Short but sweet: Philippe Geubels makes his debut in Dutch 'The smartest man'

TVOn Thursday evening, Philippe Geubels took a shot at the title of ‘The smartest person’ in the Netherlands. The comedian has already delivered more than two hundred live episodes of ‘The Smartest Man in the World’ attended, as a permanent jury member and twice as a candidate. Although his quiz experience did not bring him much, because in the final round he was played home by Teun van den Elzen.

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Hanneke van Houwelingen, Lien Joos

12-08-22, 08:58

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09:12

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The participation of Philippe Geubels was a first in the Netherlands. He is the very first foreign candidate to participate in twenty seasons of ‘The smartest person’ among our northern neighbors. And not just any candidate, said Dutch presenter Philip Freriks. At the introduction, he introduced the comedian as “the Flemish Maarten van Rossem”, since both gentlemen are jury members of the knowledge quiz in their own country. However, Geubels thought that comparison was too much honor. “Of course I don’t have his sex appeal. I’m doing my best to match him,” he joked about Van Rossem, who didn’t flinch.

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Although the quiz has the same rounds in both countries, Geubels noticed two differences: ‘the old men’ (referring to Philip Freriks and Maarten van Rossem) and the silver-colored hotel bell where the single-headed jury regularly knocks when a question needs extra explanation. .

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Flat jokes

The owner of the hotel bell, Van Rossem, kept quiet on Thursday evening. In previous interviews, including on talk show Jinek in 2017, he was not a big fan of the Flemish quiz. In it, too many flat jokes are made, including by Geubels. The questions would also be too much about sex. “The Flemish suffer from a whole series of receiving complexes that are mainly anal-driven. You can see that very well in that program,” said the historian at the time. He and Philip Freriks would have “made it a much better program than the Belgians”.

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Geubels also did not come back to this criticism tonight. He was in a good mood and took on comedian Teun van den Elzen and singer Stefan van der Wielen. Geubels left the room several times. He had problems with his intestines, but did not want to say that to his audience. He pretended his microphone wasn’t working and disappeared from the screen for a moment. Then he ran to the toilet and ran back onto the stage.

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Gift from Maarten

The comedian had little benefit from his extensive quiz experience. His opponents scored a lot better in the first five rounds of play. After a small comeback in the final round, he still lost to Teun van den Elzen. But Geubels did not go home empty-handed. He got the ‘bell from Maarten’. Or was it actually a peace offering?

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Philippe Geubels (left) receives ‘Maarten’s bell’ from presenter Philip Freriks (centre). © KRO-NCRV

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In 2008 Geubels took part in ‘The smartest person in the world’ for the first time, but then he was immediately played home by the duo Bart Cannaerts-Christophe Deborsu. In 2019 he made another attempt. He lasted five episodes and eventually ended up in the final week.

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