Trivia geeks are legion

Greetings. Sorry for the delayed show-recap blog post, but life does what it does. You know what else it does? It brings a positively tremendous crowd to Crash Mansion for last Monday's Hitchcockesque BQT. (Apparently, the shitty economy does nothing to dampen the prospect of a $7 night out.) Thanks for making it one of the biggest shows ever and, if I may say, one of the best. (This despite the absence of EDP, who will be back next time. The hilarious Claudia Cogan was a more-than-worthy substitute.)

Here's what you missed, only three trivia geeks in the city who weren't there…

—Yes, Alfred Hitchcock was the semitheme (since we were giving away tix to the very good Broadway production of The 39 Steps). A little behind-the-scenes science: DJ GB and I spent a couple hours fretting on Saturday that the Hitchcock-movie audio round would be just impossible, thinking all sorts of clues and fillips we could throw in to put it within the abilities of the mere mortal. But we forgot: You, my fans, are not mere mortals! Besides, some of the added crowd might have been Hitch nuts who arrived expressly for these questions (judging by new team names Hitch Cock and Balls, My Hitchcock Is Bigger than Yours, and the 39 Schleps). To the few who did have trouble…well, sorry, those attacking birds really did sound like cats being electrocuted.

—Yay! Based on this, I asked two pretty fun political questions: Q: Name either one of the two states that went blue for the first time since 1964? And Q: As of January, seven-year-old Sasha Obama will be the youngest resident of the White House since whom?

—It was not a good night for Smart-Ass Points, but we did eventually grant one (more a pity point) to 23rd-place finishers My Hitchcock Is Bigger than Yours for adorning their answer sheet with a very amusing pencil drawing of Hitch's silhouette with a massive erection. Gotta love maturity. I did like "a 2002 calendar" as the answer to "Q: What did 300 million people begin using on January 1, 2002?," but at least four different teams came up with it. Uniqueness is key.

—The Album Cover Mash-Up was hard, but awesome. Three teams got 19 out of 20; they were the top three finishers at the end of the night, of course.

–I asked this question: Q: On a standard bingo board, what’s the greatest number of spaces one can get without having bingo (not including the free space)? I said 15. That is wrong. Let us not speak of this again. And while I didn't know which finger Rahm Emanuel is missing, Jean-Marie of Solid, Solid as Barack (a.k.a. the team that never uses the same name twice) helpfully informed me, along with many other tidbits about the love of her life.

Before I get to the standings, let me just inform you that last night I met a woman who got very excited when I told her I am a quizmaster. She insisted I give her some questions, which happens to me pretty frequently, but unfortunately, I'm usually not well prepared when people put me on the spot like this. Luckily, though, in this case I had my magic trivia clipboard on me, so I was able to regale her with a couple dozen queries, and this lady aced them. (Well, mostly. She didn't know Q: What punk band took its name from a fake last name Paul McCartney used to use when he checked into hotels?) She lives in my old home of Montreal, so she won't be coming to the BQT any time soon, but be warned: None of you are safe.

The standings…

1. Fantastic Fournicators (Returning to victory. Good: It's apropos that they, of anyone, scored in the night when the winners got more than ever: $200 and the 39 Steps tix. Bad: They've actually started writing on each of their answer sheets: "The winningest team in Big Quiz Thing history."
2. Strippers for Stephen Hawking (returning champs)/Birds of Ill Omen
4. Gerard Depardouche
5. Hitchcock and Balls

We're back in two weeks, in full force. In the meantime, you need entertainment for your holiday party. HIRE US! (10% discount for you folks). E-mail booking@bigquizthing.com.