Quiz recap: Crisis recovered from

Hola. So, last night's Brooklyn BQT at Littlefield (sans EDP, who told me the meds just wore off from his knee surgery) was…let's call it an adventure. All told, I felt it was a tremendously successful show, though one moment stood out: the four-part video question in Round 1, "Movies Go Moobak!," in which computer technology inexplicably let me down. (Swear to Allah, I investigated post-show and I still don't have the foggiest where the kink in the hose was exactly.) Live by the multimedia sword, die by the multimedia sword. But fortunately, no one died, since I took the opportunity to regale you with my well-honed improvisation talents, and I actually acted out the video clips…which consisted of movie scenes of explosions, run backward. Incredibly, just as many teams scored right answers as they would've if they'd had the real thing, I bet. So I guess I got a future in this here showbiz.

Otherwise, fun all around. It was a challenging quiz, I admit—only one team, the eventual winners, got this two-pointer correct… 

In the year 1959, the cumulative casualty figures for Americans in all U.S. wars were exceeded by the cumulative death toll where in the U.S.?

I realized that "where in the U.S." might have led people in the wrong direction—two teams said something to the effect of, "Florida: That's where everyone goes to die"—but I maintain that it's a valid query, and a fascinating factoid. And we had plenty of comedy, not including my implosion impersonations; part of the reason I brought back video puzzle "The Classic Commercial Quiz" is for the humorous value inherent in censoring key words in a Dr Pepper commercial. ("I'm a BEEP, you're a BEEP," etc.).

I also appreciated the response to our audio round, "You're Really Going to Call Your Band That?!?"

 

Later renamed themselves Cream

Predictably, some of the worst band names ever belonged to some of the worst bands ever (in prepping for the round, I was really kind of stunned to finally discover how putrescently awful Limp Bizkit's music is), but I insist that the Beatles were a worthy inclusion. I mean, absolutely, yeah, I love the Beatles like anyone, but come on—the name is a god-awful pun. They really should've called themselves the Ringo Starr Experience. And it was great to see everyone having so much fun: the mass arm-waving session to the Goo Goo Dolls, the nostalgic sing-along to Chumbawamba.

The late Nora Ephron's memoir was titled I Feel Bad About My Cankles; the Higgs boson particle zero "game" and large "comic book collection”; and this clip, from the "Terpsichorean Terminology" game…

…features people crumping. 

Plus, the buzzerrific Three-Way Finale: It was for all the marbles, or, more accurately, a fantastic prize haul: The $300 jackpot from the folks at supremely awesome quiz app Trivi.al; intoxicating delights from the Brooklyn Brewery; cultural wonders courtesy the Brooklyn Museum; parodi-tastic theatrical entertainment from Triassic Parq; and sundry more. (Oh yeah, and glory.) We had returning-champ supergroup Intcontinental Strippers; longtime contenders the Fantastic Fournicators (supplemented by quiz sensei Jonathan Corbblah); and Taking the Mulligan, perennial third-placers who were seriously due (especially since they were the only team to ace the audio round). Though it didn't take the FF long to win it, stealing away a point from the Mulligans—nope, The Amazing Spider-Man wasn't the No. 1 film at the box office last weekend; twas indeed Ice Age: Continental Drift. And victory was had.

The standings:
1. The Fantastic Fournicators
2. Incontinental Strippers
3. Taking the Mulligan
4. Gerard Depardouche
5. It's Staci's B-Day, Let Us Win
6. Large Hard-On Collider
7. Tillary Gang
8. Triple T&A
9. I Wish This Microphone Was 12 Inches
10. Lucky Doubles 

NEXT: We're back at Littlefield Tuesday, August 14; yes, plans are afoot to return to Manhattan in the fall, hopefully on a Monday. We're also trying to arrange a special political quiz in October, plus—this will be fun—maybe our first kid-friendly family quiz, very early in 2013. Elsewhere, we're now monthly in both Boston (next show July 30) and L.A. (next show July 22), and we're working on Chicago. Keep the dream alive, my friends.