Goliath and The Smiling Assassin reveal their biggest fans
For the past 10 years, comedian Matt Parkinson (aka “Goliath”) has loved to compare his prodigious memory to that of actors sweating under studio lights for prize money. As one of the original “Chasers” Chase Australiahas long enjoyed the quiet celebration of brains and facts that is his weekday quiz show, but he says many more people are taking notice, too.
Chase’s Chasers (clockwise from left): Cheryl Toh, David Poltorak, Matt Parkinson, Brydon Coverdale, Issa Schultz and Mara Lejins.
“The test as a species is living in a moment because we are in a post-truth world,” Parkinson says. “I think it’s quite comforting that some ideas are fixed, that Paris is still the capital of France, that there are still three legs in a courtyard, and that there are people who know what these facts are.
“We are also in a geek generation,” he says. “People like the idea that they can retain facts and know a subject really well. There’s a prestige that comes with knowing something that other people don’t know.”
Attorney Mara Lejins, a Chaser nicknamed “The Laughing Assassin” since 2022, knows firsthand that quiz shows can be life-changing, too. A former contestant used her $60,000 winnings to earn a master’s degree in international criminal law at Columbia University.
“[The Chase] “It’s something that can be earned,” he says, and continues: “And money is nothing to be taken lightly. We [Chasers] I don’t like to lose, but it’s much easier to lose if you know that money makes a big difference. I received messages from happy contestants saying they were taking their mothers on their first holiday abroad. “Or they were finally able to buy a car or go on a family trip.”
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Lejins is the social glue of the Chasers, which also includes “Superner” Issa Schultz, “Tiger Mother” Cheryl Toh, David “Professor” Poltorak and Brydon Coverdale, aka “Shark.” Some like to get together for dinner parties and have been known to take part in the odd pub trivia night. On one such memorable occasion at the Miranda RSL in Sydney’s south, Parkinson emerged victorious from the heads-or-tails mayhem.
“The winning question was: ‘Is this a position or not? Kama Sutra: jockey on horseback?’ Yep, I thought it would definitely be there, and it turns out I was right. “That got me a $5 drink coupon.”
While it may seem unfair for casual bar patrons to be mobbed by the pros, the Chasers’ large fan base is generally excited to see them. Lejins was sent a photo of a girl dressed as the “Laughing Assassin” at school and a five-year-old boy grinning above Lejins’ face on a birthday cake.
