June 26, 2011

Anatomy of the perfect trivia question

People often ask me, "What makes a good trivia question?," especially as I make myself available for consulting on the subject. This is an excellent query (not a dumb one), because the answer isn't as obvious as it might seem. There are the basic qualifiers, of course—it has to have a discrete, verifiable answer; it needs to be phrased clearly—but there's a lot more to it. Writing the perfect trivia question is an art I've worked at pretty diligently in my quizmaster career (yeah, I'm an artist, so suck on it). I've written some awesome ones, a lot of good ones, a bunch of mediocre ones, and sadly, too many lousy ones. Allow me to present a case study with one of my favorites.

What current Hollywood star’s name is the inverse of a popular casino game?
(Want the answer immediately? Okay, fine.)

I wrote this question in the spring of 2009 and debuted it as the June 8 edition of the NYC BQT. (My trivia archives are pretty well organized, in extremely sharp contrast with, oh, my bedroom.) I can't remember the exact response it got at the time, but it must have been good, because I've since reused the Hollywood Star Casino Game Question as much as anything I've ever written: It's been featured at dozens of private quiz shows, it's appeared in an edition in every BQT satellite city (including last week's L.A. debut), it shows up in more than a few BQT press releases and on our latest promo postcard, it was even featured in the City Scoops article about New York's best quiz events. I can't recall how I wrote it, and that story probably wouldn't be very interesting, but I'll tell you why it works so well.

It's figureoutable. This is what we're talking about with that wacky "figureoutable" sound effect at live shows. It's not a dry, you-either-know-it-or-you-don't query, it's something that the average culturally literate American can puzzle out with a little bit of effort. Not every good trivia question is figureoutable, but perhaps the best are, not just because they might be easier to get right, but because they're simply more fun to answer; the process of puzzling it out is just more entertaining than trying to remember what the capital of Burundi is. (The correct answer is "Who cares?") Some may disagree—there's an argument to be made that figureoutability makes it hard to separate the trivia men from the trivia boys, and I respect that. But that opinion runs counter to my personal philosophy that playing trivia should be fun, even when you lose. The Hollywood Star Casino Game Question is eminently figureoutable; it even gives you multiple entry points (do you start by thinking of Hollywood stars? or casino games? definitely easier to do the latter).

It appeals to a broad audience. I once asked this question: "The Nebraskan indie-pop group Tilly and the Wall is notable for rarely performing with a drummer, and instead using what for percussion?" Watch this video, listen to this great song, for your answer:



Hardly anyone got it right. I liked the question anyway—I mean, they're tap-dancing rock stars!—although I realized there are very few audiences I could use it in good conscience; there needs to be a significant music-geek quotient in the crowd. But the Hollywood Star Casino Game Question covers almost every culturally conscious American; the answer is a star who covers a broad demographic: started as a hipster favorite, now familiar to your mom and your pop, has become a frequent presence in kids' movies. There are few live-trivia crowds it wouldn't fly with, I think.

It's timely, yet has a decent shelf life. The fact that I'm asking for a "current" Hollywood star grounds it in the here-and-now, but not the this-exact-moment. Ultra-timely questions can be great, but they're nearly impossible to use after a certain sell-by date. BQT long-timers know that each year, I like to ask about Super Bowl commercials shortly after the big game, a fun way to test people's powers of perception (and the efficacy of the ads themselves, which I'm a lifelong cynic of). But it has to be shortly after—a week later, memories aren't as fresh, the relevance has faded away, no one cares that the Dodge Charger rather sexistly declared itself "Man's Last Stand." (That was from 2010; this year, there wasn't a BQT till several weeks later, so I skipped the theme entirely.) But assuming this celebrity stays in the public eye for a few years—and that seems to be more than a safe assumption—the Hollywood Star Casino Game Question is a gift that can keep giving. Even if the star fades a bit, the query is still usable, which leads me to…

It's adjustable. Once "current Hollywood star" becomes a stretch in accuracy, we can go with a more generic "actor," or "American actor," or "comedic actor," or "musician/actor." More importantly, we can make adjustments to make it more or less difficult. Easy it up with "What comedic musician/actor, born 1969, has a name that's the inverse of a casino game?" Or even, "What star of Kung Fu Panda has a name…" The ability to dial back the stumpiness is especially helpful for private events, where the generally less-self-selecting crowd dictates that I scale down the trickiness. Conversely, we could make it super-challenging by tweaking to "current Hollywood star" to just "celebrity," or alter "casino game" to "card game." Be careful, though; there could be other "celebrities" whose names qualify (can't think of any), or other "card games" that give us equally valid answers (probably impossible to mentally check every card game ever; "familiar card game" might be a safe hedge, but even then you might need to invoke quizmaster's prerogative to define "familiar"). Such are the challenges of the trivia-writing business, even when starting with an excellent baseline question such as this.

It's Google-Proof…theoretically. Or at least it was when I wrote it; as I said, I've spread the Hollywood Star Casino Game Question around, so now you can find the answer pretty easily via BQT press. True Google-Proof questions are rare (despite their daily appearance our Twitter feed; it's a lot of work), but their advantage is not just in the way they foil cheaters (who are blessedly rare at our live events). They're also simply more original than something whose answer is just laying out there for all to stumble across.

It's entertaining. I covered something of this when discussing figureoutability above, but the Hollywood Star Casino Game Question passes perhaps my most important test for a trivia question: It's entertaining in its own right, regardless of whether you get it right or wrong. A somewhat unlikely juxtaposition of concepts, the realization of how unusual this person's name really is…there's a lot to like here on a purely entertainment level. Sure, that's a matter of opinion. But hey, it's my opinion, this is my blog.

All told, I'm very proud of this question (as if you hadn't gathered). In fact, I'm a little conflicted about actually publishing this post. I mean, the more it's out there, the less I'll feel comfortable using this query at future events. (Even the best question is ruined when you've heard it before, never mind when you've read a long, navel-gazing analysis of it.)

And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I got the answer right here. A great scene in easily his best movie:



Coming soon: An analysis of a terrible question. Fair and balanced is our slogan, after all.

June 25, 2011

Some marriage-equality trivia, more or less

Well done, New York. I’m still in Los Angeles (after our massive live-quiz debut here), en route soon to Boston soon (for the next Harvard Square show), but I’m missing my home state and very proud of it now. Yeah, in case you didn’t know, the BQT is a big ol’ lefty organization.

Some same-sex-marriage-related factoids:

As soon as Governor Cuomo signs the law (late July is the expected date), New York will become the sixth state of allow same-sex marriage. Any activist can rattle off the list: Massachusetts (May 17, 2004), Connecticut (November 12, 2008), Vermont (April 7, 2009), Iowa (April 27, 2009), New Hampshire (January 1, 2010), and now New York. It’s also on the books in Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2010), and, interestingly, the Coquille Indian Nation in Oregon (at least one member of the couple must be a member of the tribe, which numbers fewer than 600 people). Every little bit.

It was legal in my beloved California from June 16 to November 3, 2008. Various jurisdictions in a handful of other states permit it, but all told, even once NY becomes law, less than 12% of Americans live under a marriage-equality regime. It is a start, though. For more thorough—and more authoritative—information, check in with the hardworking folks at Marriage Equality USA. Or look at this lovable map:
But how does this relate to one of my—and the BQT’s—absolute favorite subjects, presidential trivia? Nate Silver shows the way: This terrific yet concise post on Five Thirty Eight details how Governor Cuomo’s leadership on this issue provides an interest contrast with President Obama’s attitude (or at least the public perception of it), and prompts the question: Cuomo in ’16?
Why not? Cuomo’s pop, who ruled Albany 1983–1994, was the constant subject of White House speculation, especially after he gave a rousing speech at the otherwise-moribund 1984 Democratic convention, and in ’92, he crept all the way up to the edge of jumping in. (Great Salon.com article here.) But for much of our nation’s history, the governor of New York was considered an automatic contender for the presidency. The tale of the tape:

Governors of New York who served as President: Four (Van Buren, Cleveland, both Roosevelts). No state has sent more chief executives to the big chair. (Virginia has had three, Tennessee and Ohio two, four others one each, unless you count pre-state military territories.)

Governors of New York who were unsuccessful major-party nominees for President: Six, including one who was picked two elections in a row (Federalist DeWitt Clinton, 1812; Democrat Horatio Seymour, 1868; Dem Samuel Tilden, 1876—won the popular vote even; Republican Charles Evans Hughes, 1916; Dem Al Smith, 1928; and Republican Thomas Dewey, 1944 and ‘48). I guess it's technically eight, since Van Buren and Cleveland were both unsuccessful nominees when they lost reelection, but you get the idea.

Governors of New York who were Vice President: Six (George Clinton—not him, of course; Daniel Tompkins—namesake of Tompinks Square Park; Van Buren; Levi Morton, who went to Albany after he was VP and had some bitchin' muttonchops…
…Theodore Roosevelt and Nelson Rockefeller. I could tell you whatever you wanted to know about those guys, just ask.)

So will Andrew run? Dude certainly seems ambitious enough, but 2016 is a couple zillion aeons away in political terms—had you heard of Barack Obama in 2003?—so it’s impossible to say with any degree of authority whatsoever. But this is unquestionably a check mark in the win column for him, and renewed assurance that maybe, possibly, politicians can still make good things happen.

June 15, 2011

The 10 Dumbest Things People Say to Quizmasters


Inspired by this great item in The Awl last week, I dug out a piece I'd been toying with sometime, and the Awl was game. Just published today: The 10 Dumbest Things People Say to Quizmasters. Specifically what they say to me me, of course, but I think it applies largely to most bar quizmasters…or at least the non-crappy ones, who may be an exalted minority. (I know, No. 8 isn't as universal. But there was no way I could omit it.) Enjoy!

June 2, 2011

Straight outta Cambridge…THE THREE-WAY FINALE!

Courtesy of the Big Quiz Thing's official cinematographer, William K. Scurry Jr. (the genius behind my Union Square trivia adventure film), fresh footage of last Monday night's tremendous Three-Way Finale, when scrappy undernerds the Monstrous Humanoids finally triumphed over the Quips team, knocking off Jeff Conaway Kicks Ass in the bargain. Magic all around and in every way…