I had the numberwang board game as a kid and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my sister was crushed to death when all 31 volumes of the rule books fell onto her, but on the plus side I won that game.
Bro, you’re lucky. She could have accidentally guessed Wolfwang, and then been devoured by the Wangerwolves. And yes, I know that doesn’t sound logical, but it was the European localization of rules from the far different version from Europe.
My parents were too stingy to get the official Numberwang board game and bought me a cheap knock-off version called Wumbernang. That was Christmas ruined. I have never forgiven them for it.
@@collinhunter9792 It’s a classic reversal of expectations, when he says “countries like Australia” you would expect him to be talking about Australia. But it turns out he was talking about countries similar to Australia, such as New Zealand.
Fitting, since the skit is all about copying the patterns of a gameshow without a ton to make it all make sense, which is kinda what LLMs (especially at the time you made your comment) do.
I was on the American version of Numberwang. I won the episode by playing 61. It was great winning a thousand dollars, but I don't think it was truly necessary to have my opponent get crushed to death by the number 3.
From what all the old school market makers say that pretty much was literally the case prior to e-trading….they just basically dictated the bid-ask out of whole cloth. That’s why so many morons got so rich in the 80s.
An underrated aspect of this sketch which I especially love, is that there is literally no logical reason why its Gyles Brandreth in number corner, and not anyone else.
I can’t believe that numberbounce was a separate expansion to the home game. I’ve spent $37,000 assembling the complete home game and expansions but it is worth it to know in my heart I have always accurately called what is and is not Numberwang.
I love how Tom Scott has been on that show multiple times. Plus tons of other game shows, like University Challenge. He's also constantly making his own game shows, he's got multiple different ones in the go at the moment, including one he was commissioned to make by Curiosity Stream for their Nebula streaming site. He must be the person with the biggest obsession for game shows of anyone maybe ever. Seriously he's a fiend for game shows. So that's the only time I've watched Only Connect, purely cos of Tom Scott since he's a British national treasure. But I had no idea what was going on really. It's an even more intellectual gameshow than university challenge. And I'm not _UNeducated_ cos I do have a university degree. But Tom Scott somehow has all this trivia knowledge that he will decimate you with. On his most recent appearance on university challenge he basically answered 95% of the questions himself, so he didn't really even need his teammates. If I was gonna do a pub quiz, I'd want him on my team for sure. Problem with most gameshows though is that they are all about trivia, which is not something you can really be educated in. Getting an undergrad degree for example isn't about rote memorisation of a bunch of facts, it's about learning specific skills such as learning how to research, and learning how to present an argument in essay form, using evidence and logic, etc. So you're either the kind of person who is obsessed with learning all sorts of facts and trivia just for the fun of it (like spending hours every day on a Wikipedia binge, reading through hundreds of articles a day) and so you're great at gameshows and pub quizzes and the like, or you're _NOT_ that kind of person. It's got little to do with how educated you are. Tom is one or those people who's both, though. He's very well educated, with his masters degree in linguistics (and remember, a European masters degree is the equivalent of an American PhD, just like how an American undergraduate degree is the equivalent of of a European high school/secondary school diploma/A-Level/whatever), but he's also one of those people who's a fiend for learning trivia too. I'm really really hopeful that one day, Tom will get his own BBC gameshow that he presents. He's already worked on BBC TV shows before, both behind the scenes and as an on-screen talent. And he's already presented (as well as taken part in) gameshows before. He'd be really good at it. So maybe one day, he'll be the one presenting Only Connect. Or something else, something new perhaps, or one of the bigger more well known shows, like he'd be good at presenting Countdown. I'm sure it's one of his biggest goals, to one day be a presenter of a real TV gameshow. He wouldn't constantly be inventing new gameshows and presenting them and getting millions of views on RUclips of them, and constantly applying for and appearing on various different gameshows on British TV, if he didn't want to one day present a proper TV gameshow himself. Fingers crossed he succeeds. These days, traditional media like TV is way more open to having RUclips stars on them. They don't look down on RUclips as much as they used to.
It's very simple. The contestants are smug and middle class and usually related and Victoria appears constantly pissed and makes unfunny innuendos about a former politician who wears florescent golf trousers on old trains. See, simple.
The offside rule is easy to understand though. You have to have at least 2 opposition players between you and the goal at the moment when the ball is passed to you, if and when you receive the ball. That's it. That's the rule. Usually one of the two players is a goalkeeper, but it can be any two players.
@@michaelkobylko2969 Indeed. Today, 18 is only numberwang on Good Fridays; eighteen on the other hand is numberwang on all days except Good Friday, though it doesn't count as Numberwang if England is in a state of Peace.
I'm sure it had to be intentional, but they made a joke that the gas is made of number two, which is deadly to humans. Aside from the toilet pun of "number two," another way of writing it would be "no. 2," or NO2, which is Nitrogen Dioxide, which is a gas that's deadly to humans.
I was recommended to watch this and I love it because I don't understand it. It also led to me losing all my roles on a Discord server then reinstatement plus a Numberwang winners role
I used to play the home game with the family from time to time. I even got the wangernumb once! Yeah, spent 3 months in the hospital for that but what a win! I was so proud.
I recall someone having the pilot for Musicwang, but that got taken down by the Lombard Street Radicals. Seriously, guys? Oh well, Sportswang is supposed to start production once this pandemic blows the heck over.
There was another pilot for Cakewang, which was means to be somebody baking a number cake, and if it wasn’t Numberwang, the unlucky contestant would be sentenced to Deathwang.
If someone wants to know smart, sophisticated humour, I think Numberwang would be the first thing to show them. If one imagines a list of things to show, it would be right at the top, and if one imagines a row, it would be in the front.
I got my PhD proving that when counting consecutive numbers rather than trying to reach numberwang most efficiently, the number of numbers it takes to reach numberwang is always numberwang.
Does every country have its own Colosson, or does he do the calculations for all the international versions? It seems like trouble if that thing is networked.
The game highly remind me the french fake late 90's game "Kamoulox" that itself tool inspiration from the early 90's "Simple comme bonjour (easy as pie)". Like Numberwang, the rules are completely meaningless but done in a way that it seems only the audience don't get it. When "Simple comme bonjour" only have one episode, "Kamoulox" is quite a cult thing and have a lot of episodes being playe in front of a live audience or a cheap TV show. But unlike Numberbang, the jokes aren't renewed at all over the episodes. As for the main goal, the first one saying "Kamoulox" wins and the game goes like that : (player 1) "I take the bus to the moon and I place a Burger King there" (entertainer) "You win 14 African rabbits ! Player 2 : Madonna or Celine Dion ?" (player 2) "Kevin Costner" (Entertainer) "Impossible ! There's Shrek taking a shower in diagonal. House or Cheese ?" (player 1) "I use the Earth, Wind and Fire disc to... hmm... (player 2) "KAMOULOX !!!!" (Entetainer) "And Player 2 just won the game !"
Did you know that until the launch of the Official Numberwang! Number-palooza Orbital Space Center TM it was impossible to receive Numberwang! broadcasts in London? It's true! Before that they had to get it piped in from Macclesfield.
They got to continue. Got to be more scetches to do coz they can act. Proper performers like Vic Bob and yoycan tell they are paying tributes. To the old teachers but with a special sight of coming time's past and present . Great duo top six
The British version of Numberwang was so poor compared with the American version. The American version gives such big prizes and the contestants cry a lot, it's essential viewing in my household.
![Upscaled - Bruiser - s1 [couchtripper][U]](/img/1.gif)
It actually took me several episodes before I fully understood the rules of Numberwang. I play it with my wife on long winter nights.
You play it? That's 20 years in prison
@@obi501 you might get off with twentington for good behaviour.
@@Jivvi how ironic that they'll get numberwang years in prison
@@obi501 I mean it is a first class wangernum offense, I'm glad those people are kept in prison.
@@Jivvi No, they deserve filve-hundred-and-neeb years
I had the numberwang board game as a kid and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my sister was crushed to death when all 31 volumes of the rule books fell onto her, but on the plus side I won that game.
Your sister won Deathwang. You should be ashamed.
That's Numberwang!
Bro, you’re lucky. She could have accidentally guessed Wolfwang, and then been devoured by the Wangerwolves. And yes, I know that doesn’t sound logical, but it was the European localization of rules from the far different version from Europe.
My parents were too stingy to get the official Numberwang board game and bought me a cheap knock-off version called Wumbernang. That was Christmas ruined. I have never forgiven them for it.
Ironic because 31 is not Numberwang today.
“In countries like Australia, such as New Zealand”
That is one of the funniest jokes of the show :-)
Rowan Aboat
Took me a minute.
“Countries like Australia” = “countries similar to Australia”
i dont getthe joke cos i speak like that! lol. must be cos im scottish? it makes sense to me
@@collinhunter9792 same
@@collinhunter9792
It’s a classic reversal of expectations, when he says “countries like Australia” you would expect him to be talking about Australia. But it turns out he was talking about countries similar to Australia, such as New Zealand.
@@rowanaboat4523 As a New Zealander, I resent that resemblance.
Numberwang is how i imagine an A.I. would create a game show
An A.I. such as, perhaps... Collosson?
@@RichardX1You are Numberwang, I am Numberwang, all is Numberwang
Fitting, since the skit is all about copying the patterns of a gameshow without a ton to make it all make sense, which is kinda what LLMs (especially at the time you made your comment) do.
@@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932 That's Numberwang!
Simon’s just nodding his head like “fuck, of course, forgot about shinty six, good shout”
Yes, shinty six is not a numberwang, as in the popular phrases, “sorry you will die in shinty six seconds”
Shame Numberwang got cancelled after season 94, but it did go downhill when the Colloson killed my mother.
Really? I thought it picked up at that point. I really loved how Colloson would periodically try to take over the world
It's incredible how they managed to innovate so much on numberwang without it feeling like the same old joke 😂
Well, and just think... In the future, we might get a quantumwang spinoff!
@@DarkPhaaze Quantumwang - in which a number can both be and not be numberwang simultaneously 😂
@@beelzzebub Shrodingers Wang
thats sentancewang
It isn't a joke, it's a serious, high stakes quiz show.
I was on the American version of Numberwang. I won the episode by playing 61. It was great winning a thousand dollars, but I don't think it was truly necessary to have my opponent get crushed to death by the number 3.
That's Deathwang!
"Yes, that is a number!"
These should be sent on board all forthcoming space missions as numberwang represents a succinct summary of all human knowledge
You could say, it is the SUM of all human knowledge.
I love the idea of aliens putting off an invasion trying to figure out whether or not something is in fact numberwang
@@alexdavison259 It'll take them at least thrilve hundred and neeb years to work it out.
Well in one episode Simon was from space
This is the how stocks are calculated
Maybe don't buy Gamestop, bitcoin, and other meme stocks
From what all the old school market makers say that pretty much was literally the case prior to e-trading….they just basically dictated the bid-ask out of whole cloth. That’s why so many morons got so rich in the 80s.
Doctor: You have shinty-six minutes to live
Me: *watches this video*
It's always a kick watching these old skits and seeing Academy Award winning actress Olivia Colman a decade before she was famous
I love the ad breaks you put in. Great idea
Fantastic
I'm literally getting drunk and thinking about shaving as I watch this
"Time for one last word from Giles"
"Numberwank"
"It's numberwang"
"Fuck"
😂
Priceless!
He should’ve been PM instead of Boris…he seems to be fairly bright in addition to being the token old Tory on panel shows.
3
"Ah, would that it were numberwang, alas it is not" Robert Robinson done to perfection.
"That's numberwang!" Is my notification tone so every message I receive is, in fact, numberwang.
good idea
An underrated aspect of this sketch which I especially love, is that there is literally no logical reason why its Gyles Brandreth in number corner, and not anyone else.
It's having a go at him appearing on Dictionary Corner on the game show Countdown hundreds of times. I think more than anyone else 🤣
@@magnumdorkus4222 Ah well I've only ever watched about 5 episodes of Countdown in my lifetime, so thanks for letting me know
Well, his grandfather’s cousin once changed a lightbulb in the original number Wang studio - as he will tell you about at great(!) length.
@@peterfireflylund That's wordwang
Love the subtle changes to the rules in the german version. Shows a real deep understanding of german culture
What are the changes?
The fact that everything has been replaced by umlauts and that all numbers that are numberwang are now in German. Such as svintee shix
@@skylanderlego4163 They use a different algorithm to calculate numberwang
Something about the Numberwang bits completely short circuits my brain. Love it
I can’t believe that numberbounce was a separate expansion to the home game. I’ve spent $37,000 assembling the complete home game and expansions but it is worth it to know in my heart I have always accurately called what is and is not Numberwang.
I know, total rip off
That _is_ a rip-off! The official price for it was 32,519.87 USD minus 100 Vietnamese đồng.
I’m amazed how much they squeezed out of numberwang
This is like watching only connect with Victoria Coren Mitchell. I still have no idea what's going on
David's sense of humour has rubbed off on her.
It's not difficult... 😮🤦😬🤤👎
Victoria Coren has that effect on me too
I love how Tom Scott has been on that show multiple times. Plus tons of other game shows, like University Challenge. He's also constantly making his own game shows, he's got multiple different ones in the go at the moment, including one he was commissioned to make by Curiosity Stream for their Nebula streaming site. He must be the person with the biggest obsession for game shows of anyone maybe ever. Seriously he's a fiend for game shows.
So that's the only time I've watched Only Connect, purely cos of Tom Scott since he's a British national treasure. But I had no idea what was going on really. It's an even more intellectual gameshow than university challenge. And I'm not _UNeducated_ cos I do have a university degree. But Tom Scott somehow has all this trivia knowledge that he will decimate you with. On his most recent appearance on university challenge he basically answered 95% of the questions himself, so he didn't really even need his teammates. If I was gonna do a pub quiz, I'd want him on my team for sure. Problem with most gameshows though is that they are all about trivia, which is not something you can really be educated in. Getting an undergrad degree for example isn't about rote memorisation of a bunch of facts, it's about learning specific skills such as learning how to research, and learning how to present an argument in essay form, using evidence and logic, etc. So you're either the kind of person who is obsessed with learning all sorts of facts and trivia just for the fun of it (like spending hours every day on a Wikipedia binge, reading through hundreds of articles a day) and so you're great at gameshows and pub quizzes and the like, or you're _NOT_ that kind of person. It's got little to do with how educated you are. Tom is one or those people who's both, though. He's very well educated, with his masters degree in linguistics (and remember, a European masters degree is the equivalent of an American PhD, just like how an American undergraduate degree is the equivalent of of a European high school/secondary school diploma/A-Level/whatever), but he's also one of those people who's a fiend for learning trivia too.
I'm really really hopeful that one day, Tom will get his own BBC gameshow that he presents. He's already worked on BBC TV shows before, both behind the scenes and as an on-screen talent. And he's already presented (as well as taken part in) gameshows before. He'd be really good at it. So maybe one day, he'll be the one presenting Only Connect. Or something else, something new perhaps, or one of the bigger more well known shows, like he'd be good at presenting Countdown. I'm sure it's one of his biggest goals, to one day be a presenter of a real TV gameshow. He wouldn't constantly be inventing new gameshows and presenting them and getting millions of views on RUclips of them, and constantly applying for and appearing on various different gameshows on British TV, if he didn't want to one day present a proper TV gameshow himself. Fingers crossed he succeeds. These days, traditional media like TV is way more open to having RUclips stars on them. They don't look down on RUclips as much as they used to.
It's very simple. The contestants are smug and middle class and usually related and Victoria appears constantly pissed and makes unfunny innuendos about a former politician who wears florescent golf trousers on old trains. See, simple.
Therapist: American Robert Webb isn't real, he can't hurt you.
American Robert Webb: 26:38
the fact that I'm learning german made the german episode significantly funnier somehow
Maybe because they wrote jokes in German?
For me it made me realize how bad I still am at speaking German😅
"Julie, wie gehts?"
"Nein."
"Simon?"
"Ja."
Giles occasionally turning up is the best bit about this whole show.
No.
@@mauriciogerhardt3209 Yes.
Didldidi. It all goes down the same hole.
Lidl 😂
This whole show is basically explaining how the offside rule works. I’m still none the wiser.
The offside rule is easy to understand though. You have to have at least 2 opposition players between you and the goal at the moment when the ball is passed to you, if and when you receive the ball. That's it. That's the rule. Usually one of the two players is a goalkeeper, but it can be any two players.
I’ve just eaten the Independent Republic of Yeb, and I can confirm upon further investigation it is indeed a vegetable
The games rigged, 18 isnt a numberwang. I dont know how they'd think it was.
Ah, but they said eighteen, not 18.
When in reference to cakes it is. Don't worry, many forget this rule.
Back when this was made, 18 was Numberwang. It changed afterwards.
@@michaelkobylko2969 Indeed. Today, 18 is only numberwang on Good Fridays; eighteen on the other hand is numberwang on all days except Good Friday, though it doesn't count as Numberwang if England is in a state of Peace.
They played the German rules
Now we know that it wasn't Netflix that killed television. It was Colloson.
That's Deathwang!
Now we know
@@spudragious now we know
I'm sure it had to be intentional, but they made a joke that the gas is made of number two, which is deadly to humans. Aside from the toilet pun of "number two," another way of writing it would be "no. 2," or NO2, which is Nitrogen Dioxide, which is a gas that's deadly to humans.
I got this as a Minecraft splash text
I was recommended to watch this and I love it because I don't understand it. It also led to me losing all my roles on a Discord server then reinstatement plus a Numberwang winners role
'He was caught making love to an 11, he swears to this day it was 16' is probably the funniest line
Probably the most Python-esque sketch Mitchell and Webb did
When he asked Simon if he said 6, he should have answered 'no'. More consistent with the logic of the game.
I have the Numberwang box set, it has all -72.1 seasons!
To be honest, this is exactly what watching a game-show you don't know the rules of is like XD
I legitimately want that board game! Please make it and give it to us. Take my money!!!
Fourtington is still my favorite numberwang
I used to play the home game with the family from time to time. I even got the wangernumb once! Yeah, spent 3 months in the hospital for that but what a win! I was so proud.
That Mac ad was an unexpected treasure
They did a bunch of those! So great
I recall someone having the pilot for Musicwang, but that got taken down by the Lombard Street Radicals. Seriously, guys? Oh well, Sportswang is supposed to start production once this pandemic blows the heck over.
There was another pilot for Cakewang, which was means to be somebody baking a number cake, and if it wasn’t Numberwang, the unlucky contestant would be sentenced to Deathwang.
Numberwang is truly an influential show
Hooraywang!
If someone wants to know smart, sophisticated humour, I think Numberwang would be the first thing to show them. If one imagines a list of things to show, it would be right at the top, and if one imagines a row, it would be in the front.
With the successful mashup of 8/10 and Countdown.......they should have done 'Numberwang does Mornington Crescent'.
DEATHWANG! i guess i know what ill name my first band.
DEÄTHWÅNG
Deathwank!?
@@johnjamescapel3489 ĐƏÅŤHWÅŇĶ
This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. Ads and all! Mitchell and Webb are comic geniuses 🤣
I got my PhD proving that when counting consecutive numbers rather than trying to reach numberwang most efficiently, the number of numbers it takes to reach numberwang is always numberwang.
I really want a shirt that just says "I am from space"
They actually made a show in german language and as a native i can say their accent wasn't even that bad.
What are the jokes?
@@JulianBlacket What are the jokes in the English version? This is Numbafail!
Does every country have its own Colosson, or does he do the calculations for all the international versions? It seems like trouble if that thing is networked.
The British government sold the blueprints of Colosson after the war, to help pay for reconstruction
The domain name number.wang should redirect here rather than the current shorter video.
All of these actors went on to do fantastic work in Peep Show, and Olivia Coleman, who plays Julie in NumberWang has become an A-List movie actor.
Yes! That is a Number (Though I'm kinda surprised you left out "The Numberwang Code" trailer)!
WARNING: Numberwang may cause the event if abused. Which will end in Deathwang
We need more international versions of Nümberwang!
The Japanese version, 'Nambaawangu' is excellent
@@capitalb5889 The french NombreWéngeur is pretty good
@@7p7m7 I'd love to see it 👍🏼
There is a very obscure Chinese version called “Shu Wang” only twentington clips exist of it
I love it when McDonald's does their annual numberwang sweepstakes, I collect so many rewards.
Olivia Coleman utterly gorgeous.
How the AWS F1 tyre performance graphics' values are chosen...
"Wangs for the memory" is the best joke ever written
Twentigton is my favourite number.
The theme song reminds me of Spellbound, A Game Show From 1991, Aired On Sky One.
just got reminded about this through the minecraft splash text
Numberwank
😮 It's Numberwang
Fuck!
I’ve never seen the ads before, those are brilliant lol
I reckon Colosson maybe had something to do with The Event. Don't think about Colosson. Don't think about The Event.
Colosson IS the event.
Don't talk about the event. It will cause stress. The event is in the past
We mustn’t talk about the event. Oh crap. They’ve got in.
1:37 .... That's surely Alan Johnson
16:15
It's no Quizzlestick, but it's a fair challenge.
It's like a RUclips poop but deliberately shot that way.
09:02 Now I notice, this is an alcoholic lager beer, isn't it?
Look, I'm not saying that what Colosson did was justified, but the world's a lot more Numberwang now that he's taken charge.
Makes as much sense as everything else with numbers.
8:35 the pinnacle of numberwang
Julie, ever killed a man? No.
Simon? Yes.
4:33 - the best one of all the rotate the boards hahahah
The game highly remind me the french fake late 90's game "Kamoulox" that itself tool inspiration from the early 90's "Simple comme bonjour (easy as pie)".
Like Numberwang, the rules are completely meaningless but done in a way that it seems only the audience don't get it. When "Simple comme bonjour" only have one episode, "Kamoulox" is quite a cult thing and have a lot of episodes being playe in front of a live audience or a cheap TV show. But unlike Numberbang, the jokes aren't renewed at all over the episodes.
As for the main goal, the first one saying "Kamoulox" wins and the game goes like that :
(player 1) "I take the bus to the moon and I place a Burger King there"
(entertainer) "You win 14 African rabbits ! Player 2 : Madonna or Celine Dion ?"
(player 2) "Kevin Costner"
(Entertainer) "Impossible ! There's Shrek taking a shower in diagonal. House or Cheese ?"
(player 1) "I use the Earth, Wind and Fire disc to... hmm...
(player 2) "KAMOULOX !!!!"
(Entetainer) "And Player 2 just won the game !"
Numberwank 😜 seriously tho the adverts make this a top class edit
Did you know that until the launch of the Official Numberwang! Number-palooza Orbital Space Center TM it was impossible to receive Numberwang! broadcasts in London? It's true! Before that they had to get it piped in from Macclesfield.
Holy cats this just keeps going and going
The epitome of how to sustain your franchise
Well “wang” means “king” in Korean so I guess they’re electing the number king
Well "wang" means "penis" in English so I guess they're wanking the number penis
same in china
18:35 saw this clip years ago and thought it was hilarious, never realized where it was from 😂
This is the coolest thing ever in the history of whizenbang.
Compared to Ted Roger's 321, this show makes sense.
They got to continue. Got to be more scetches to do coz they can act. Proper performers like Vic Bob and yoycan tell they are paying tributes. To the old teachers but with a special sight of coming time's past and present . Great duo top six
It’s a shame I was too old to play the numberwang board game when it finally came out, I always had to play cucumberwang, which we all know is shit
MEN - Shave and get drunk!
7:24 Only just realised that there was no number 4. Funny coincidence considering that was my 6.2st rewatch.
Legit want the boardgame....
Well sadly, only shinty six copies exist of the Numberwang board game, so people have had to play Cucumberwang, which would be s**t
“Twentington” is the best fake number
Does anyone have a spare copy of volume 18 of the official rules of Numberwang?
No
@@boombadger that's wordwang!
Yes
"Numberwank"
"...it's NumberWANG!"
"F*ck!"
"ahhh, danke danke"
26:39 The best one
What's your favourite colour in the alphabet? Mine's triangle.
The British version of Numberwang was so poor compared with the American version.
The American version gives such big prizes and the contestants cry a lot, it's essential viewing in my household.
My sister died in a numberwang
That must’ve been during the event. Don’t think about the event. It causes stress
1.6k likes - that's Numberwang!
I MiGhT EveN StOp My AffAIr