August 31: The BQT's 200th Episode Spectacular

As hyped at last Monday's quiz, we have big plans afoot…


One month away, give or take, on Monday, August 31, for one night only, the Big Quiz Thing will be at (Le) Poisson Rouge in the Village for The Big Quiz Thing's 200th Episode Spectacular. (The number isn't exact, but the trivia certainly is.) Plans are still taking shape, but we're aiming for a mondo night of the usual BQT shenanigans, including out most popular video round, The Bipolar Movie Challenge, and more audio fun with Sloooow Songs.

Plus, perhaps best of all, supersized prizes: First place will get $300, second will receive $100, and we're looking to score especially cool swag for other players. And this venue is ridiculously beautiful.

Text of the press release is pasted below. Two important details to note: The show will start at 7pm, and admission is $10, still a steal. You will be there…

THE BIG QUIZ THING, NEW YORK’S PREMIER TRIVIA SHOW, CELEBRATES ITS 200TH EPISODE AT (LE) POISSON ROUGE, AUGUST 31, WITH $400 IN CASH PRIZES.

“It might save us from the hell that is karaoke,” declared MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. He was talking about The Big Quiz Thing, New York’s No. 1 live trivia event, packing in hipster-nerd acolytes twice a month since 2002. And now, to celebrate their 200th "episode," the stars of the BQT bring the game to the lovely (Le) Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village for a super-sized live trivia blowout, with $400 in cash prizes at stake.

Quizmaster Noah Tarnow, joined by sidekick EDP and DJ GB, plus The B-Cuties, presents the ultimate high-tech, video-based test of meaningless information, for the glory of knowing that you possess more useless knowledge than your peers. For this special show, the BQT will be rolling out some of its most beloved signature games: The Bipolar Movie Challenge (video from one film juxtaposed with audio from a different one; name both films), Sloooow Songs (ID the pop songs at half speed), the famed Lightning Round, the big Four-Part Questions, clever banter and semantic arguments. Plus, a mega-sized slate of prizes, including $400 in cash (usually it's $250, but we're feeling generous). And even when players can’t hazard a guess, there’s hope: If a wrong answer makes the crowd laugh, it’s counted as correct and earns a Smart-Ass Point. Everyone gets to play, everyone gets to laugh.

Over the years, the Big Quiz Thing has established itself as New York's premier source of trivia entertainment. It's entertained in special events and corporate retreats throughout the country, and Quizmaster Noah has hosted stand-up comedy, variety, and burlesque shows in all five boroughs and along the East Coast.

Trivial times call for trivial trivia, and in a culture ruled by bite-size information and prepackaged wisdom, nothing is nobler than a live quiz show. Come see The Village Voice’s pick for “The Best Place to Show Off Your Inner Nerd.”

The Big Quiz Thing's 200th Episode Spectacular is at (Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St at Thompson Street, Monday, August 31 at 7pm. Admission is only $10, and there is $400 in cash prizes. For more info, visit bigquizthing.com, or contact quizmaster Noah Tarnow at noah@bigquizthing.com.

Quiz me this…
Q: What product has 20 answers: ten affirmative, five negative, and five noncommittal?
Q: Who’s the only past People’s Sexiest Man Alive who is no longer alive?
Q: Though unavailable in stores, what's the third bestselling cookie brand in the U.S.?
Q: Who were the two U.S. vice presidents who shot a man during their terms?

FOR MORE, VISIT BIGQUIZTHING.COM

NT's greatest hits, No. 10 (of 34)

So this time, I'm dropping the idea of picking these songs from my list of all-time favorites at random. Rules are made to be broken, bitch! Here we go…

"Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants
Yesterday, I was among the entertainment at a bachelor party; an hour of custom quiz as part of a day of festivities. The evening's climactic event was an outing to (Le)Poisson Rouge in the Village to see They Might Be Giants in concert, and my payment was an extra ticket to the show*. Good deal. This was not the first time I saw TMBG live—No. 7, by my rough estimate—but it was the first in probably ten years. I'm not all that into them now, but I loved the two Johns in high school and college, which is extremely unsurprising. This is a band that by all rights, has no business still having a career 25 years after they formed. Lucky for them, geeks like me have conquered the world.

My favorite They Might Be Giants song—sadly omitted from last night's playlist (and no, Katie, they didn't do "Minimum Wage" either)—is "Don't Let Start," one of their first singles. I will not write another word (except these) before showing you the outstanding video:

This is another one of those videos that is perfectly attuned to its song—the rollicking interplay of guitar and keyboard, the jerky stop-start rhythm, the ridiculous randomness. I've written before about how I tend to be drawn to rock & roll with just the slightest avant-garde bent, and I think They Might Be Giants is the apotheosis of that idea: They were your typical NYC music nerds who synthesized whacked-out art music into hooky pop songs, Sonic Youth but catchier and a lot less intimidating. It's no wonder they now make their bread and butter as kid-rockers, considering that most current children's entertainment is predicated on the concept of weird for weirdness' sake.

"Don't Let's Start" was a tremendously influential song in my rock & roll development, like so many other tunes on this list. I first saw this video—first heard of the band—in January 1988, when I saw it as part of a Dr. Demento–hosted MTV countdown of "The Most Demented Videos of All Time." (No. 1 was this, which seems about right.) This was one of the initial things that clued me in to the existence of pop music out of the mainstream, a richer, more intriguing, and just plain smarter world of rock & roll beyond the pabulum pumped out by bar mitzvah DJs. Eight months later I discovered classic rock and developed a rock snob disdain for nearly anything made after 1979, but I always kept a place in my heart—for much of high school, the most honored place—for They Might Be Giants, who always seemed to have something fascinating and fun to offer.

Who's doing that now? Fascinating, okay—lots of rock bands now are continually trying new things. But very few are remotely as fun as TMBG was in its heyday.

*This is what we in the trivia business refer to as a lie, or at least a grossly misleading statement. I was indeed paid money for the trivia event; the concert was an excellent bonus. Moreover, the party had an in with the venue, so it didn't cost them anything to add my name to the list. But it sounds more interesting this way.

Earlier editions of NT's greatest hits:
"Suffragette City"
"See-Saw"
"My Name Is Jonas"
"Mr. Tambourine Man"
"Reelin' in the Years"
"Objects of My Affection" and "Crimson and Clover"
"OK Apartment" and "Just What I Needed"