Recap: This is becoming ridiculous

Okay, it's like this: Tonight was the Big Quiz Thing's sixth appearance at Oberon, in Harvard Square, and it was the fourth consecutive victory on the part of the "Quips" team (this edition under the alias Gladys Knight and the Quips). I love their dedication, but come now: Monotony is monotonous. (Seriously, I do love them. I even forgive them for wasting paper and writing their team name on all 20 sheets of their answer pad.) A little inside BQT knowledge: Several years ago, when we instituted the Three-Way Finale in the show's format, much of the purpose was to give a wider variety of teams a chance at victory because—let's be honest here—once you reach the finale, it mostly comes down to the caprices of Lady Luck. It worked in NYC—the Fantastic Fournicators are now one of many teams that cycle through the top spot—but no dice in Boston, despite a close call tonight. More on the finale anon.

Tonight's BQT was an extra-very-mega-special BQT—it was the first ever free public Big Quiz Thing anywhere. The reason was that Oberon, a venue that I've had a nonsexual crush on from the start, has wholeheartedly gotten behind the show, making the free arrangement happening and bringing in the crowd. Show them you love them; go see The Donkey Show already.

And the crowd was appropriately large, with a good supply of new faces. And smart ones—ten of the 26 squads aced "Presidential Limericks" (preparation to head down to NYC and take the Presidents' Day BQT challenge, perhaps?), and a lot of them did well at the very challenging "I Want Your Sax" audio round (really? everyone's forgotten about Jr. Walker and the All-Stars? should I have included an E Street Band tune? "Careless Whisper"?). And yes, funny ones: Tonight, we had what may be the greatest Smart-Ass Point in the history of the Big Quiz Thing, as part of the Prezy Lims. To wit:
Their answer? "Women So Dark." (Think about it.)

And the finale: Despite all the new people, it came down to BQT Boston's regular super-intellectuals (that's the nice term): the Quips unit, the Kicks Ass team (this time under the guise of Gary Moore Kicks Ass—nope, I don't know him either, though I have been severely rocked by the band before he was in it) and the Monstrous Humanoids. The topic was movies of last year, and it was a serious cuticle-shredder: We went through seven questions. GMKA started strong, knowing which film from last summer was based on a book with an identical title except for two punctuation marks. Then the champs came on the board, managing to know which film, surprisingly, was the highest-grossing documentary of last year. (Yes, really.) And then the Monstrous Humanoid, very impressively, knew the exact number of Oscar nominees for Best Picture whose titles begin with The. A few more questions that no one knew (well, to be fair, hardly anyone saw the movie based on a series of TV sketches which were parodies of another TV show), and finally, the Quips were able to identify the only film to win two acting awards at last month's Golden Globes. You cannot hope to stop this team, only to harness their unspeakable power.
The standings:
1. Gladys Knight and the Quips
2. Gary Moore Kicks Ass/The Monstrous Humanoids (tie)
4. Pony No Bueno
5. Super Mentally Acute Regarding Trivia
6. The Nuclear Navy
7. Come to The Donkey Show
8. SmartBomb!
9. Blizzasterolypse
10. Darth Vader's Other Kids/Roethlisburger's Not Going to Disney, Princesses Relieved/Team Weaselsprout (tie)

What a night. We're coming back in April, don't know the date yet, but it'll be a Monday, and not the 18th. (You're eating gefilte fish that night.) We should know soon, and there are very easy ways of making sure you're informed: Like us on Facebook and you'll be updated, or follow me on Twitter (and possibly win free admission) and I'll pester you with details, or you can always check in with our calendar intermittently. We love this technology, we do.

Recap: The eternal struggle continues

I'd been hyping the Big Quiz Thing's run at Oberon in Boston—five shows in the past year—as a mighty battle between two indomitable squads of trivia titans: the "Quips" team (variously known as Quips Ahoy, Goodbye Mr. Quips and, last night, Quiptonite), and the INSERT CELEBRITY NAME HERE Kicks Ass (this episode, it was the recently deceased Anne Francis). But looking at the evidence, here's the actual tally from the five total BQT-Oberon events thus far:

Quips: 3
Kicks Ass: 1
A team called Up in Your Grill, which won the first time and I don't think has returned since, and made me feel like a sucker for designing the graphic below to hail their return (though please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this): 1

Interesting. Blank Kicks Ass has made it into the Three-Way Finale each time, sure, but Quips has stayed a step ahead of them the past three times consecutively. The battle rages on, though I'm just grateful that they both keep coming back again and again. Loyalty is the lifeblood of live trivia.

But whether you were fighting for the top slot or not, much fun was had by all last night, as the BQT stormed into 2011. In the video round, we visited the Museum of Painting Mash-Ups…
We had an audio-round session of Questions and Answers (don't want to give anything away, since I plan on unleashing this gimmick upon NYC next week). And lots of Smart-Ass Points: I was a particular fan of this answer to "Ten years ago, what DC Comics supervillain became President of the United States?": George W. Bush.

And then the Three-Way Finale, on the topic of People Who Died 2010: As expected, it was Quiptonite vs. Anne Francis Kicks Ass vs.…Pony No Bueno, a team consisting of staff from the recently minted Time Out Boston. (Intriguingly, we also had a squad last night representing The Weekly Dig, calling itself Captain Bart, and reaching a respectable sixth place. I guess The Improper Bostonian is too chicken.) It was a quick and dirty Three-Way, with Quiptonite taking it with this delightful query: "Complete this awesome joke from Police Squad, starring Leslie Nielsen. The villain says, 'Who are you and how did you get in here?' Lt. Frank Drebin says, “I’m the locksmith…'" Watch for yourself:

Your winners, again…
Thanks to the Oberon staff, playing as Show Us Your Tips, who didn't manage to repeat their impressive third-place showing from November, but they remain the most accomplished of the various staff teams from BQT venues. (I'm not sure this is something they should brag about, though, considering they're supposed to be, you know, working.) But thank you for tipping them kindly regardless. And another extra-special shout-out to our delicious sponsor B.Good, which I like to describe as McDonald's for the non-masochistic.
And thank you for being there. We're coming back ever so soon: Just four weeks from now, Monday, February 7. Tell your friends, tell your enemies: I know you want to keep the BQT as your own little secret and not have the theater crawling with people who might be smarter than you, but we want to do this in Boston more in 2011, and the more people who attend, the easier that'll be to arrange. Grazie.

The schedule: Finally, a hit of trivia goodness

Friends and fans–

I know how trying this past month and a half has been. You've suffered the severe symptoms of trivia withdrawal. Sad but true, there has been no public Big Quiz Thing in more than a month (in NYC; Boston was wicked awesome, as always), and your addiction has tortured you. The reasons for this are varied, annoying, and annoyingly various, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel (though the inside might be as black as the night, at the end of the tunnel there's a liiiiiight!). Rest easy, the beast will be fed.

First of all, there's a show one week from tonight, December 13, at our old haunt of Crash Mansion. Oh, we got the usual delights, with a new video round, "Great Nicknames in Sports"; an "All Awesome Alliterative Audio Answers" audio round (say that five times fast; better yet, don't); and a few more surprises, including some great show tickets as prizes (details in this space forthcoming).

But a warning: I can't say for sure, but this might be a rather crowded event. Check it: BQT stalwart Jonathan Corbblah (one fourth of citywide trivia champions Fuckface Murray Abraham and the guy at right above) will be appearing on Jeopardy! that night, and we're hoping to do a preshow viewing party at 7pm, with many of JC's many friends in tow. Moreover, for whatever nutty reason, an unusual number of people whom I perpetually hype the event to say they're finally going to show up at this event. So get there early and watch your step, friends.

Beyond that, I'm booking shows left and right. You can always keep up on the calendar, but lemme break it down:

— In 2011, in NYC, we're going to be back on the biweekly-Monday schedule…more or less. We have January 3, January 17 and January 31 all booked, along with February 21. 1/3 and 1/31 will be at a new spot, Drom in the East Village; 1/17 is back at (Le) Poisson Rouge, at the special time of 7pm; and 2/21 is at Crash. We'll settle down eventually, Ma, promise.
— Tuesday, December 28, we're returning to World Cafe Live, our cool and classy venue in Philadelphia, for the BQT's first ever Movie Trivia Spectacular. Eight years and we've never done an all-movie quiz, but that all finally changes. Tell your Philly friends; the food at this place is excellent.

—One of the highlights for 2010 was establishing a BQT beachhead in the Boston metropolitan area, with a handful of shows at Oberon, a really, really, fucking really beautiful venue in Harvard Square. We're planning to hit it more often in '11, having already booked two events: January 10 and February 7 (both Mondays). These shows have developed into a rivalry between two extra-nerdy teams, so expect the blood to really fly in the New Year.

And as always, you can follow me on Twitter, to hear my trenchant trivial insights, and (try to) answer the Google-Proof Question of the Day (and win free admission). See you next week, fun people.

The big Three-Way Finale, straight from Boston

Here it is, the finale of last week's Big Quiz Thing at Oberon in Boston (well, Cambridge). Hurrah.

Recap: Clash of the Boston trivia titans

Will keep it brief, since I'm on the road…

Last night was the fourth Big Quiz Thing at Oberon, still one of my favorite venues, in the heart of graduate-student-ville, Harvard Square. Our return is already scheduled—Monday, January 10—so we're quickly making this our home away from home, and it's becoming clear to me that the Boston-area BQT is a protracted clash between two specific teams: Sparky Anderson Kicks Ass (previously known by other "FAMOUS NAME Kicks Ass" variations) and Goodbye Mr. Quips (previously known as Quips Ahoy, and I think something else). These two squads of trivia titans, between them, have won every Boston BQT thus far, and were pretty handily the top-scorers last night. They are not to be trifled with and, dare I say, the Boston area's ultimate masters of trivial knowledge. So as GMQ attempted to defend its Boston-area crown from the Sparky boosters, a mighty battle was waged. But there was an unexpected upstart…

The competition was heated—the Movie Potpourri Quiz (featuring the Movie Quote Thesaurus entry above), Three Degrees of Musical Separation (e.g., "The Guess Who/Hüsker Dü/Duke Ellington"), and a fun fun fun four-parter on 1920s slang. (As the big cheese, I gotta tell you, it was the bee's knees, for crying out loud, and if you don't agree, go fly a kite.) Thanks to special guest DJ XDon RicklesX (I have no idea) and returning B-Cutie Katie.

But it came down to the Three-Way Finale among, predictably, Sparky Anderson Kicks Ass, Goodbye Mr. Quips, and…Show Us Your Tips. Yes, the Oberon staff team. Amazing—we've various venue staffs play the Big Quiz Thing—most are paying only half attention, or think they're too cool to actually put forth a trivial effort—but never before has a team made it into the finale.

I must admit, I was gunning for the staff to win, just for the novelty, but I judged the finale fairly nonetheless, and after the teams tied it up one all, GMQ pulled it out with "In Spain, eight of the ten most common family names end with what letter?" A well-earned victory.
This photo totally does not do justice to the awesomeness of Oberon. We were filming the show last night, so I'm going to get footage on YouTube tout suite.

Also a shout-out to the Monstrous Humanoids, complete with their guide-dog team member (seriously), who come every time and are due a victory. Can you step between these tremendous titans of useless knowledge and claim the $200 jackpot? Be there January 10 to prove it.

This Monday: Back in Boston!

Er…sort of. As I've discovered spending time in the metropolitan Boston area, Cambridge, Massachusetts is only sort of Boston. Often I find it easier to just say, "We're back in Harvard Square," since that is accurate. (And no, Gund Hall is not relevant.)

This will be the third Big Quiz Thing at Oberon, an extremely impressive venue mere steps from that august institution of higher learning. The first two (this one rocked hard, this one rocked harder) were stupidly successful, and we've managed to develop our own core of regulars in the area, still growing—Boston is a city of geniuses, and they recognize the world's greatest live trivia when they see (and play) it. And hey, will April's champs, Jackie Robinson Kicks Ass, be returning to defend their crown? Time will tell.

And to quiz them this Monday, one of my favorite BQT video puzzles from the past year or so, "Three Degrees of Television Separation." For each question, name all three TV shows, whose names are phonetically linked. For example: Charlie Rose, followed by Roseanne, followed by Andy Richter Controls the Universe. See what I did there?

Plus, the "Big Ending" audio round, Smart-Ass Points, the whole rigmarole. It's Monday, July 12, 8pm at Oberon (2 Arrow Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge). $200 grand prize, naturally, plus tickets to Oberon's multimedia Shakespeareanesque disco musical, The Donkey Show; passes to the July 14 show by Rogue Burlesque; and gift cards from the eminently delicious b.good. Buy your tickets now, now, now!

Recap: The BQT back in Boston—wicked awesome

The BQT returned to Oberon in Harvard Square last night, another excellent event (thanks again to Oberon for supplying tix to their ongoing disco spectacular, The Donkey Show). But first, let's get this out of the way: Due to a minor technical snafu, we had to juggle the rounds on the fly, playing the Lightning Round as round 4, and the Audio Round as round 5. It worked out, and I think I know the source of the problem (damn you, faulty iPod I found for free in a snowbank!). But perhaps this is the way to go. Perhaps the temporal frisson of the Lightning Round is better suited to the penultimate game, with the comparatively leisurely Audio Round serving as the final-round denouement. Maybe this is the Big Quiz Thing wave of the future. (Eh, probably not.)

Thanks to all the Cambridgians who came out last night—we had a healthy repeat business from out Oberon debut in January, and we're hoping to return in the relatively near future (I don't know—will all you grad-school folks soon be AWOL for the summer?). "Rebus-O-Rama" was a big hit (though my parents, playing the BQT for the first time in eons, complained that they'd never heard of Justin Bieber before), and "The Worst Songs Ever!" inspired a whole lot of un-self-conscious dancing (one woman complained that "I Kissed a Girl" is actually the best song ever, a contention that I would argue with ever last fiber of my being).

Also, lots of good Smart-Ass Points. Personally, I liked this response to "In the 1980s, three winners of the Best Picture Oscar had a three-word title with the word of in the middle: BLANK of BLANK. Name any two.": Breakfast of Club and Toot of Sie.

And hey, the Three-Way Finale! Our winners, Jackie Robinson Kicks Ass, were represented by a lady! Just like in January—the female gender has a perfect record at Boston-area Things of Big Quizzing. This is interesting, since it is very rare to have a woman onstage for the Finale in NYC—perhaps only because it's always a guy who screams and shouts enough to convince his team he's the best player. This is good—I've always like women, in a variety of contexts. Reason enough on its own to return to Boston.

The standings…

1. Jackie Robinson Kicks Ass: A narrow victory on "Winning an honorary Oscar in the process, hat 1968 sci-fi movie spent 17% of its budget on makeup?" Someone else guessed Night of the Living Dead (an Oscar?), and Lady JRKA took a wild guess. Well done.
2. Monstrous Humanoids/Acceptable Progeny Makers (tie)
4. Bombshell and the McGees
5. Ass to Ass
6. The Rosetta Stone Incident: Perfect score two rounds in, couldn't hang on.
7. Not Anne Hathaway/The Gay Oldies and Carol (tie)
9. Touched by an Uncle
10. Root Beer and Monterey: My parents' team. The fix was in.

And when will we return? Oh, I will definitely let you know.

Recap: BQT goes to grad school

Yes, indeed: Thursday night marked the Big Quiz Thing's Boston-area debut, in Harvard Square's lovely Oberon, and the hit was of the tremendous variety. Hurray for the 130-plus trivia geeks who came out to see why trivia is worth paying a cover charge for; you nerds know your shit. (Though I still can't believe only one squad got this: What happened on TV in the following years: 1966, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2001?)

Since this was our debut in this new market, we whipped out some of the BQT's marquee games—Bipolar Movie Challenge was a delight as always, and Slooow Songs is especially gratifying; seeing the teams gradually come to a realization for each track fills me with a warm sensation. And yes, we did the big Three-Way Finale, though a tie for third-place necessitated a brief runoff. Thanks to everyone for not being fucking crybabies.

As for this specific venue, Oberon's an interesting place; more of a theater than Crash Mansion or (Le) Poisson Rouge, but still ideally suited for the BQT. In DJ role, EDP was way up in the booth on the balcony, on the mike as the voice of God, while I was on stage with our guest B-Cutie, the legendary Katie Vagnino. The stage had a ridiculously massive screen directly behind me. It all looked awesome. Extra props to Oberon's staff, who played the game as "Staff Infection"—yes, pretty much the same name as the staff team at Crash Mansion, though the Oberon people did considerably better (perfect score on the audio round!). And the standings; hopefully we'll see some of these people again:

1. Up in Your Grill: Harvard, reprezent! They won it on two during the finale with Who is the namesake of two state capitals, a country in South America, a Canadian province, and a major American university? and What 1989 hit romantic comedy film—along with its two sequels—starred two confirmed Scientologists?
2. Howard Zinn Kicks Ass!/All Your Junk Hanging Out (tie)
4. Dorkasm
5. Fire Walk with Me
6. Admiral Snackbar/Monstrous Humanoids (who vow, via Twitter, to come down to NYC and win the game on the BQT's home turf) (tie)
8. Ass to Ass
9. Unusual Suspects/Jersey Unshore (tie)

Stay tuned for when we return to MA…

In Cambridge!

New York’s premier team-trivia event heads to Boston, MA, with a big show at Oberon, Thurs, Jan 28, with a $200 cash prize.

Buy tickets here

“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 game show and the ultimate trivia event, packing in 100-plus hipster-nerd acolytes twice a month for geeky-good multimedia competition. After seven years of delighting New Yorkers and private clients nationwide, the BQT now brings its multimedia game-show spectacular to Oberon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a big $200 grand prize.

Quizmaster Noah Tarnow, joined by sidekick-DJ EDP, plus The B-Cuties, presents the complete, high-tech, video-based test of meaningless information, for the glory of knowing that you possess more useless knowledge than your peers. Highlights include the BQT’s beloved signature games (this edition featuring The Bipolar Movie Challenge and Really, Really, Really Slow Songs), along with the famed Lightning Round, the Three-Way Finale, clever banter, audience smack-talking, and so much more. Plus, fabulous prizes, including $200 in cash, books, DVDs, show tickets, Big Quiz Thing T-shirts and more. And even when players can’t hazard a guess, there’s hope: If a wrong answer makes the crowd laugh, it’s marked correct and earns a Smart-Ass Point. Everyone plays, everyone laughs.

Since 2002, 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 all 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 event that NYC’s The Village Voice declared “The Best Place to Get in Touch with Your Inner Nerd.”

The Big Quiz Thing comes to Oberon, 2 Arrow Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Thursday, January 28 at 8pm Admission is a mere $10, and there is a $200 cash grand prize. For more info, visit bigquizthing.com, or contact quizmaster Noah Tarnow at noah@bigquizthing.com. Buy tickets here.

Quiz me this…
Q: What product has 20 answers: ten affirmative, five negative, and five noncommittal?

Q: What Hollywood star’s name is the inverse of a casino game?
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 while in office?

More questions at twitter.com/bigquizthing
Video at youtube.com/bigquizthing
Other general goodness at bigquizthing.com

Recap: See, there are two arms

That's Jim Abbott, former New York Yankees pitcher. Clearly, he has two arms. So last night, when I asked "What was physiologically unusual about Jim Abbott, a pitcher who threw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993?," I really shouldn't have given a half point for "He was missing an arm." But hey, I'm a charitable guy. Nonetheless, a visit to Abbott's official website confirms: He was missing a hand. Don't say I never do nothing nice for you.

What did we learn at last night's fabulous Martin Luther King Day edition of the Big Quiz Thing at Crash Mansion? A lot:

— There are a lot of names/titles that have the word king in them, everything from the Sacramento Kings to Peking duck to Rodney King (both too soon and too late), all seen in the "Court of Kings" video round. Smart-Ass Point to the team that couldn't ID John King beyond "The fucking guy on CNN."

— Six Feet Under is not a sitcom. But if Quizmaster Noah writes a four-part question about sitcom finales and puts Six Feet Under in there and then forgets to rename the category, it should count as a sitcom.

— This is a good question: "What’s the common description? Mark Twain’s hometown, an Oscar-winning role from 1991, and a man who was famous for riding an elephant." I know that it's good, because an audience member told me so. And then told me he's a professional crossword-puzzle designer, so you know you can trust him.

— The Not-So-Secret Secret Clue is a hit. Make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get a fresh clue the day of each new Big Quiz Thing.

— What's "the Greatest Love of All" according to Whitney Houston? It's not cocaine, though if you answer that, you get a great, big Smart-Ass Point, which will help compensate for your team coming in last place (thanks, Pictorograham Punks!).

—The BQT's Boston-area debut is next week! Tell your Boston-area friends that they're in for an experience they will never, ever forget, at least for a couple months or so.

— The Three-Way Finale keeps going strong. And the standings are (now with a top ten)…

1. Fat Kids Eat the Profits: Their first victory after four years of contention. Their superstar representative took the crown with "In 1986, what became the first rap album to hit No. 1 in the U.S.?" Definitely figureoutable, so if you like, chalk it up to being quick on the buzzer. Still, a well-earned victory.
2. Gerard Depardouche/Incontinental Congress: They both kept it tense till the final question, which is what we thrive on.
4. Strippers for Stephen Hawking: Only team to completely ace the "Maximum Elvis" audio round.
5. The Fantastic Fourincators/Jefferson Davis Starship
7. Cash Cab for Cutie
8. Big Green Cabbage: Making their long-awaited return.
9. Oh Noah You Didn't/Sugah Titz

Who will win next time? You never can tell with all this Three-Way excitement. Be there on February 1 to find out (and to witness the return of "Movie + Movie + Movie = TV Show").

The best tool shed in Boston

In promoting the Big Quiz Thing's first Boston event (January 28!), I've run into a thorny predicament. The press seems receptive (we have a shot at some love from The Boston Phoenix), but as I try to use the newfangled Facespaces and Twittups to reach out to Beantown trivia hounds, I've been getting a particular brand of push-back, to the effect of, "Why would I pay to play trivia?"

Trivia is a somewhat bigger deal in Boston than here. Actually, scratch that—it's defiantly not a big deal there, it's just a more familiar presence in the hum of city life. There's a company called Stump Trivia that presents quiz events at many bars in the metropolitan Boston area, one of which I attended once, and it kind of sucked. Regardless, more than in NYC, everyone seems to know about "bar trivia," and everyone seems to assume Stump is the basic model: some guy on a microphone reading moderately interesting questions in a boilerplate Irish bar. No video, very little audio, no shiny jacket. And no cover charge.

All well and good. The city, I figured, is primed to experience something on a higher level. But habits are tough to break, especially when you're asking for a little money. Someone on Yelp, in referring to my show, said, "He's charging for trivia? What a tool shed." Which confuses me—is a "tool shed" the same as a "tool" (i.e., one who is used by others)? Aren't I the opposite of a tool if, according to this guy, I'm getting people to pay me for something that is usually given away for free? Or maybe being a tool shed means that my event is the ideal venue for tools, which I guess is more logically consistent with his apparent opinion. (Either way, I later discovered this guy is himself a Stump host. Ha ha.)

I've run into this quandary before. My usual reply is, you get what you pay for. You probably wouldn't hesitate to pay, say, $15 to see a great rock band at a good club, even though some guy is playing guitar at the bar down the street from you for nothing (and the rock band doesn't even give you a chance to win back your cover charge). Standard bar trivia nights can be great fun—one of the best nights of my life involved winning a quiz at an Irish pub, followed by making out with a teammate—but I think we provide a lot more. Besides, we've proved it for years in New York, where we consistently outdraw the various free quiz events.

So here's my task for you, BQT fans: Think of your pals/associates/Facebook friends in the Boston area. No doubt, some of them have the trivia bug, or at least an appreciation for quality live entertainment. Forward them this link, and let them know it's worth every penny. Once we've conquered the globe, you can have a warm feeling knowing it was partially—and vitally—thanks to you.

Calendar: Bar mitzvahs and Boston

Just got official word about two forthcoming BQT events, both biggish news…

(1) We're doing a bar mitzvah, our first (if you don't count my actual own bar mitzvah; for all I know, my haftorah was indeed full of trivia questions in Hebrew). Since the early days of the quiz, people have jokingly suggested we'd be hot stuff on the candy-throwing-and-Coke-and-Pepsi circuit, but I was always wary of this. I have vivid memories of many bar/bat mitzvahs, with overhormoned teenagers running around suburban banquet halls like idiots, melting candles into parfait glasses and trying to get to second base with that one girl who was developing early. All good stuff, yet not fertile ground for an organized game. But this gig looks excellent: The mom assures me her son is a quiz nut, the crowd will be modestly sized, and I'm a pro by now. Should be fun (and yes, as always, e-mail booking@bigquizthing.com to set up your own private party).

(2) We're going to Boston! I mentioned it in the last calendar, but it's official: On Thursday, January 28, the Big Quiz Thing will be performing at Club Oberon, in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Yeah, okay, not literally Boston, but ten minutes on the T, you nit-pickers.) I spend a lot of time in that city, due to the presence of both my quizette and my family, so it feels like a natural move, and EDP is joining me on this trip so that we can show them how it's done—judging by the number of bars with quiz nights, trivia is a bigger deal in Boston than in NYC. Oberon is great—it's run by the American Repertory Theater, and is currently hosting The Donkey Show, which was a big hit here some years past (and, of course, was based on this, which is appropriate considering the venue name). I'll have a press release here tout suite, but in the meantime, tell your friends: Club Oberon, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, Thursday, January 28, 8pm, $10.

Think we should hit another city and know of a venue that would be appropriate? Say the word.