Question by gracie3)

Answer: 'Lucky Jim'

"Lucky Jim" (1954) was Amis' first novel, recounting the unending series of social disasters perpetrated by the eponymous working class hero James (Jim) Dixon as he tries uncomfortably to fit in with academic life in a fictitious university (supposedly modelled on Leicester University). After a series of gaffes including burning the bed linen in the senior History professor's house on a weekend visit, and a drunken public lecture during which he outrageously parodies the professor before he faints, he finally gets the sack - but also gets the 'posh' girl!

(Question by dsimpy)

Answer: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

"Breakfast of Champions" is the name of the novel as well as the punchline in that pivotal scene. Vonnegut described his 1973 novel as a "tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast." In this novel he attacks the evil and absurd aspects of American society through satire.

(Question by sarahcateh)