The Big Quiz Thing

The Marathon menu

2012-05-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

Ten hours is a looooooooooooooooooooooooong…[huuuh]…time. So this Sunday, at our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon, we're going to keep you well fed. And drinked. And caffeined.

One of the reasons we went with 92YTribeca as a venue is because, foodwise, it's hard to find a better showroom in the city. Cafe 92YTribeca is first-rate: delicious, healthy, not too fancy. They also specialize in wacky flavored juices—a pineapple-basil combination once changed my life in profound ways—and, best of all to some people, it's all completely kosher. (Milchig, specifically.) The menu is here. Plus, some specials!

Bloody Marys…

BTW, the Bloody Mary was essentially invented here in NYC…under the name "the Red Snapper." In fact, its birthplace, the King Cole Bar on East 55th Street, still serves it under that original name.

They'll also have mimosas (made with fresh OJ or grapefruit juice), bagels served with house-made gravlax, a brain-food bowl of quinoa with roasted veggies and lemon vinaigrette. And, of course, coffee…

…for only $1! Care to join me in mainlining it?

Also, this seems a good spot to give a shout-out to 92YTribeca for adding to the insanely large prize haul we have on tap for the show. They're throwing in a pair of tickets to a film screening, a pair of tickets to a music concert, a pair of tickets to a comedy show, a $25 gift card to the café, free drinks, a various other swag. How can you not come to this damn thing?!? Buy your tix, friends.

Marathon prize sponsor: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

2012-05-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

Sing it with me: "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can…"

Okay, fine, that's not exactly relevant here, but dude: Spider-Man!!!

This is a big one: As part of the massive prize haul at this Sunday's Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon, we've got some tickets to the Broadway spectacular that no one believed could survive, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

The tales were amazing (heh), and brutal: Early previews of the show said it was an epic disaster, with an incomprehensible plot and a damning number of high-flying cast injuries. But the producers stepped back, retooled it, and now the damn thing will run on the Great White Way until only cockroaches are left walking the earth.

I was fortunate enough to see the show recently. It's not Tennessee Williams, but it's a thoroughly entertaining Broadway spectacular, with fantastic special effects, an energetic and exciting cast, fun music by these guys (they're gonna go places, I tell ya!), and the genuine thrill of seeing Spider-Man himself swinging high above your head. Tourists are snapping up the tickets like crazy, and like everything on Broadway, they don't come cheap, but we've got a couple for lucky Marathon-goers. In fact, I'm calling it now: This will be part of the second-place prize. (First being $1,000, of course.) Nice, huh?

Also, let me take a moment to shout out to Allison Prouty and her team at Second Bolt, the production company that's been working with us on making the Marathon a reality. She procured this and all the other prizes (and is the one who took me to see SM: TOTD), and has been an invaluable addition to the BQT machine.

Learn more about Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark here; buy your Marathon tickets here. And now, just because you know you want it…

Marathon prize sponsors: Birch Coffee, Lionel Trains, The Artifice Group's Strange Things, The Bubble Lounge, the best of Off Broadway, Museum of Sex, St. Mark's Bookshop, more soon…

Marathon guest performer: Keith Bindlestiff

2012-05-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

I promised variety at our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon Spectacular—a week away, for the love of all that is holy—and I deliver. Prepare for perhaps NYC's premier variety performer, Keith Bindlestiff of the fantabulous Bindlestiff Family Cirkus.

The BFC is an old-timey yet unstoppably spectacular variety-arts troupe that has thrilled millions worldwide. They juggle, they clown, they stilt-walk, they acrobatize, they ventriloquize, they contort, they eat and spit fire—variety is indeed the proper term. All the fun of classic carnival entertainment, without the risk of swindle-by-loathsome-carny. (Though no, despite the members' surnames supposedly all being "Bindlestiff," they are not a true family. I'm reminded of a story the Ramones once told a reporter, about how they all met by happenstance in an elevator one day and decided to form a band when they realized they all had the same last name.)

Keith Bindlestiff is the cofounder of the company, its driving force, and a man of numerous talents. I've seen him juggle vegetables, spin plates, block his head, and change water into wine (quite possibly, that part is hazy). The man is fascinating to behold, and he'll be thrilling us with a set of I-can't-tell-you-what during one of the Marathon's performance breaks. Check him out at the Bindlestiffs' monthly variety show in Brooklyn (which I've taken part in a few times with a unique quiz challenge or two) in the video below:

I cannot do this, I have no idea why anyone would decide to learn to do this (other than to entertain people); then again, I am quizmastering for ten hours straight. Learn more about the Cirkus here; more about the Marathon here, and tickets are still on sale here.

Marathon prize sponsor: St. Mark's Bookshop

2012-05-26T16:09:00.000-04:00

Wait, didn't this place close?

No! St. Mark's Bookshop—a literary legend well beyond the East Village—is still alive. The story briefly: Its landlord, Cooper Union, jacked up the rent, SMB saw its days numbered, but the community flew into action and put together a massive petition, and this fine, fine bookstore survived. For now, of course; this is New York City. (More of the tale here.)

Places like St. Mark's stir in me the best kind of nostalgia: There aren't enough independent bookstores anymore, particularly ones that are a true pleasure to browse, and browsing book and/or record stores was how I spent 90% of every vacation during college (my parents moved around a lot). Every genre you could imagine, helpful staff, all that jazz, plus a true E-Vill character; I mean, seriously: Of their top five bestsellers, two of them are by Patti Smith. Next time you need to waste time in the East Village, trust me on this.

So it's a real honor to have them as a sponsor of our upcoming Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon. They're tossing in a gift card as a prize, but you really should go there anyway and buy a few books. (I know you, you haven't gotten around to getting a Kindle yet.) Besides, I'll make you a deal: If you pick up a pointy-headed novel by Jeffrey Eugenides or whoever, I won't judge you for also buying Glee: The Official William McKinley High School Yearbook.

St. Mark's Bookshop is at 21 Third Avenue, just off St. Marks Place, which works out nicely. Find out more here (shop online, even), and look at that! Tickets for the Marathon are on sale!

Marathon prize sponsors: Birch Coffee, Lionel Trains, The Artifice Group's Strange Things, The Bubble Lounge, the best of Off Broadway, Museum of Sex, more soon…

Marathon prize sponsor: Museum of Sex

2012-05-25T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hey, everyone: Sex! Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex…[vocal drum roll sound]…SEX! (Thanks to that sentence, this blog will come up whenever anyone googles "sex." Totally.)

Yes, sex. (Nearly) everyone likes sex, even unsexy people, which is why this is a particularly awesome prize for our quickly approaching Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon Spectacular: a bunch of free tickets to the Museum of Sex.

I logged on to MoSex's website just now, and I was confronted by an image of a cartoon Wonder Woman giving…how shall I put this in SFW terms?…both oral and mammillary favors to an unseen gentleman, as part of an exhibit called "Universe of Desire." Nearby, Bert's doing Ernie, Leela from Futurama is going down on Homer Simspon. So know what you're getting into.

Other exhibits, past, present or future. All are exactly what they sound like, and all look fascinating:

"Action: Sex and the Moving Image"

"The Sex Lives of Animals"

"Rubbers: The Life, History and Struggle of the Condom"

"Golden Girls of Porn" (Now that I read that title again, that's not exactly what it may sound like. Nothing to do with Bea and Ruth and Betty, I mean.)

And there's also a café and, naturally, a gift shop. Why have I not been to this museum?

Why have you not been? Win a free pass at the Marathon, and you'll have absolutely zero excuse (unless you're under 18, sorry to say). The Museum of Sex is on Fifth Avenue at 27th Street in Manhattan; learn more here, and buy your Marathon tickets now.

Marathon prize sponsors: Birch Coffee, Lionel Trains, The Artifice Group's Strange Things, The Bubble Lounge, the best of Off Broadway, more in this space soon…

Marathon guest performer: Liam McEneaney

2012-05-24T14:39:00.000-04:00

When I was in college, a rabbi told me that I was one of the funniest people he'd ever met. "Have you considered being a stand-up comedian?" he asked me. I had in fact, one of many things I thought might be my ticket to a life of attention-hogging. And hey, if the rabbi says so…

So for about three years, I lived the life in the trenches of NYC comedy clubs and downtown alt rooms. And then, realizing one day that I was probably never going to ride the stand-up train to stardom, let alone financial solvency, I quit. Oh, I had my moments—I had a great joke about Boar's Head turkey, and more than once, I got a crowd on their feet (though way more than once, I had a room full of uncomfortable people staring at me as if I were being led to the guillotine)—but quitting was the right choice for me. I mean, hey, quizmastering, way more secure and sexy.

One of the many results of my comedy adventure was that I have a huge appreciation for people who not only survive in the stand-up maelstrom, but thrive in it. And such a man is Liam McEneaney.

I met Liam back in the good old days, as we both trolled through the open-mike scene. I must have seen him perform hundreds of times, and while he was merely average at first (and brutally young; dude was like 17 when I first saw him), I watched him develop into one of the most reliably funny performers on the scene. Then I quit, didn't see him for years, and suddenly caught his act again and saw that the guy had taken a quantum leap forward, just killing it on every level. Household-nameness is merely beyond the horizon.

He is, however, right now a huge name on the local scene. He's been on Comedy Central and VH1, has performed all over the world, and is the host and producer of Tell Your Friends!, a beloved weekly stand-up show on the LES that regularly attracts seriously big names (I believe he's dating Janeane Garofalo currently, but don't pay attention to what I believe). We ran into each other last fall at New York Comic Con, as I was doing a comic-booky BQT and he was doing a comic-booky comedians' panel, and I decided he'd be a good fit for a future BQT event.

And here we are: He'll be doing ten minutes at our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon Spectacular on June 3 (time TBA). Check out the man below; learn more about Tell Your Friends! here; and buy your Marathon ticket, why don't you?

Quiz Marathon guest performers: The Great Dubini, Jessica Delfino, more soon…

Marathon prize sponsors: Theater!!!

2012-05-23T21:58:00.001-04:00

First off, a clarification/reiteration: As I stated in my post about strategy for our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon Spectacular, we're not asking anyone to stick out the full ten hours (though you're welcome to, nerd boy). Furthermore, we'll be giving out prizes all day. So show up anytime, and maybe win something. Including, perhaps…

THEATER!

We've got a ridiculous number of show tix to give out throughout the Marathon. Some of the options…

Silence! The Musical: Returning to the BQT prize haul after generously taking part earlier this year, Silence! defies the attention-grabbing-parody-of-a-popular-movie theater stereotype by actually being quality theater. (The pointy-heads prove it.) Learn more at silencethemusicalnyc.com.

My Sinatra: Another repeat sponsor. Like seeing the Chairman of the Board in person, without the need to defy the laws of space and time. Come fly away at mysinatra.com.

Voca People: One more encore sponsor. Don't tell me you don't like music. Don't tell me you don't like weird stuff. Tune in at vocapeoplenyc.com.

And let us welcome…

Old Jews Telling Jokes: The Web series sensation—and how could it not be?—has just opened as a stage show, a hell of a lot more entertaining than Passover Seder with Uncle Bob (though I've learned to appreciate that). A company of five non-Goyim shares classic humor, original comic songs, tributes to the delightfully crusty MOTs of the past, and much more, now playing at the Westside Theatre. Much more at oldjewstellingjokesonstage.com. And now for something completely different…

Sistas: The tag line is "Sistas: The Musical: The story of African-American women through Top 40 music." There aren't many more American things than that, really—everything from "I Will Survive" to "I Am Not My Hair."Now playing at St. Luke's Theatre; explore at sistasthemusical.com.

And we have a sole Broadway production in the lineup…but I'm going to keep hush about that for the moment. Let me just say it's big, and whoever finds themselves with these tickets will indeed find themselves with great responsibility. Stay tuned…and buy your Marathon tickets now!

Marathon prize sponsors: Birch Coffee, Lionel Trains, The Artifice Group's Strange Things, The Bubble Lounge, more in this space soon…

Marathon guest peformer: Jessica Delfino

2012-05-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

Once our Tenth Anniversary Marathon is over, I'm going to be pretty much out of commission for a little while (I'm setting a NYC quizmastering record, after all). But I'm sure you all will just be energized, and that's a good thing, because New York always has something else for you to experience. And June 7–10, I strongly recommend you use that energy to experience the first annual Funny Songs Fest. Yes! Nothing but funny songs! Considering that 87% of BQT fans grew up on the oeuvre of one "Unusual" Alphonso Nathaniel Yankovic IV, this is just what your dorky preteen self has been waiting for.

And we got a taste for you at the Marathon, approx 2:30pm, as the genius behind the Funny Songs Fest—NYC's queen of comedy music, Jessica Delfino—has signed on to the guest performer slate.

Jessica is a ridiculously funny stand-up and guitarist, one of the few who is actually proficient at both. Though be warned, she's also not exactly the kind of act you'd hire to entertain the Pope; one of her best known songs is called "My Pussy Is Magic" (though aren't they all?). In other words, 92YTribeca is all-ages, but maybe don't bring the kids at 2:30pm. (I'll be chugging my third Five Hour Energy around that time, so it'll be a nice wake-up for me.) I've been a fan of hers for many a year now, and it's an especial honor to have her unique brand of weirdness help make my unique brand of weirdness a success. A clip of the lady's work, watched more than a million times (wow, almost as many times as my Marathon training video!):

Learn more about Jessica here, and the Funny Songs Fest here (June 7–10, all over the Lower East Side). And hey, here's J.D. discussing the fest with the Huffington Post. Aren't you glad you didn't move to Ohio after college?

Marathon prize sponsor: The Bubble Lounge

2012-05-21T12:16:00.001-04:00

Sophisticated and elegant are two words that are not often associated with quiz shows, but the Big Quiz Thing is, of course, a different kind of quiz show, and when we're…oh, who am I kidding. We will always be a cheesetastical dorkfest. But this world needs cheesetastical dorkiness as much as it needs anything, wouldn't you say?

Though no one was classier than the Barkman

Nonetheless, we're unarguably injecting a serious dose of so sophistication and elegance into the BQT machine at the upcoming Tenth Anniversary Marathon with this prize sponsor, The Bubble Lounge in Tribeca.

Sophistication and elegance are all over this place—it's a champagne bar, after all. A generous menu of more than 300 champagnes and sparkling wines (did you know that, strictly speaking, it's called champagne only if it's from the Champagne region of France?), plus fine hors d'oeuvres and desserts, full premium bar, free deejayed parties…basically, everything you need to guarantee you'll get some action (not an actual guarantee). Even the website is flawlessly punctuated; check out the 15% discount for Girls' Night Out festivities. And classiest of all, they're sponsoring the marathon with a $100 gift certificate for one lucky team.

The Bubble Lounge New York (there's another in San Francisco, of course) is at 228 West Broadway, at White Street. All the juicy Web details here. It's just steps from 92YTribeca, so reserve a table now for your post-Marathon victory party (right after you buy your Marathon tickets, of course). And remember my third favorite Edwardian drinking toast: "Here's to champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends."

Marathon prize sponsors: Birch Coffee, Lionel Trains, The Artifice Group's Strange Things, more in this space soon…

Marathon guest performer: The Great Dubini!

2012-05-20T12:40:00.003-04:00

In planning for the upcoming Tenth Anniversary Marathon, EDP and I were kicking around ideas with our fabulous coproducer, Allison of Second Bolt. "We should have some guest performers," I declared. "A band, comedians…hell with it, let's get a freakin' magician!"

Never doubt your quizmaster's ability to make his bizarre dreams a reality; I am staging a ten-hour quiz marathon, after all. So we have a real live magician slated to thrill the Marathon crowd with his various feats of physical and mystical dexterity (which shall dovetail nicely with one of our many top-shelf prize sponsors, The Artifice Group's Strange Things). His name is Greg Dubin, but you can call him The Great Dubini. There's every chance in the world that you've witnessed this master of the sleight-of-hand arts in action, as he's regularly seen plying his trade at the crossroads of the world, right outside the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in Times Square. He's also a regular in one of the city's top burlesque-variety shows (a realm I am not completely inexperienced in), The Love Show, seen throughout town, including erstwhile BQT venue Drom.

The man is a true marvel, though sadly, not much evidence of this is available online. You must satisfy yourself with this clip of a silent act…

…or better yet, hit the Marathon (tix available now!) and witness for yourself. Learn more about the Great Dubini on the Grand Zuckercle. And prepare to believe.

Marathon prize sponsor: Strange Things

2012-05-19T15:33:00.000-04:00

As I make my peace with the likelihood that I will make my home in New York City for the rest of my natural life, I take some comfort in the fact that living here provides me with some rare opportunities. Prominent among them, the opportunity to witness firsthand some truly strange things. It's not every city where the streets are littered with performance artists dressed in Superman pajamas and old women wearing their shoes as a hat (that was my Friday night, BTW). Then, of course, there's the classiest kind of strange thing…

You well know, of course, that magic is magical. And we're going to be having a dose of the classic variety of magic (in addition to our usual quiz magic) at our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon Spectacular; not only in the form of a guest performer (details TBA in this space), but also courtesy of a literally fantastic sponsor: The Artifice Group, NYC's premier magicians, mind-readers, pickpockets and prognosticators, who in addition to traveling the world to delight private clients with their supernatural aptitude, thrill the paying public twice a month at the Peoples Improv Theater here in Manhattan with their show Strange Things.

But, if you're lucky, you can be the nonpaying public. The ticket go for $10, but we're going to have a passel of them as part of the massive Marathon prize haul, redeemable anytime you please (Strange Things is typically Thursday nights, always at the PIT). As a teaser, behold the mystical might of the AG's frontmen, Matthew Holtzclaw and Prakash Puru.

This is so freakin' beyond anything I could ever do; I once impressed a ten-year-old with a card trick I learned in an issue of Dynamite, but that's about my limit. Plus, they're funny, and chicks seem to dig them.

BTW, want a minor clue for one of the 8 zillion questions I'm working on for the Marathon? Watch this video; I'm going to ask you how it was done. 'Cause I'm like that…

Quiz Marathon strategy!

2012-05-18T12:17:00.000-04:00

As I prepare for my massive undertaking of quizmastering for ten straight hours (dear God…), I'm fielding oodles of logistical questions about our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Marathon Spectacular: How does it work? Do I have to be there the whole time? How can I win the $1,000 grand prize?, etc. This FAQ should illuminate you, but let me break it down in terms of strategery, as a noted leader once didn't actually put it.

So the strategic question to ask yourself is: What kind of geek are you?

1. For the lazy geek—hang out for a few hours and have an awesome time: The show runs noon to 10pm total at 92YTribeca. A single ticket (available here, and cheaper in advance, mind you) grants you all-day, come-and-go access. Any given two or three hours will give you all the quizzing delights you expect from the BQT: world-class multimedia trivia, video and audio puzzles, a Text-Message Challenge or two, the odd Lightning Round, etc. Plus prizes: We're not limiting the goodies to the end of the show, so there's always a chance of scoring something nice to bring home to Mama. (This blog has already covered Lionel Trains and Birch Coffee, and we've got old favorites Geek Treats, Thumbs and On Location Tours will represent, and way more are on the way.) And check it: Guest performers will include magicians, jugglers, comedians, etc., scattered throughout the day. That said, prime time (8–10pm) might be your best bet, since that's when the live band will be doing its thing, and you'll be able to firsthand see the effects that a nonstop quiz marathon have on the body of a man in his mid-thirties. True, you'll probably not make it into the big Six-Way Finale, and thus claim the grand prize, but considering this will pretty much going to be the greatest quiz event since the sinking of Atlantis, I think you'll leave happy.

2. For the tireless geek—stay the whole damn ten hours: Make no mistake, a passel of nerds are seriously planning on doing this—arriving around noon, grabbing a piping hot coffee from Cafe 92YTribeca (which will basically be my life-support system that day), and settling in for ten hours of butt-numbing quiz joy. Naturally, playing the whole time will considerably up your odds of your team making into the finale, so this is also a good strategy for the excessively greedy geek. (And yes, the cost is the same as just swinging by for an hour or two.)

3. For the crafty geek—organize!: This might, strictly speaking, be the smartest strategy, but it's also the one that requires the most advance planning. Form a team as you would for any other BQT event, perhaps drafting in a few more ringers than usual, and divvy up the hours of the Marathon into shifts. If you spread out the brain talent wisely, you can make sure to cover every round of the quiz, and receive points throughout the day (as long as we receive an answer sheet with your squad's name on it for a given round of the quiz, you'll receive the points). If you relay like this, bringing in fresh players every couple hours, you'll just rack up the score and be primed for a top showing come Finale time, and possible glorious victory. (Indeed, this strategy is not mutually exclusive with the lazy one above, so long as you're lucky enough to glom onto a team with some of the smarties.)

But really, all strategies are welcome and valid; I guarantee a good time no matter what. Get your tickets now and start figuring out which kind of geek you are. See you there, if I retain the ability to see.

Marathon prize sponsor: Lionel Trains

2012-05-17T16:59:00.000-04:00

As if the whole concept of the Big Quiz Thing's Tenth Anniversary Marathon Quiz Show Spectacular weren't insane enough, we're making it just a lil' bit crazier with this sponsor prize. Guess what we're giving away?

A traaaaaiiiiin!!!!

That there is a Pennsylvania Flyer Freight Train, from the first name in model trains, Lionel. The choo-choo gurus have joined on as a Marathon sponsor (though Neil Young was most likely not informed), and this incredible piece of childhood-nostalgia hardware currently sits in a box in BQT Headquarters, just waiting for you to win it at the Marathon. Do not sleep on this: It retails for $250, and it is, to quote the Lionel website, "Everything you need to begin building your own Pennsylvania Railroad empire." An empire, I tell you!

Some factoids…

—The original Lionel train company was founded in 1900 by 23-year-old Joshua Lionel Cowen, right here in New York City. That's right: New York is the birthplace of model trains, making it even cooler than you realized.

—Lionel also introduced slot cars, as "racing automobiles," in 1912. I never had a train set as a boy, but I did have one of those pull-the-trigger-and-the-little-cars-go-racing-in-circles sets in my basement. So thank you, Mr. Cowen!

—Among the cognoscenti, the standard model-train size is referred to as "O-gauge." There have been O-gauge just about everything, including automatically raising bridges, a cannon, an exploding boxcar (?), and a friggin' rocket launcher:

The most badass train car known to man

—During World War II, Lionel helped the effort by ceasing production of trains, using the metal to make compasses instead. They did issue a "paper train" that was apparently a real bitch to put together, but that was probably the point.

—In the early '50s (Lionel's heyday, though ironically, the decade when train travel in this country was overtaken by automobiles and highways), there was a show on NBC called The Lionel Club House, hosted by—of all people—Joe DiMaggio. This is attested to on Lionel's official site and various other toy-related sources, but IMDb says nothing on the subject, so who knows.

Do you think Joe ever asked Marilyn to wear the little conductor's hat?

—The '60s were tough on model trains, and strictly speaking, the Lionel Corporation died in 1969. The current company, Lionel, LLC, is technically unrelated but owns all the trademarks and carries on the tradition. And yes, Neil Young—a model-train nut to the core—is intimately involved; he once had a 20 percent stake in the company, and remains a technical adviser. And this song rocks:

More about Lionel here. More about the Marathon here. Tickets here. It's coming!

This Sunday: LOS ANGELES!

2012-05-16T19:52:00.001-04:00

As the Big Quiz Thing expands, we continue to crack that nut of the anti-NYC, New York's Earth-Three counterpart: Los Angeles. We enjoyed a tremendous L.A. debut there last year, with a follow-up gig several months later, and now we're getting serious: This Sunday we begin a little residency, doing one Sunday a month till July at the incredibly conveniently located (so this Right Coaster is told) Busby's East, at Wilshire and LaBrea.

When I tell folks about the BQT expanding westward, the most common response is that I'm insane. "Wait, you're getting on an airplane in order to entertain drunk geniuses with questions about fast food and pro wrestling?" No, I am not (and I'm taking a break from wrestling questions). The Los Angeles BQTs are among the very few events in the quiz's history that are not hosted by me; they are hosted by the brilliant, capable, and brilliantly capable Daniel Halden. Dan's been our CA representative for well over a year now; you are in excellent hands. Besides, look at how pretty that guy is—wouldn't you rather be quizmastered by him than me? (Insert your own joke about the meaning of the verb quizmaster.)

Of course, the content is classic BQT all the way: Since Los Angeles is the land of silver-screen dreams, we've been focusing on our best movie-based video puzzles, this edition featuring "The Same Name Movie Music Mash-Up." We also have the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah/No, No, No" audio round, the Lightning Round, Smart-Ass Points for wrong but funny answers, etc., etc., etc.

And naturally, a big $200 grand prize, plus other fun stuff from our sponsors, including the Los Angeles Film Festival…

It takes over downtown L.A.—yes, such a place exists—June 4 through 14, and we got tix to various events on tap for some of the winners. I mean, damn, the new Woody Allen movie is the opening-night selection! (To Rome with Love it's called. I didn't think it was possible for there to be a more Woody Alleny film title than Midnight in Paris, but there you go.) There has to be a reason people move to Los Angeles, and this is basically it. More info about the festival right here.

Also—heh, I love this one—Nerds Like Us…

What a great logo. NLU is a midnight film series at the Vista Theatre on South Sunset (which I've heard of, so it can't be too inconvenient); one Friday a month they whip out the films we people just can't get enough of (it was Monty Python and the Holy Grail last weekend, natch). And yes, this Sunday night, we got passes. FB page here.

Plus cookies, of course. We got L.A.'s best quiz night by a mile, I defy you to prove otherwise. It's this Sunday night, 7:30pm, followed by Sunday, June 17, and Sunday, July 15. Official details here, Facebook event right over here. Make your dreams a reality.

Quiz recap: Small drops of water cannot stop us

2012-05-15T01:34:00.000-04:00

Ah, rain. The miserable drizzlable kept the throngs away from Oberon last night, resulting in our smallest Boston-area crowd in quite some time. If only there were some invention that enabled people to journey out into public despite water falling from the heavens. If only, if only…

Those present had, as always, a spectacular time, if I may be so bold. B-Cutie Katie and I even had an argument postshow whether this was a good or mediocre night for Smart-Ass Points, but I actually felt it was a rather banner evening. The Hollywood-star married couple that have different last names, both featuring a double-a? Angelina Jolieaa and Brad Pitaa. Willy Loman was "endowed, but now well endowed." And see this scene?

It was from Three Men and a Baby.

Interesting Boston-vs.–New York note: This question—"Per many scientists, plenty of dinosaurs are still alive; it’s just that we call them what?"—stumped the majority in NYC, but attracted nary a wrong answer in Mass. But the mystery theme of the Mystery Audio Round evaded nearly everyone last night, whereas there was a high degree of success when we tried the same one in Gotham last year. The theme, BTW, was Major League Baseball teams (They Might Be Giants, the National, the Thompson Twins, etc.); I don't know what this says about the eternal Yankees-Sox conflict, and honestly, eh, I don't care. ("My local group of shallow millionaires is superior to your local group of shallow millionaires!")

Pretty action-packed finale, as we went into it with a three-way tie for third place. (Still amazed that the only team to ace the first round, Team Blorgon, ended up in only tenth place!) But it came down to the eternal Boston BQT rivalry—the Quips squad (playing as I Just Want Your Extra Time and Your…Quips) and the Dead Person Kicks Ass!! contingent (reprezentin' for Adam Yauch, yo; as was DJ Run DMX with the perpetual Beastie Boys beats between rounds)—joined by semiregulars Cougarton Abbey (I'm just getting the joke now). Nobody put together which forthcoming film has a logo created in the '60s, despite not being a sequel, remake or TV adaptation, but the Deceased Ass Kickers finally triumphed by hazarding a correct guess on the aircraft named for the sound that's made when you strike it with your finger. (Yes, really. Well, probably.)

The standings:

1. Adam Yauch Kicks Ass!!: Only four members
2. Cougarton Abbey
3. I Just Want Your Extra Time and Your…Quips
4. Back to the Fuchsia/The Monstrous Humanoids (tie)
6. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Nunnekamp
7. Guys & Dolls
8. Drink More…Please…
9. A Very Special Episode of Blossom
10. Team Blorgon

NEXT: We're back in four weeks, June 11, which will be B-Cutie Katie's final appearance! She's relocating to Chicago to set up the City of Big Shoulders edition of the BQT (yeah, that's why she's moving). Then we got July 30, but first…

You're coming down, aren't you? Everything you need to know, my friends.

Marathon prize sponsor: Birch Coffee

2012-05-12T19:03:00.001-04:00

The pieces are coming together for our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon, and one big ol' piece is the prizes. Ten hours of multimedia quiz fun means ten hours of giving away good stuff, thanks to a panoply of prize partners, all of which we'll be telling you about in this space. And let us begin with something that will be especially important to me during my ten hours onstage: coffee.

One of Manhattan's premier independent coffeehouses, Birch Coffee is lefty granola hippie in all the best ways: They serve coffee from exclusively sustainable farms in Africa, Asia and Latin America; the physical architecture of the space is made from recycled material; everything in the place ends up in either your stomach or the compost heap. Not to mention a nice menu of locavore-friendly salads, sandwiches, breakfast food, etc., etc. They'll even deliver you a jug of iced coffee if you so desire. Plus, it's just a warm, comfy place to while away a NYC afternoon, I can tell you from personal experience.

Birch is physically located at 5 East 27th Street (in the fabulous Gershwin Hotel) and Internetly located here (including an online store). The BQT team had a powwow there not long ago, and we were so impressed, we asked them to join our sponsor pool for the marathon, and they gave us a major yes: We have a $100 gift card for one lucky team/player at the marathon. Learn more about Birch here, and get your tix to the marathon here. And wish me plentiful caffeine, friends.

Photos from our Brooklyn debut

2012-05-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it took us only ten years, but we made it to Brooklyn. And now we have photo proof: One of our sponsors from last Tuesday's quiz, Sacha Baron Cohen's new film The Dictator, sent a rep to get shots. Behold.

Quiz recap: Brook-LYYYYN!!!

2012-05-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hola, Brooklynites! Thanks for welcoming the BQT to your single-most-populous borough last night for our Kings County debut—yeah, after ten years in Manhattan, we finally gazed eastward. It was a pleasure entertaining you at Littlefield, a fine, cozy venue that we managed to fill despite the rain. Shall we return? Not unlikely, I would say.

So what happened tonight?

—A new edition of "The Bipolar Movie Challenge," everyone's favorite BQT video puzzle. Those are fun, right? For the record, we tried mashing up The Shawshank Redemption with Ernest Goes to Jail, but Tim Robbins and Jim Varney just didn't seem to want to cooperate with each other.

—Our guest DJ, Mr. Christopher Weingarten (a.k.a. Twitter star @1000TimesYes), brought the noise. Especially during his customized audio round, "Beastie Boys Bonus Beats." (RIP, MCA.) Moral of the story: The Beastie Boys sampled everything, even if we most of us can't remember in which songs exactly.

—Next week, the world receives The Dictator, the new film from Sacha Baron Cohen and his Borat director, Larry Charles. We gave away a boatload of passes to an advance screening, an took the occasion to put together a "So Spoke the Dictator!" four-part question. I guess I never before realized how distinctive Joseph Stalin's hairline was.

—Lots of new audience members tonight, which was the whole point of this Brooklyn endeavor. Yet inevitably, the nerds brought the pain: The finale pitted BQT powerhouses the Fantastic Fournicators against supergroup the Intercontinental Strippers against rising stars Taking the Mulligan. It took four questions, but the hybrid squad won, naturally, when Big John knew the six-letter word that was added to a two-letter magazine title in 2000. Huzzah.

The standings:
1. Incontinental Strippers
2. The Fantastic Fournicators
3. Taking the Mulligan
4. Gerard Depardouche
5. Mountain Dew
6. Does Sacha Baron Cohen Have a Movie Coming Out?
7. Romping Trollops
8. National Public Radicchio
9. Achievement First Thing Tomorrow
10. Inappropriate for Polite Company

Extra-special thanks to tonight's fine, fine sponsors: The Dictator, of course (in theaters May 16), along with the deliciously dark comedy now playing at the East Village's 9th Space, pool (no water); and of course, the taste-alicious wonder of Geek Treats.

NEXT: Apart from gigs in Boston and L.A., you mean? It's the big one…

Yep, we're less than a month away. Ten solid hours of quiz delights, guest performers, live music, and a $1,000 grand prize. And I've been training like a motherfucker, friends. Tickets on sale now!

Tonight's NOT-SO-SECRET SECRET CLUE

2012-05-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Yes, tonight, in Brooklyn (Littlefield, to be exact). We have a fresh edition of the BQT's all-time greatest video puzzle, "The Bipolar Movie Challenge," plus a special Beastie Boys–centric audio round courtesy guest DJ Christopher Weingarten, the Text Message Challenge, prizes and more prizes, $300 cash jackpot, and oh so much more. Now, you ready for a morsel of extra help?

Yes, we're considering Neil Patrick Harris crazy in this case

And hey, there are rumors that NPH will be there in person (um, "rumors," yeah). BTW, seating at Littlefield is somewhat limited, so arrive early or do it mosh-pit style. 7:30pm, yo.

Prizes: Tix to pool (no water)

2012-05-06T16:53:00.000-04:00

Do you like things that are "visceral," "shocking" and "dynamic," yet are somehow still comedies? You're in luck, then.

At the BQT's Brooklyn debut this Tuesday, we have tickets to just such an entertainment entity: the Off Broadway mind-diddle pool (no water) (playing at 9th Space, part of the PS 122 complex in the East Village). Produced by the One Year Lease Theater Company (key members of which are among the BQT's newest fans), pool (no water) is written by Mark Ravenhill, an internationally acclaimed playwright best known for Shopping and Fucking (I enjoy doing one of those things only if it means I'll then get to do the other). It's described as "a visceral and shocking play about the fragility of friendship and the jealousy and resentment inspired by success," as the group of friends ask themselves, "could someone's suffering be the group’s next work of art?" Intriguing!

I'll be attending the next night, this Wednesday, which happens to be premiere; the show runs till May 26, and you can pick up your tickets right here. Or, just kick ass at Tuesday's quiz and claim a couple passes for free. See how that works?

Learn more about the show at One Year Lease's website or Twitter feed, or when I blab about it Tuesday night.

Video: Training for our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon!

2012-05-03T12:32:00.001-04:00

Just one month to go, and I'm hitting the bag pretty hard, prepping myself for ten solid hours of quiz show excitement. But how am I prepping? The answer is below.

Extra-mega-special thanks to director William K. Scurry Jr. and guest stars Erik Seims and Ron Palais. I think I need to start eating more salad.

Ten Years, Ten Hours, Ten Hundred Dollar Grand Prize. Get your tickets now!

Prizes: The Dictator

2012-05-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn, this Tuesday night, May 8, the Big Quiz Thing completes its epically long journey across the East River for its first ever official, open-to-public, the-whole-shebang Brooklyn show (although the famed Big Quiz Truck was parked in the BK, and I recall a strangely raucous private party at the Brooklyn Children's Museum). We're at the classy, environmentally friendly Littlefield, 7:30pm, with special guest DJ Christopher Weingarten, a fresh batch of "The Bipolar Movie Challenge," and all the fun you've come to love and worship from the BQT.

And prizes! The usual $300 cash jackpot and other delightful stuff, plus tickets to a special May 10 screening of Sacha Baron Cohen's newest film, The Dictator.

So remember how much you loved this?

I saw Borat in Times Square—something I'm usually loath to do, because people just won't shut their traps, dammit—but it's worth it for a comedy like that. During the naked-chase scene, for example the crowd was almost literally hysterical; it sounded like someone had let snakes loose in the theater.

Having had his fill of harass-larity, Baron Cohen now presents a properly filmed and cast Hollywood comedy, The Dictator, again directed by Larry Charles. I'm told it's "the heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." Combine that with the fact that—no joke—it's a loose adaptation of a romance novel written by Saddam Hussein, and SBC maintains his reputation for being class all the way.

The trailer:

Also, check out this double-take-inducing website to fully immerse yourself in the Republic of Wadiya. The advance screening is Thursday, May 10, and we got a whopping ten passes for your victorious pleasure Tuesday night, along with a special Four-Part history question called "So Spoke the Dictator!" Tuesday, 7:30pm; buy your tix now, hipsters.

Quiz recap: Strike!

2012-04-30T11:44:00.002-04:00

So last night's Big Quiz Thing at the palatial Bowlmor Lanes Times Square (in the magnificent Tribeca Loft; yeah, I find the name confusing too) was…interesting. As you attendees noticed, I was without EDP. DJ GB was scheduled to fill in, but other commitments intruded. I'd advertised the return of sidekick Bex Schwartz, but unforeseeable events conspired. My trusty assistant Liv backed me up all the way, but we were nonetheless operating at less than full-team capacity. Did the event suffer? All feedback indicates no, though it was grueling from my end, and moments after the audience left I curled up into a fetal position in one of the bowling lanes and cried into my blankey. Not really, but never doubt that I suffer for my art. (Similar for Liv; the Minnesota girl finally proved she's a real New Yorker by posting on FB how much she despises Times Square.) But hey, if I can't handle this, how on Allah's green earth will I be able to withstand…

Buy your tickets now to find out.

Anyway, last night was fun, right? We had an extra-impressive slate of sponsor prizes, and Bowlmor is a hella classy place: Outstanding food from celebu-toque David Burke, mega-pretty digs, and I got to work with a podium for the first time in a long while; the crouching-into-the-microphone posture is effective for expressing your regular-guyness, George W. Bush taught me…

The video puzzle, Rebus-O-Rama, is one of my absolute favorites; eminently Figureoutable, super-fun to put together, ideal for a private party—the quiz-business sweet spot, I like to say. John the Animator, frequent Three-Way Finale representative from Strippers for Stephen Hawking, had a point of order, though, about this one:

Yes, it's her; the little spiky wheel in a spur is called a rowel. The man was stunned—he'd never hard that before—and I consider a victory to teach him something new, because this dude does advanced physics in his head to help him fall asleep (I don't know, maybe; he's definitely very smart). Anyway, there's a reason this was No. 9 in the round.

The visual Four-Part Question, "Not Literally on Broadway, but About 12 Feet Above It," was by popular request (actually, it was just one regular team complaining that I don't feature enough theater-related content). Easier than I'd anticipated, though—really, everyone recognizes this marquee?

Fascinating. You people are fuckin' cultured, dammit.

The audio round, "Music History by the Prime Numbers," worked out better than I expected, combining music knowledge (to satisfy the cool nerds) and math knowledge (to satisfy the uncool nerds). And of course, the Text Message Challenge continues to unwisely publicize my personal cell phone number. As for the best Smart-Ass Point of the evening, I vote for this…

Q: In the U.S., Canada and Australia, most people call it by a six-letter word; in U.K., India and other English-speaking countries, most people call it by an eight-letter word. What is it?

A: Fuckin'/Shagging

Quick shout-out to our huge list of prize sponsors last night: The Ping-Pong palace of SPiN New York; the East Village brew-and-food mecca that is Jimmy's No. 43; the musical-theatrical mind-fuck delightfulness of Voca People; the nerdtastic chocolate chip heaven of Geek Treats; and of course, Bowlmor itself, kicking in the ol' gift cards. It's a business, folks.

And the finale: Honestly, I panicked briefly when I added up the final scores and saw that we had a three-way tie for second place. Such an eventuality had never occurred to me before, let along actually happened, and in my late-show stupor, damn if I knew how to handle it. The solution: Our buzzer system accommodates up to six players at a time, so it would be a Four-Way Finale: returning champs Gerard Depardouche, perennial superstars Incontinental Congress and Cash Cab for Cutie, and BQT virgins Taking the Mulligan. Appropriately, it lasted a full seven questions; yeah, okay, a question about Bigg Mixx was obscure…

…but are you telling me that I couldn't ask a question about that cereal? Come on! Besides, if you can't handle the heat in the Finale, when can you? Shouldn't be a surprise that the IC ultimately proved victorious.

The standings:

1. Incontinental Congress: Getting tantalizingly close to overtaking the Fantastic Fourincators as the winningest team in NYC BQT history.

2. Cash Cab for Cutie

3. Taking the Mulligan: Always great to have newcomers in the finale; hope to see them again.

4. Gerard Depardouche

5. Fat Kids Can't Count to 20

6. Strippers for Stephen Hawking

7. Oh Noah You Didn't

8. Hulk Hogan's Heroes Assemble/Inappropriate for Polite Company (tie)

10. Never Were the Vikings

NEXT: So yes, we're now in the midst of crazy times for the BQT. The next public show is our at-long-last Brooklyn debut, just a week away, May 8 at Littlefield. Later this month we have the usual Boston gig, our return to L.A., private parties galore, and then: the Biggest Quiz Thing ever—our Tenth Anniversary Marathon Quiz Show Spectacular. Ten Years, Ten Hours, Ten Hundred Dollar Grand Prize. June 3 at 92YTribeca, noon–10pm; come for one hour or all ten. The live band is set to go, comedians, guest DJs, so much more, and yours truly onstage for the whole shebang. Pray for mojo, and buy your tix now!

Tonight's NOT-SO-SECRET SECRET CLUE

2012-04-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

You ready for a little more Sunday live quiz action? Of course you are; that's why you're reading this. Tonight we make our long-awaited return to Bowlmor Times Square, a conveniently located palace of glamor and extremely tasty food (courtesy celebu-toque David Burke).

And here's what you need to be just that little bit more successful…the Not-So-Secret Secret Clue. Use it when the nifty video/audio sting gives the word…

Think "Spring"!

Right-O! It's tonight, 7:30pm, with an especially impressive stash of prizes (and the return of everyone's dream girlfriend, Bex Schwartz). Make sure to arrive hungry. Brainy would be good too.

Prizes: Too many to name in the headline

2012-04-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday night's quiz features a truly impressive prize haul (but doesn't it always…). We're returning to the palatial Bowlmor Times Square, 7:30pm, for your regular dose of major-league multimedia quiz fun. The goodies have come together a little last-minute, so let's handle it en masse, shall we?

SPiN New York

What do Susan Sarandon, the Olympics and one of my all-time favorite BQT questions have in common? Ping-Pong, of course. (The question: "What racket game gets its popular name from the sound the ball makes when you hit it?" You're welcome.) The erstwhile Louise Sawyer is an investor of SPiN New York, on East 23rd Street near Madison Square Park, the city's premier swanky lounge dedicated to one of the many Chinese-dominated events at the quadrennial international games. Way more than your cousin's basement rec room, SPiN is a sprawling lounge serving first-rank cocktails and an exclusive atmosphere—I'd say "only in New York," but there are probably a few places like this in Beijing, too. And for the second-place team at Sunday's BQT, we got a whopping $100 gift card, to use on whatever proportion of alcohol and table tennis you desire. Discover for yourself at spinyc.com.

Voca People

Returning to the BQT prize fold, one of New York's many truly unique theatrical experience, Voca People Off Broadway. A delightfully weirdo a cappella ensemble, visiting our planet from the farthest reaches of spaces, performs instrument-free and beat-box-heavy medleys of everything from Madonna to Mozart in an ingeniously bizarre stage production. For a taste, enjoy this passel of hits from the all-time greatest gay band beloved by fratboys, Queen:

Sunday night we'll be doling out two pairs of tickets to the show, now playing at A-list theater palace, midtown's New World Stages. See more at vocapeoplenyc.com.

Jimmy's No. 43

I know how it is, quiz fans; it's a challenge balancing the brain-pickling effects of yum yum yummy beer with the need to stay sharp enough to meet the BQT challenge. But let down your guard just a little and visit Jimmy's No. 43. A pleasingly hip underground spot on 7th Street in the Eastiness of the East Village, Jimmy's features 12 snob-pleasing brew selections on tap and 27 more in bottles, plus a mucho satisfying menu of upscale pub classics (the burger holds its own with any you'd care to name in NYC). And a $50 gift certificate goes to Sunday's third-place team, which should be good for an ideal evening of brain- and stomach-stewing. Check it out at jimmysno43.com.

Then there are our old friends: the chocolate-chip delectability of Geek Treats (whose star baker, Ashley B., has been sucked into honest-to-goodness BQT fanhood, it turns out)…

…and free passes to the big one: Our Tenth Anniversary Quiz Show Marathon, coming up fast (oh, geez) at 92YTribeca on Sunday, June 3. Ten years, ten hours, ten hundred dollar grand prize, and you can get in free if you score well this Sunday. (Or just buy your tickets now!)

And cash. Oh yeah, cash. See you Sunday night.