Quiz recap: Meaty fun

Good day! Are you still hung over from the tasty hot-off-the-grill vittles supplied by Boston Event Specialists at last night's BQT? I've often said that Oberon is our nigh-perfect venue, disadvantaged only by the lack of a kitchen, but last night went some ways to remedy that (no vegetarian options, true, but this was a protein-heavy step in the right direction). Prepare for even more edibles at the December 2 reprise of our ten-hour BQT Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon.

Now then, last night was tons of fun, and thanks to the big, beautiful—and heavy with new fans—crowd of quiz lovers. I was slightly disappointed to see that last month's winners—first-time champs Bruce Jenner's Original Face—failed to show up and defend their title, but no matter. They missed out on "A Quick Tour of Talk Show History" (anyone have any idea exactly what's going on here between Arsenio and JCVD?) and "Okay, We'll Give You the Title!" (very impressed how many of you know "White Punks on Dope"), and much, much more. They also missed the celebratory excitement: Last night was the first official BQT with the new (half-)birthday rule: Prove that it's your birthday or half-birthday, your team gets a bonus point, and two lucky February 27thers cashed in yesterday. And that point made all the difference, naturally.

Some awesome Smart-Ass Points: I warned you that it would be tough to find an answer funnier than the real one for "Kind of amazingly, in 1978, Black Sabbath auditioned what future soft-rock hit-maker—who at the time was fronting a metal band—to be their new lead singer?
" But lo, "Hall or Oates" pulled it off—come to think of it, Daryl Hall fronting Black Sabbath sounds like one of the greatest things ever (John Oates fronting them, only if I've taken a lot of drugs first). Also, OK!'s slogan is "The Magazine the Stars Masturbate To"; aardvarks kill 4 billion other animals in the U.S. every year; Colin Farrell's previous Philip K. Dick adaptation was Blade Runner 2: Electric Boogaloo; and late-era Judy Garland was actually Bizarro Elizabeth Taylor.

And last night was our second consecutive event in which (nearly) all of the fantastic prize haul was courtesy a tremendous slate of sponsors: Oberon's own The Donkey Show, of course, plus the returning Harvard Museum of Natural History, and The Comedy Studio, along with Follow the Honey (be a V.I.Bee!) and the Modern Homebrew Emporium…

Also special thanks to my extreme-last-minute guest B-Cutie, Robyn. I can never do it alone.

The finale: Anyone notice that the Quips team was absent? The most dominant team in Boston BQT history didn't make the scene, so we were left with our two other local pacesetters, Neil Armstrong Kicks Ass!!!—featured several of the brain-teaser mavens behind the Boston Area Puzzle Hunt League's September 15 event—and the Monstrous Humanoids, along with the Flair Witch Project (I'm picture The Nature Boy screaming about being scared to close his eyes and scared to close his eyes). But it didn't take Humanoid Jason long to prove his mastery of two diverse topics: the Game of Thrones book series and cartoon-star rap duos. And thus…

The standings:
1. The Monstrous Humanoids: They're always so joyful when they win.
2. The Flair Witch Project: Excellent for a first time. Hope to see them again.
3. Neil Armstrong Kick Ass!!!: But this urban legend is not true.
4. Monkey Jesus Face/Regis & R. Kelly (tie)
6. The Little Pig from the Ocean: This team is due at least a Three-Way Finale berth.
7. Show Us Your Tips!: Extra thanks to the staff last night for cleaning up your BBQ mess.
8. Prince Harry's Silky Bum
9. The iPhone 5—Presented by Samsung: Great name.
10. Edgar Allen Potpourri: Lots of great names last night, in fact.

Next: For September, we're shifting to a Tuesday—the 18th, immediately following the conclusion of 5773's opening ceremonies. Then it's back to Monday for October and November (the 22nd and 12th, respectively; calendar here), as we gear up for Sunday, December 2, and the Boston edition of our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon. Juicy details to come; be prepared.