BRIAN Nankervis, quiz master of the musical show RocKwiz will be out and about in town on Saturday, November 30 for any keen contestants before the show of Never Mind the Buzzers, Here’s RocKwiz LIVE! at the Swan Hill Town Hall.
“I’ll be in the foyer, I’ll be moving around, sometimes I’ll be on the street,” he told The Guardian.
“The other night in Thirroul, I walked across the road and went to a beer garden and there were about 50 people there who were coming to the show, so we staged an impromptu quiz session in the beer garden.”
RocKwiz is back in Swan Hill on their biggest tour so far with Mr Nankervis and host Julia Zemiro, accompanied by the RocKwiz Orkestra, providing live music along with surprise musical guests.
This year the show will be held indoors at the Swan Hill Town Hall instead of the sound shell at Riverside Park.
RocKwiz started airing on SBS in 2005 and quickly became a staple on the channel and for music trivia enthusiasts.
The live show will test the musical knowledge of six contestants – with four of the contestants being handpicked from the audience.
Mr Nankervis said the different contestants at each show kept RocKwiz interesting.
“I remember the contestants from the audience in Swan Hill were great fun,” he said
“The contestants are what keeps us on our toes, because we never know what they’re going to be like.”
“They’re often people who aren’t familiar with sort of stagecraft. They’re bankers, doctors, nurses and teachers.”
For almost 15 years the show has managed to successfully translate its TV format into a live touring act.
Mr Nankervis recalls RocKwiz’s first live show at Melbourne’s Moomba Festival in 2007.
“We were in a large tent and out in the open and I remember we were slightly nervous about how it would work with with a large audience,” he said.
“Such an important part of RocKwiz’s is the the to-ing and fro-ing between the contestants and my big worry was that the people on the desks wouldn’t be heard.”
“But it turned out really well because our sound crew is very good and the show worked really well and people loved it, so we started doing them regularly.”
After a national tour in 2010, they have continued to tour almost every year, with their current tour being their biggest yet with 39 shows.
“We’re loving it, and audiences are loving it. We’re filling theatres and concert halls and town halls, so we’re pretty happy,” Mr Nankervis said.
“It’s just an absolute joy. I can’t believe it’s still going after 20 years and it seems to be going stronger than ever,
With RocKwiz’s quirkiness and wittiness can be attributed to both hosts being skilled improvisers and keeping the show fresh every night.
Mr Nankervis said they are constantly adding things as they go.
“To work on a show and to do it night after night is really exciting,” he said
“So I’ve just spent the last hour and a half tweaking last night’s script.”
“It’s very liberating and it’s challenging because you’re in a different room every night and that also means you’ve got to make sure the sound is good.”
Tickets are selling fast for Never Mind the Buzzers, Here’s RocKwiz LIVE! at the Swan Hill Town Hall. They can be bought online at https://swanhilltownhall.com/events/rockwiz/
Theatre doors open from 6.30pm and the show starts at 7.30pm.
