BQT recap: Change is good

Plus, Above, you see the image from question No. 1 in tonight's video round, "Celebrities vs. Monsters." Funny, right? Worth it, even though it's pretty easy to name both the celeb and the monster (or rather, the movie that the monster is from). We have fun at the Big Quiz Thing. Plus, tonight's audio round, "This Song Title Is Unnecessarily Long, Wouldn’t You Say So?," was a challenge for the mind and the carpal tunnel nerve.

These were highlights of an excellent quiz (despite complaints of Macedonia being a boring question topic, or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand not being up for "reelection" next fall). We witnessed the birth of the Not-So-Secret Secret Clue on this question: "What is probably the most populous bird on earth?" If you read this blog, or followed us on Twitter, or were a fan on Facebook, you knew that there's no way "pigeon" is correct.

Now, as for the big announcement at the end of the show: Next BQT, December 7, we're trying something new. To shake things up at the very end, we're instituting an automatic runoff round at the end of the quiz, i.e., we won't even read the scores of the top three teams, instead inviting them to each nominate one member to come up onstage for a runoff round: First to two correct answers wins. Will this thwart the perpetual domination of the Fantastic Fournicators? Let's see, shall we.

Now tonight's standings. The Fournicators, of course, did not win tonight—they were at half strength, after all, since half their team was off with DJ GB at the Pixies concert. Really? Kim Deal is more entertaining than Quizmaster Noah? Doubtful.

1. Cash Cab for Cutie
2. The Fantastic Two-nicators (as they called themselves)
3. Tattoos for the Elderly
4. Gerard Depardouche
5. Fat Kids Call the Butterball Hotline to Talk Dirty

And we're back on 12/7, then 12/21, then that's it for '09. We begin 2010 on January 4, with our return to (Le) Poisson Rouge. Stay classy.

Hot! New! Format!

A little background: EDP and I had been talking for months about adopting the hot new format you saw at last night's Big Quiz Thing, i.e., keeping the video screen pulled down and showing text for most of the questions. My perennial refrain was to tell EDP that I was happy to try it if it worked, but he'd have to take the reins. Anyway, he took them reins, it worked, it ups our game, and we're going to keep it going forward, tweaking and improving it along the way. (Yes, Aris, we're planning to have the text on the other video screens as well; patience.) Expect magic, pure magic.

DJ GB was missed last night—young Duncan is keeping her busy, as you can imagine—but DJ Mike a.k.a. Just Mike a.k.a. the Wolf a.k.a. whatever filled in ably, and he'll be back on the 19th. (And he needs a roommate. And at least one lady asked about him after the show. More about him here.) The downside was the preponderance of testosterone on the stage; is anyone interested in helping us out on stage as a new B-Cutie? (Lots of lovely fringe benefits, ladies, and I swear, no sexual harassment.)

I thought last night's audio round—"Songs You May Have Forgotten from Ten Years Ago"—was especially good, particularly considering how rotten most of those songs are. It inspired some nice nostalgia, and a full-fledged Smash Mouth sing-along. You people should be ashamed.

Next show: The video round is all about President Bush, the audio round is all about President Obama. (Whose name the dynamic spellcheck continually insists on flagging. Let's get it together, people—change has come!)

A reminder: This Friday night I perform as part of the Doris Yeltsin variety show, free, 8pm, at Sound Fix in Brooklyn. The full story here.

The standings…

1. Fantastic Fournicators (why do I bother to even type it?)
2. Gerard Depardouche (one point away, due for a return to victory)
3. Sugah Titz/Touched by an Uncle (tie)
5. Incontinental Congress

And yes, officially, last night was the biggest crowd in BQT public-show history: 188 people! Thanks for sticking it out, party people.