“Please don't tell Channel 4 we're doing this.”
written by the Moon Houston
For obvious reasons I had to make that the title.
Ben Paddon is bringing a British classic game show to American audiences. I’ll just let them explain what the show is about:
“Queer Countdown is Countdown. But, y'know. Queer. There's a fantastic little teatime game show in the UK - so called because it's a game show that airs around teatime - that pits two contestants against each other as they attempt to find the longest word they can from a string of 9 letters (a sort-of 2D Boggle, if you like), followed by some light-to-moderate math. Each round takes a few minutes, with players only having 30 seconds for each task. There's a comedy version as well, featuring popular British comedians and also Jimmy Carr. In many ways it's kind of our Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! - a game show everyone is familiar with that is a beloved part of the TV landscape. So we're doing that. But American. And gay.”
Ben made my job pretty easy for this one, they gave me good material I don’t really think I need to re-work. (Which is no offense to all the other participants, all the material was good. Great even! I promise!) Paddon introduced themself as “a British writer, comedian, voice actor, and geek humorist living in Los Angeles. I'm probably best known for the YouTube series PortsCenter, which was (is?) a show about interesting and unique ports, remakes and re-releases of old video games. I also do the scifi-comedy audiodrama, Jump Leads.” I couldn’t’ve said it better!
They eat sleep breathe games; they live laugh love games. Who doesn’t! We all need a way to connect with our community somehow, and games are a perfect conduit. When asked what’s the best thing about being trans, they said: “It used to be all the free towels, but then Bed Bath and Beyond went out of business. Genuinely though, I think my favorite thing about being trans is that for a long time I didn't feel like I had my own people, and then I came out as nonbinary and suddenly there they all were - supportive, welcoming, kind, wonderful. And never, ever boring.” Excellent. Once again, I couldn’t’ve said it better! Paddon skipped across the pond and is now bringing a piece of their home to their new community. Isn’t that cool?
Paddon recommends the show for people who enjoy:
Comedians
Game Changer
British people
rather, at least one British person, the host themself!
“If you don't like British people - and, hey, I get it - then I'm afraid I can't help you, but I can provide some solace in the fact that there'll be as many as six people on the stage, and I'm only one of them.”
Taskmaster
also classic games such as
Boggle
Scrabble
Paddon also recommends you bring a pencil and paper, though they called it a “pad,” and play along!
Queer Countdown will be at the Hudson Theater on Sunday, April 5, 2026, showtime 9 pm. Tickets available at https://joywholived.com/events/queer-countdown.