June 28, 2008

Exposure! Hooray!

As mentioned here a couple weeks ago, the BQT made an appearance of sorts at the Bonnaroo music fest in Tennessee recently; we got a page in the official event guide, featuring trivia about the various musicians who performed. The world's population of indie-rock-loving pseudohippies should now be fully aware of our existence. A scan below.

Yeah, okay, maybe it's impossible to see. I ain't so good with these here computas.

Want Quizmaster Noah to custom-write trivia for your own fest/event/séance/amusement? E-mail him at noah@bigquizthing.com.

June 26, 2008

Bad news, good news


Good news: The next Big Quiz Thing is this Monday night, the 30th. But then, you probably knew that, being on the mailing list and all.

Bad news: EDP will be MIA. He and Mrs. DP (a.k.a. doorgirl Lori) are celebrating their second anniversary and will thus be vacationing in Spain or Tahiti or the Galapagos or something (they're jet-setters; I can't keep track).

Good news: We have another Eric filling in as sidekick: one of my favorite local comedians, Eric Kirchberger. I once choked on a straw in a glass of Coke after he told a particularly awesome joke about O. Henry. Plus, Smart-Ass Points will be extra valuable this week, as hearing Eric's laugh is a prize unto itself. And he's allergic to wheat (not that that's relevant to anything).

Bad news: Your quizmaster is feeling a little burnt out, being the trivia king of NYC and all.

Good news: Part of the reason I'm so burned out is because we're mucho busy with the BQT special events. Mostly private gigs (click on "Hire Us!"), but there may be a fun surprise later this summer. Tuned in is how you should stay. Also, my cornucopia of Time Out New York trivia is at your disposal.

That's it for the good news. But here's some more bad news, albeit of the awesome variety.




June 23, 2008

"These are the ideas that kept me out of the good schools."

Props to the great George Carlin. Check out my paean to him on the Time Out New York blog

Prepare yourself for some Carlinesque trivia at the next show, Monday 6/30.

June 17, 2008

Die, Bubble, die!

Despite the "Bubble Bath Incident," it was a very successful post-hiatus Big Quiz Thing last night. And congratulations to perennial contenders Strippers for Stephen Hawking on their first win in seemingly forever. To paraphrase SFSH regular Aris, "That video round was awesome, because I knew all of it."

But it was indeed awesome: "NYC, Up Close and Personal." Click here to see it through the magic of YouTube (soon, if not right now). It's interesting to know that as ubiquitous an image as the Statue of Liberty is, not everyone can identify it when just shown the top of its torch.

As for the audio round, know this: "Only Time Will Tell" is not "The Final Countdown." Asia is not Europe.

Best Smart-Ass Point of the night: Q: For some time a couple of years ago, the state of California allowed solo drivers to use the carpool lane if they were what? A: The killer of Nicole Brown Simpson. (Sidekick EDP swears that the guy who came up with that played Steve on Sex and the City.)

Most annoying heckle: Everyone's bad impersonation of Bill Cosby. Stop, you can't do it. You're not this guy.

Finally, the Bubble Bath Incident: Very simply, I was planning to give away a bottle of Mr. Bubble, but it somehow exploded in my bag en route to the show, dousing many prizes and answer pads in soapy goodness. I knew that shit was evil. Three Big Quiz Thing T-shirts had to be pressed into towel duty (thank God none of you buy them).

The results:
1. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
2. Suck It, Trebek!
3. (tie) Birds of Ill Omen
Fantastic Fournicators
It Puts the Cookies in the Basket

June 11, 2008

Yes, yes, I said yes: The BQT is back

Finally.

Sorry for the seemingly eternal delay, but the Big Quiz Thing does return this Monday, 7:30pm, at Crash Mansion. We plan to stick to the biweekly schedule through the summer at least: June 30, July 14 (Quizmaster's birthday!), July 28, August 11, August 25. Then I have to go back to West Point.

The video round, you ask… "NYC, Up Close and Personal." We show you photos of city landmarks in detail, you name the landmark. Here's one (no, we're not using this Monday):

Have fun with that. Better yet, come on Monday and have fun with ten others (and your friends).

As for the audio round, it's "Asia, Kansas, Journey, or Foreigner?," which is pretty self-explanatory, and yes, grossly unfair to anyone with no knowledge of '70s and '80s arena rock. I have no idea how to post an audio clip example here, but how 'bout just a nice photo of one of those bands, perhaps the ugliest one:


June 9, 2008

Just in case…


…you're in Tennessee this weekend, or are the kind of music fanatic who travels around for these kinds of things at the expense of having a real job, look for the Big Quiz Thing at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Well, kind of. A friend of a friend is one of the events producers, and he got in touch with me to ask about live karaoke bands to bring to the event. (I'm somewhat of an expert on the subject.) We got to talking, I chatted up the quiz, and we thus entered discussions to bring me down to Tennessee and present some kicky music trivia and get mud splattered on my magic jacket.

Anyway, it didn't happen, but perhaps I got them on the hook for next year. (Not all that big of a deal, because there really aren't that many people on the lineup I'd be jazzed about seeing—my days of randomly going to any and all live music are way behind me.)

But…the BQT will have a presence there of a sort. The event program (yes, these things have programs) will include a mucho special trivia quiz about the various musicians appearing on the bill, written expressly by your Quizmaster, and adorned by the BQT logo and a little plug. (At least that's what I've been promised.) When I get my hands on a copy, I'll scan it in and let you enjoy for yourselves. Or better yet, I'll cannibalize the trivia for a future BQT event. So if you do hustle down to TN, consider it an investment toward winning $200 sometime in the future.

June 5, 2008

Call me chief


As many of you know, your quizmaster whiles away his days toiling as the chief copy editor at Time Out New York, your favorite magazine. Like nearly anyone else, my job can sometimes be frustrating, but as I often say, I've worked at a lot of publications, and TONY is by far the best.

And that's especially true now: For some time, I've been writing the biweekly "TONY quiz" column for the magazine's Games page, and starting this week, I—and the BQT itself—get a serious permanent shout-out at timeoutnewyork.com. Yes, much of this is recycled from the Big Quiz Thing's live show, but no prizes are at stake, so whatever. (And next week it'll be a better photo; the logo didn't fit in the space, so we panicked.)

This week: A little Shakespeare quiz (and I'm very proud of the title).