Search icon

Entertainment

20th Sep 2016

People are going nuts about this ridiculously intense ‘University Challenge’ contestant

Monkman stole the show on last night's episode.

Nooruddean Choudry

He’s both the hero we deserve and need right now.

Things aren’t great right at the minute, what with Trump, Brexit, and GBBO moving to Channel 4. To top it all off, the winter months are fast approaching.

What we need now – more than ever – is strong leadership. Someone with a steely resolve and unflinching conviction to steer us through these dark times.

We all need a hero. We need a saviour. We need…MONKMAN.

Or Eric MONKMAN to be exact. The Canadian student, who is studying Economics at Cambridge, was representing Wolfson College on BBC2’s University Challenge last night, and became an instant viral sensation within minutes of his television debut. It wasn’t long before he was trending on Twitter and gaining thousands of new fans.

https://twitter.com/monkeyteaparty/status/777949760045088768

His very visible passion, focus and sheer intensity was something to behold. Whether he knew the answer or not, MONKMAN responded to Jeremy Paxman’s questioning with the demented urgency of a starving man biting off a snake’s head.

In fact it brought to mind Danny Baker’s famous saying: ‘Sometimes right, sometimes wrong – always certain.’

https://twitter.com/TomCrofts1/status/777959775472652289

The forcefulness of MONKMAN’s answers were only matched by his plethora of tensed up facial expressions. You’ve heard of ‘resting bitch face’, well MONKMAN has a ‘resting axe-murderer/evil mastermind face’.

https://twitter.com/Tweet_Dec/status/777950496141221888

To top it all, his pronunciation of ‘Mao Tse Tung’ was something else…

Thank you Eric MONKMAN, for bringing meaning and purpose to our lives once more…

https://twitter.com/RealMattKing/status/777953271017312256

https://twitter.com/__Wakefield/status/777951931197251584