So Strippers for Stephen Hawking was unable to successfully defend their title at this evening's Big Quiz Thing at (Le) Poisson Rouge, but Greg of SFSH pointed out something amazing to me…
I was very proud this weekend when I uncovered the elusive trivia nexus of the two big celebrities to pass on these past few days, Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper (and I agree with one team's name: "Brittany Murphy's Husband Doesn't Count"). I spent a couple of hours scouring their respective IMDb entries, and I finally came up with this question…
What’s the common description: An actress who worked closely with Gary Coleman, and the nickname of a character in a famous 1955 movie that included Dennis Hopper?
A whole bunch of you knew the correct answer. But Greg told me that in fact, Coleman and Hopper did once appear in a movie together (you haven't seen it). Incredible—I always forget about IMDb's "credited alongside another name" function.
That was the big news at tonight's BQT, from my perspective, but it was fun all around back at (Le) Poisson Rouge. "Sayings of the Silver Screen" was challenging, but fun—Cher smacking Nicolas Cage in the face is always good for a laugh. And yes, the actual Groucho Marx quote is, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." (Though Groucho himself later mangled the quote in repetition.)
And the best Smart-Ass Point of the night was, justifiably, given to the team that crapped out on the audio round, failing to ID John Lennon but saying it was a "talentless fuck." Ah, yes: Stand by your unpopular opinion.
Finally, the Three-Way Finale pitted Incontinental Congress (under the guise of Lincoln Incontinental), against Gerard Depardouche, against seminewcomers the Glassholes. None of the gentlemen knew what Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is, nor the link between a sitcom set in the Chicago ghetto and NYC City Hall in the '20s and '30s. But "Buck" of the Douche claimed victory with a good guess on "In 2009, the top five names for American female babies all ended with what letter?," and then confidently ringing in on "In the 1970s and 1980s, four Super Bowl halftime shows featured appearances by what performance organization?" And that's how it happens.
1. Gerard Depardouche: First No. 1 placement of 2010.
2. Lincoln Incontinental/The Glassholes
4. Jefferson Davis Starship: Farewell to Mike, moving on to the great trivia city of Cleveland
5. Strippers for Stephen Hawking: No two-peating, but they did know the real Coleman-Hopper connection.
NEXT: We're back at Crash Mansion in two weeks, June 14, with "The World's Ugliest Musicians." Then two weeks later, June 28, we return to Poisson Rouge; keep up with the calendar here. In the meantime, visit Yelp and tell the world how much you loved the BQT tonight. Karma is what makes the world go round, you know.