Recap: Clash of the Boston trivia titans

Will keep it brief, since I'm on the road…

Last night was the fourth Big Quiz Thing at Oberon, still one of my favorite venues, in the heart of graduate-student-ville, Harvard Square. Our return is already scheduled—Monday, January 10—so we're quickly making this our home away from home, and it's becoming clear to me that the Boston-area BQT is a protracted clash between two specific teams: Sparky Anderson Kicks Ass (previously known by other "FAMOUS NAME Kicks Ass" variations) and Goodbye Mr. Quips (previously known as Quips Ahoy, and I think something else). These two squads of trivia titans, between them, have won every Boston BQT thus far, and were pretty handily the top-scorers last night. They are not to be trifled with and, dare I say, the Boston area's ultimate masters of trivial knowledge. So as GMQ attempted to defend its Boston-area crown from the Sparky boosters, a mighty battle was waged. But there was an unexpected upstart…

The competition was heated—the Movie Potpourri Quiz (featuring the Movie Quote Thesaurus entry above), Three Degrees of Musical Separation (e.g., "The Guess Who/Hüsker Dü/Duke Ellington"), and a fun fun fun four-parter on 1920s slang. (As the big cheese, I gotta tell you, it was the bee's knees, for crying out loud, and if you don't agree, go fly a kite.) Thanks to special guest DJ XDon RicklesX (I have no idea) and returning B-Cutie Katie.

But it came down to the Three-Way Finale among, predictably, Sparky Anderson Kicks Ass, Goodbye Mr. Quips, and…Show Us Your Tips. Yes, the Oberon staff team. Amazing—we've various venue staffs play the Big Quiz Thing—most are paying only half attention, or think they're too cool to actually put forth a trivial effort—but never before has a team made it into the finale.

I must admit, I was gunning for the staff to win, just for the novelty, but I judged the finale fairly nonetheless, and after the teams tied it up one all, GMQ pulled it out with "In Spain, eight of the ten most common family names end with what letter?" A well-earned victory.
This photo totally does not do justice to the awesomeness of Oberon. We were filming the show last night, so I'm going to get footage on YouTube tout suite.

Also a shout-out to the Monstrous Humanoids, complete with their guide-dog team member (seriously), who come every time and are due a victory. Can you step between these tremendous titans of useless knowledge and claim the $200 jackpot? Be there January 10 to prove it.