Where Is The Wettest Desert? | QI

This clip is from QI Series G, Episode 4, 'Geography' with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jo Brand, Rob Brydon and Jimmy Carr.

[archstanton]

Rob Brydon's welsh impression is superb.

[angemaidment]

Bloody hell, I’ve never heard Rob Brydon sound so hectic 🤣🤣🤣

[aidanbeers]

I thought it might be Antarctica because it receives so little precipitation but also has a massive amount of (frozen) water. Not technically wet, I know, but it's the sort of tomfoolery that I'd expect

[sarahbass]

Just LOVE Jo Brand - i could listen to her eye rolls and sarcastic whimsy all day.

[Elriuhilu]

It's more accurate to say the big salt lake is level instead of flat, although colloquially we all know what is meant either way. It is the same with large bodies of water that have a surface which curves with the shape of the Earth. They are not flat, strictly speaking, but their surface is perpendicular to the direction of gravity at all points, which means they are level. Level essentially means that if you were to put a ball down it wouldn't roll away by itself.

[JamieMcJapan]

Jimmy looking increasingly confused is great

[nonnyena]

Had a friend who once set the land speed record in the carburetored gas engine class at the Salt Flats. He became a radiologist -- partly because it made him enough money to race his cars and it allowed his schedule to be Monday afternoon through Friday morning, so he had his weekends free to actual!y race them. We always thought it also offered the additional advantage of being able to read his own x-rays & MRIs after a crash -- something he's never done, so it's a moot point.

[just-tess]

aww Jimmy such a good sport to pitch him his Hugh Grant! wonder if Rob could even do it without putting his hand to the back of his head

[leoscheibelhut]

Actually the wettest desert is in Antarctica and covers most of it. The snow has slowly accumulated over millions of years but never melts because of the cold.

[ambergris]

I thought it was going to be "the Moon" or something like that.
Also, these past years the Bonneville Speed Week (the annual high speed event) had to be cancelled a few times, because of rainfall, and standing water in the Salt Flats. Made for gorgeous pictures, but impracticable running.

[hancocki]

When I clicked the video I thought the title said "wettest dessert". Naturally I thought what... a glass of sugar water?

[Rachel-art-and-design]

The Sutter Buttes is north of Sutter which is 45 minutes north of Sacramento.

[AlanCanon]

First time I visited the Sonora Desert it rained and snowed the first two days. Weird seeing those Saguaro cacti with snow on them. The canyons have warning signs to evacuate if you see clouds passing overhead, because floods can travel great distances very quickly.

[MikeDuddy-qt]

As a person who lives in central California it's kinda hilarious to hear them talking about places like Sacramento and Sonora like they are these mystical foreign lands with great landscapes and beautiful landmarks. Sonora is nice but it's annoying to drive around. Sac is just Sac; not terrible but never the city I want to be in.

[hopebgood]

0:33 I loved "The World's Fastest Indian". It was like Forrest Gump on a motorbike. 😀

[CarlosBenjamin]

The Sonoran is not in California. It is only in south central Arizona and Mexico. It is also the only place the iconic saguaro cactus grows.

[RalphBrooker-gniv]

Salt Lake Apartments. 😂
Should have got a better response 😊

[ohwingman]

Bonneville is still very much a lake. In the spring it floods and as the water evaporates the releveled salt pan is exposed which is why they can race on it. Having said that though, one must be very careful where they go on the salt pan because sometimes the water is only inches below the surface and you can easily penetrate the surface and become stuck. When you drive the highway across the lake you can see evidence of water all along side the road surface. You should also fuel up before crossing the lake because there are NO SERVICES on the lake except for a couple of tourist rest areas.
Bin there, dun

[artistjoh]

Rarely do QI questions about exotic or unusual places give me the ability to say "I have been there." In this case I have.

[EverettWilson]

Rob acting like he's at a job interview and is drastically underqualified.