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: Hii-YA!

Okay, I'm going to get to the highlight of last night's Big Quiz Thing—that bizarrely awesome Three-Way Finale—but first, the rest.

We had a fun night, back at the lovely Drom, with an interesting arc to the evening. You people were kicking butt for the first two rounds, and I was very impressed how many of you knew not only 1960s novelty curio "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" (in the "We're! Very! Excited!" audio round), but knew the exact artist's name: Napoleon XIV. Chant it with me…

Best Smart-Ass Point of the night: The team in the video round that couldn't puzzle out the African country whose name is a synonym for "bits of paper." Their answer: Congofetti.

And a brief shout-out to my main peeps: EDP (if you haven't noticed, he's now rocking an excellent iPad sound-effects app), Claudia (developing into quite a fine sidekick), and door girl Sherry (who—for shame—I forgot to call out last night).

So, that finale: The topic was food (or, per our BQT parlance, "Foooood!"), and it featured NYC trivia champion Jonathan Corbblah of Jefferson Davis Starship, Stu of Cash Cab for Cutie, and Marie of Rachel Kramer Bussel in Your Hedgerow (sans RKB herself tonight, but bursting from a low placing into contention by being the only team to ace the audio round). The buzzers were in place, of course. And the excitement mounted.

Inside info: I come into every Three-Way with a supply of ten questions. (Wow, that sentence could me misinterpreted. But it's sort of true too.) And usually that's well more than enough. But tonight, we ran close to the edge, as Yes might say, using up them all to identify a winner. JDS Jonathan started strong, IDing the fried sandwich whose name is taken from an Italian island. But then we just had a string of blank faces. Really, no one knows about "hundreds and thousands"? Umm…

And at one point, the disaster: Cash Cab's Stu stone-cold knew the better-known name of banana ice cream and fudge chunks and walnuts, and he slammed his hand down on my beautiful, still relatively new buzzer. And it splintered into so many horrible pieces. I even have an artist's rendition:

Thankfully, the electronics still work, it just needs a new casing (as do the others; they're both showing sides of buckling. Damn you, random electrician I found on Craigslist!). Anyone who thinks they can handle this job, please let me know—the Big Quiz Thing will be in your somewhat-eternal debt, and think how useful that would be!!!

Anyway, following that excitement, I went back to asking a bunch of food questions that no one seemed to know, until someone finally got a second one right. And that was Stu. Your winners (only four on the team, not bad):
The Cash Cab fellas were kind enough to offer up some of their $200 jackpot for buzzer repair, but it was an honest mistake, and I have no idea how much this will cost. I'm reminded of this favorite classic Saturday Night Live sketch (the relevant moment is at 3:35, but it's all gold):

Sabra Price is Right - Funny videos are here

"What am I gonna do with a buzzer from a game show?!?"

The standings:
1. Cash Cab for Cutie: First win in a long time, come to think of it.
2. Jefferson Davis Starship/Rachel Kramer Bussel in Your Hedgerow (tie)
4. Sugah Titz
5. Fantastic Fournicators
6. Fat Kids Win at Snow Angels
7. Segway to Heaven/Strippers for Charlie Sheen (tie)
9. Incontinental Hotel Spa
10. Gerard Depardouche

Next: A lot is happening next…

This Monday, we're back in Boston (well, Cambridge) for the Big Quiz Thing's first ever free event, still at the lovely Oberon, still a $200 grand prize. Tell your friends; help us prove to this venue that we're worth this awesome deal they're making us.

In three weeks, February 21—Presidents' Day—is the next NYC BQT, our first ever Hail to the Trivial Presidential Quiz Spectacular. Vice Presidential Limericks, Fictional Presidents, at least one question on Chester Arthur's sideburns: Your prayers have been answered. Back at Crash Mansion.

And every day, I'm still tweeting a Google-Proof Question. Miss out at your very great peril.

Recap: A whole bunch of Smart-Asses

Hoo boy, what a show. Thirty teams filled the chichi halls of (Le) Poisson Rouge for a most excellent Big Quiz Thing this evening. I was particularly impressed with the plethora of Smart-Ass Points tonight, the oh-so-wrong but oh-so-funny answers. Examples:

Q: When it closed in 1987, this Broadway musical was titled Drood, but when it opened in 1985, it was called what?

A: Drood, Where's My Car?

Q: According to a typographically inclined article on Slate last week, you should never, ever put two BLANKs after a BLANK.
A: LOLs after an OMG

Q: In the book 1984, the Party’s slogans are War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, and BLANK Is BLANK.
A: Rhythm Is a Dancer

Ha-ha, hee-hee. EDP, Claudia and I were really hustling up there, because we had a strict 9pm curfew to make room for the next show at LPR, and with 30 teams…as I said, hoo-boy. But I think we kept things under control, through the hyperlocal video round "NYC, Up Close and Personal"—I'm a little disturbed that nearly all of you recognized the brass balls of the Wall Street bull statue—and the "Questions & Answers" audio round. (Why all the moans when I announced the gimmick? What, you don't like "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" followed by "I Touch Myself"?)

And the buzzerlicious finale: In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we focused on a different kind of kings, the British monarchy. Returning champs Jefferson Davis Starship vs. perennial champs Fantastic Fournicators vs. Rachel Kramer Bussel in Your Hedgerow (a conglomeration of several regular quizzers, including sometime–Gerard Depardoucher RKB herself and members of Team! The Musical). It was quick and clean (9pm was approaching), and Matt of the Fournicators clinched it by knowing that two—no more, no less—of Henry VIII's wives had their heads chopped off. Yay!

Sorry, no time for a winning-team photo. Instead, enjoy this again:
The standings:

1. The Fantastic Fournicators: The winningest team in BQT history. (Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!…)
2. Jefferson Davis Starship
3. Rachel Kramer Bussel in Your Hedgerow
4. Birds of Ill Omen/Gerard Depardouche (tie): Damn, we had a lot of ties tonight…
6. Sugah Titz
7. Strippers for Stephen Hawking/Houston George Bush Incontinental Airport (tie)
9. Fat at Last, Fat at Last/Oh Noah, You Didn't (tie)

NEXT: We're returning to Drom—the much smaller Drom, so, uh, a lot of you better not come back—in two weeks, on January 31. Then we're off three weeks, and we return to Crash Mansion, on February 21—Presidents' Day—for a very special Hail to the Trivial Presidential Quiz Spectacular. More about that in this space anon.

Recap: We have not fallen. We are capable of standing.

I love that picture.

It's a still from this advertisement, for a product called Life Call (not "Life Alert," though there is an item by that name which has produced similar ads), seen in the Classic Commercial Quiz at tonight's Big Quiz Thing. And it prompted the crowd did a nice chant-along to "I've fallen…and I can't get up!" It's that kind of magical moment that makes the Big Quiz Thing so special.

And special it was, the first BQT of 2011, in a new venue, Drom. The place was great—a touch small, but warm and beautiful, and we'll be back on January 31 and hopefully beyond. (But please, drink and eat! We need to really make it worth their while.) Tonight we also debuted a slightly new format, with EDP in the DJ booth and the fantastic Claudia Cogan sidekicking (star of 50 First Jokes, this Wednesday at 92YTribeca), and we're still finding our swing. Plus we instituted the new prize regime, with $300 in cash, including $25 for tenth place. It is so not always about winning…

But it was a fine show nonetheless, thanks to you, an excellent crowd. We tested your geographic skills (yes, you can make it from Michigan to Iowa simply by passing through Wisconsin), your math acumen (545—the difference in hours between the titles of Danny Boyle's two temporally titled movies), and your knowledge of the social lives of our politicians (this is the first time ever that both the mayor of NYC and the governor of NYS are divorced). Though I totally underestimated how easily you smart, smart people would puzzle out the antonym for "patriot" that you get when you replace the "p" with a different consonant and mix up the letters. Bra-vo.

Weird coincidences abounded tonight: A question about Pee-wee Herman, with a team containing people who actually worked on Pee-wee's Broadway show; a query concerning Adam Smith, on the very night former BQT regulars Adam Smith's Invisible Handjob made their return. I'm in tune with the stars.

And of course, the Three-Way Finale. Gerard Depardouche vs. Jefferson Davis Starship vs. Birds of Ill Omen (first time in the finale), on the topic of people who died in 2010. Steven of the Douche opened strong, knowing which dead-in-'10 person was once played in a movie by Tom Hanks…
…then Anthony of JDS scored with the name of Gary Coleman's Diff'rent Strokes castmate who also died last year…

…but Anthony followed up with victory, naming the movie that Joely Fisher (daughter of Eddie, who died last year) saw when she was ten, and made her realize she had a sister:
And thus, your winners.
The standings:

1. Jefferson Davis Starship
2. Gerard Depardouche
3. Birds of Ill Omen
4. The Fantastic Fournicators
5. Strippers for Stephen Hawking/Sugah Titz (tie)
7. Cash Cab 4 Cutie
8. Oh Noah You Didn't 2011
9. Fat Kids Put the XXX in XXXL
10. Incontinental Drifters ($25!)

In two weeks, we're back at (Le) Poisson Rouge, at a special time: 7pm. Then, on January 31, it's more fun at Drom. Beyond that, we'll let you know when we know, you know?

Recap: We are the champions!

As if there was any doubt.

Last night's Big Quiz Thing was preceded by a special viewing party of that most familiar of familiar quiz shows, Jeopardy! BQT regular (and undisputed NYC trivia co-champion) Jonathan Corbblah quite simply mopped the floor with his competition on the blue set. Halfway through Double Jeopardy, it was a foregone conclusion, and we were merely rooting for him to rack up enough dough to have one of those losing-is-impossible-unless-I-bet-stupidly-like–Cliff Clavin situations. He just missed it, despite some canny hesitation tactics ("I'll…have…uhh…that same category…for…uh…I guess…$1,000"). And of course, he won (what about tonight? didn't get home in time to watch). In his own words:

Following that, we had a nice little interview session with Champion Corbblah (while we ironed out tech issues), then the first NYC BQT in far too long. Great crowd, great show, great times, great oldies. The sad news this evening (other than the fact that one team was unhappy that the "Great Nicknames in Sports" video puzzle included a professional wrestler) was that this was the last Big Quiz Thing featuring DJ GB.


As I mentioned at the show, Gretchen was been with the quiz since the very beginning eight years ago—even before. She was just the girlfriend of a buddy of mine then, and when I mentioned to them that I was planning "a bar trivia night, but more like a show," she said I needed a DJ and offered her services. And her services were very much needed, it turned out, at that first chaotic evening at the Slipper Room (when an Irish women hurled insults at me for saying Samuel Beckett was British). And now that Gretchen and my buddy are happily domesticated parents, she's moving on. To fete her, I put together "Great Nicknames in Sports" (which was her idea), and she did a bang-up job on her very last audio round, the oodles of fun "All Awesome Alliterative Audio Answers." The good news is that EDP and I are carrying on, and we'll be joined by a new sidekick, stand-up extraordinaire and Last Comic Standing semifinalist Claudia Cogan. So fear not, the stage will still have that refreshing hint of estrogen.

Another unfortunate thing last night: the video shenanigans early on. I didn't have a chance to show you this, my graphic for returning champions Incontinental Strippers…

…who re-split up into their constituent parts last night, Incontinental Congress (playing this night as "An Incontinental Xmas") and Strippers for Stephen Hawking. A nerd supergroup: They like not only Star Trek, but also Star Wars.

The good things last night: Jonathan stuck around onstage as our guest sidekick (as my videographer friend Bill said, "You're lucky to have that guy on your side"), which made it apropos when I whipped out as a question the Daily Double I got wrong when I was on Jeopardy! (Jonathan got both of his right, but c'mon—those were easy): Name the three countries that border Mex…okay, fine, [Sigh]: These three countries border Mexico. (What are duh, this one I got, and this one I forgot about and Trebek gave me a hard time about it?) But a lot of you were spot-on; well done.

Finally, the big Three-Way Finale (video will be posted here soon, though I'm told the lighting wasn't so hot) featured the debut of the fully functioning BQT buzzer system, which makes me such a happy little quizmaster. The usual gang of nerds: Ilene of Jefferson Davis Starship, Steve of the Fantastic Fournicators, and Stewart of Cash Cab for Cutie (which, by the way, was rocking a hefty three-point lead going into the finals). Tense and exciting, as usual—I was very proud of this admittedly bizarre question…

In the alternate universe where John Edwards won the 2008 presidential election, he is the first sitting President whose wife died since whom?

…but I suppose it was appropriate that the Fournicators ended up winning: In a night that spotlighted New York's ultimate trivia champ, it makes sense that the team that's won the damn BQT the most times would claim sweet victory. (And it was appropriate that Steve won on "What fast-food advertising character was revived after a 25-year hiatus in 2003?"—this is not an insult, this is what his teammate told me, I swear.)

The standings:

1. Fantastic Fournicators
2. Cash Cab for Cutie
3. Jefferson Davis Starship: Happy birthday to Harris, BTW.
4. Fat Kids Wake Up in Installments
5. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
6. Oh Noah You Didn't
7. Gerard Depardouche
8. An Incontinental Xmas/Corbblah-di, Corbblah-da (tie)
10. Sugah Titz

Also, thanks to our theatrical sponsors: Colin Quinn: Long Story Short and The Flying Karamazov Brothers. We'll have more of their tickets next time: Turns out trivia is the nexus between comedy and juggling.

NEXT: We're doing our damnedest to get back on a regular schedule, which means we return in three weeks, January 3, at a hot new venue, Drom, on Avenue A in the East Village. Stay tuned for updates. And don't forget, follow me on Twitter for the Google-Proof Question of the Day: First correct answer wins 1 million BQT Bucks!

Recap: Now you know about psychos visiting your home and Scooby-Doo as a werewolf

Sorry this is late. Going to keep it honest: This was our last night at the Midtown Theatre. I know, we'd announced a November 9 date there, but this place is just not working for us, for a variety of reasons. You people are awesome for following us there, of course, but that's it. Besides, I hate carting my quiz gear through Times Square. Fuck that non-naked non-cowboy.

Despite venue complexities, it was a straight-between-the-eyes solid quiz. My favorite entry from Brand Name Bonanza:
I love that shit.

The quiz was on the challenging side, I admit. So let me use this space to educate. For the "Werewolves on TV" four-parter, the hardest entry was "Sherman Fangsworth." What TV show featured said werewolf?…

I forgot how influential Scooby-Doo was (maybe easily replicable is more like it).

One question that I think stumped everyone—and I admit to being shocked by this—was "The cheesy TV commercial for local car-buying service Big Bucks Auto quite amusingly boasts, 'No costly ads or BLANKs coming to your home.'" Really? You've never noticed this?

BQT consumer tip of the day: Don't make any multi-thousand-dollar business transaction with a company that thinks the plural of ad is ad's.

Speaking of which, I also had a "Dictionary Neighbors" four-parter: I name two words in Merriam-Webster's, you tell me the one entry in between them. Definitely tricky (though both the teams that aced it told me it was too easy, ha ha). The toughest: What word comes between lagging and lagomorph? Great word—try to use it in conversation in the next couple days.

The shortest-live Monster Cereal? Not Quentin Tarantino's beloved Fruit Brute; but rather this…

How does one's tummy go yummy? The tummy has neither taste buds nor vocal cords. I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

Now, the Three-Way Finale: hot new format. By popular request, I announced a category for the finale; in this edition, next week's election. I had plenty more I didn't get to use, mostly useless in a couple weeks. I'm such a sucker.

And it was Gerard Depardouche vs. Sugah Titz vs. a BQT portmanteau supergroup, Incontinental Strippers. Election trivia galore; the most exciting moment was when both Matt of IncontStrip and Dennis of the 'Douche garbled the full official name of the rally happening this Saturday on the National Mall, creating an opening for Sugah Titter Kristin to score the point.

But Matt (who, incidentally, told me he knew of all Brand Name Bonanza cold since he's a trademark lawyer) took it all by naming one of the two lost-cause Republican nominees for Senate from New York. Joe DioGuardi wins!

The standings:
1. Incontinental Strippers: Man, that's going to be a bitch making a returning-champions graphic for them.
2. Gerard Depardouche/Sugah Titz (tie)
4. Jefferson Davis Starship
5. Marie Antoinette Dodson
6. Grand Theft Autoerotica
7. Charlie Sheen's Angels/Strippers for Noah Tarnow (tie)
9. Jews Against Jesus
10. The Noah Is Too Damn High Party

As for the future: We are working very hard to end the venue jumping, but it probably won't be till 2011. Tricky days. We are definitely back at Crash Mansion on Monday, December 13; that show will be extra exciting, but I'll tell more in due time, in this space. Till then, we have the Google-Proof Question of the Day on Twitter, we're back in Boston November 8, and we're ramping up for private-party season; hook us up with your office party, and you get in free to the BQT throughout 2011 (booking@bigquizthing.com!). And thank you…

Recap: The Square of the Times

So…Times Square. Midtown Theatre. Home of the sizzling Power Balladz. What do you think? It looks like we'll be coming back in two weeks, Tuesday, October 26; they were happy with us, and the space had its charms. As you know, we're in a strange venue limbo at the moment (venue limbo—where the Justice League banishes the evil venues from parallel earths), so tallying up the pros and cons, I think it's worth an encore. (Though we do hope to be back on Monday in the near future.)

Tonight's quiz really kicked into gear in the Three-Way Finale. (I'm cutting to the chase here.) Sugah Titz vs. Gerard Depardouche vs. Jefferson Davis Starship—returning champs Strippers for Stephen Hawking missed it by half a point (and the second best trivia team in the city, the Fat Kids, came in sixth). Two ladies on the stage—Jonathan, one quarter of NYC trivia champs Fuckface Murray Abraham, stepped aside for his JD Starship teammate for the evening Eileen. It's high-pressure up there—nobody knew who, unsurprisingly, was last in his class at West Point in 1861, nobody was aware of the game that, in 2008, Aerosmith became the first band to get its own edition of (I'm sorry, "Aerosmith Trivial Pursuit" is about the most tedious game I can imagine). I refused to give Douchemaster Buck full credit for his answer to the question of who has overtaken Mayor Bloomberg to be the richest New Yorker (he's got, like, five billionaire brothers), and after a long post-asking-the-question pause, JDSite Eileen came from behind with the correct response to "A Paulistano is a citizen of which of the ten largest cities on earth?
" (That question would probably be easier in print than verbally. Ah, the Three-Way Finale!)

That was the finale. Backtrack: The video round, "Rhymes with 'Trivial,'" was harder than I thought it would be—this gimmick is the essence of figureoutability, and I'm convinced you all would've gotten 18–20 points if you had a good long sit with those questions. But such is not the nature of the Big Quiz Thing. You got to be quick to come up with the rhyming couplet that equals "A noted British atheist’s rewritten version of a controversial children’s book about a naked boy and three bakers." Nonetheless, hats off to Gerard Depardouche for a daunting 19 points—that's why they're finalists, people.

Plus, hey—they scored the best Smart-Ass Point of the night! For "What character has been played on Mad Men by three different actors?" (yeah, yeah, that question has a couple problems), they wrote "Darrin Stephens." Ha!

And the audio round, "Buy Some Coke!," was about the drink, not the drug (though considering we were in Times Square, maybe the drug would've been more apropos). I thought that part from "Institutionalized" where he screams about Pepsi was a pretty clever addition.

Your winners:
The standings:
1. Jefferson Davis Starship
2. Gerard Depardouche/Sugah Titz (well-earned tie)
4. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
5. Incontinental Congress
6. Fat Kids Play Hide and Go Eat
7. Team! The Musical
8. Oh Noah You Didn't!: Victory, as far as they're concerned.
9. The Cunning Stunts
10. The Well-Enbrowed

Two weeks, back at Midtown Theatre. Come on down!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have champions

You know, people, New York City is one hell of a city. Millions of people, an unparalleled world cultural center, the site of uncountable historically significant event, home to the greatest thing in the world ever. But there's one thing NYC did not have…until now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, New York City's undisputed masters of trivial knowledge: Fuckface Murray Abraham!
On the far right is Jonathan Corbblah, a familiar face at the BQT, but his teammates are only very occasional Big Quiz Thingees; tonight, they were playing as representatives of the weekly bar quiz at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg. Together, these four men—now $1,000 and four trophies richer—proved, beyond a doubt, that no one in the world's greatest city knows as much stupid shit as they do.

But let's backtrack a bit. FFMA won despite faltering in Round 3 on the question "What do these celebrities have in common: Ralph Nader, Doug Flutie, Salma Hayek and Frank Zappa?" 
(Jonathan insisted that "Each name has ten letters" should count, but despite his answer's accuracy, I called quizmaster's prerogative on that one.) I was thankful that there was very little whining at tonight's show, despite the high stakes—people were serious, sure (a Smart-Ass Point was hard to come by), but bless you all for excellent sportsmanship. No one cheated, as far as I could tell so I didn't have to subject anyone to this:
Great stuff all around—EDP, clad in sharp tuxedo, pulled out all the video stops for this one. Hardest question of the night? Probably this: Hillary Clinton is the only First Lady to later serve as a U.S. Senator. Who’s the only Second Lady to later be a U.S. Senator?


Easiest question: During the DJ GB's expertly constructed "Slooow-FAST!-Slooow" audio round, "Poker Face" at double speed. It really didn't sound that different.

The Three-Way Finale: Well, I called it—non-BQT regular teams would be near the top. It was Fuckface Murray Abraham, Dempsey's Midnight Runners (representing one of the few other trivia events in the city that I'd recommend), and—not leaving my usual gang of nerds out in the cold—Fat Kids Waddle Into the Future. It was first player to three correct answers (not the usual two), and these gentlemen (oh yes, definitely all men) knew their stuff. Everyone got at least one point on the board—though I wasn't surprised that no one got "What verb, beginning with the letter g, retains its essential meaning when you change the g to a j and double the final letter?" But FFMA claimed ultimate, ultimate, super-ultimate victory with a confident ringing-in on "What 1988 movie was based on a 1982 TV show that lasted only six episodes?" Glorious.

The standings:

1. Fuckface Murray Abraham: Nice. That's the name you have to trivially worship for the next year. $1,000 and trophies.
2. Fat Kids Waddle Into the Future: Repping for the BQT. $400 plus other junk, including this very awesome thing.
3. Dempsey's Midnight Runners: They got the "super-secret prize": We paid their bar tab (up to $200, but they weren't remotely that drunk).
4. Hostage Crisis for Cutie (né Cash Cab FC)
5. The Fantastic Fournicators: Winningest team in BQT history
6. First Degree Nerder: Top team of the BQT's very early days; beware, for they have returned.
7. Team! The Musical/The Wandering Jews (tie)
9. Gerard Depardouche
10. Incontinental Congress/Les Quizerables

All of those teams won awesome shit. One last shout-out to our sponsors:
Time Out New York, Sony Music, The New York Burlesque Festival, The Coney Island Cyclone and the Coney Island History Project, The Gutter, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Babeland, the best of Off Broadway, Metro Metro's Board Game Olympics, Rock of Ages, Freud's Last Session, Accomplice: New York, Hussies from Hell

Endless thanks to the Highline Ballroom, to the B-Cuties, to my gal Sherry for making my awesome new Luxor-style jacket, and to you all for being there and helping to make it a such a ripping success.

Want more BQT? We're back with the familiar show, at an unfamiliar venue, on Tuesday, October 12: The Midtown Theater, 46th Street just off Seventh Avenue (yes, Times Square). More dates on the way here.

Recap: A wind blows through Crash Mansion

So really, what was going on last night? Why the—I will say it—crappy turnout? Thirteen teams? I blame it on (a) the rain, (b) Jay-Z and Eminem at Yankee Stadium, (c) Monday Night Football, (d) a vast right-wing conspiracy. Not in that order.

Ah, who cares, since those of us who were there had enough fun for 13,000 teams. I had been playing with that "TV last names" four-parter for some time, though I was surprised how few of you knew what TV character, who debuted in 2002, had the last name "Little." No, it wasn't Malcolm Little.

We also had fun with Public Zoo (an echidna in Las Vegas! a liger in Mumbai! a Loch Ness Monster in Amsterdam!), a four-parter about lunatic politicians, and the "Name-Droppers Unite!" audio round. Really, people, you don't know "Sweet Soul Music"? Let us pause for a musical interlude:

As for the Three-Way Finale: Time Travelers for Stephen Hawking vs. Gerard Depardouche vs. Jefferson Davis Starship. I was unsurprised that no one knew this—How many times a week does something happen if it occurs hebdomadally?—but it was worth a shot. Though I was scandalized that no one got this very fun question: Last week, VH1 Classic punningly played 24 hours of music by what hard-rock band? (One nerd in the audience got it. Only one?) At last, John of the Time Travelers won with a very lucky guess on this: Famous for being one of the first words in the dictionary, the aardwolf is not a wolf, but an African variety of what mammal? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…

The winners, forgive this not artistic photo…
The standings:
1. Time Travelers for Stephen Hawking: No longer Strippers?
2. Jefferson Davis Starship
3. Gerard Depardouche
4. Incontinental Divide
5. Sugah Titz

Next: It's almost here! The New York City Clash of the Trivia Champions is nearly upon us! Monday, September 27! At the Highline Ballroom! Hot damn, register now!!!!!!!!

Recap: Smart, and smart-ass

Hello, friends. August is almost gone, dontcha know, but this 8 billion degree weather wouldn't make you think so. Thank you for spending one of the final evening's of summer with the Big Quiz Thing, last night at (Le) Poisson Rouge. It's important to savor the good times.

Now then: You all once again proved your intelligence, with a whopping four teams posting a perfect score on both the video round (Pop Music Thesaurus) and the audio round (the Apatovian Canon). You also proved your humor, since while we didn't have an inordinate number of Smart-Ass points last night (Brett "Farv" being a loser and a crybaby was good, and IDing Sir Mix-a-Lot as "Sir Lancelot" was perhaps the best), we had a lot of clever banter among the audience and those of us on the stage. And that's certainly what I come to the Big Quiz Thing for. (And hey, guess what? Turns out I was right—manila paper is brown! Or, uh, "brownish.")

I mentioned last night that the Pop Music Thesaurus is probably my favorite of the BQT signature games, and last night enforced that belief, especially since you people seemed to enjoy it so much. (Especially "Should feminine difficulties plague you, I bear sympathy, male progeny. I am plagued by the maximum two-digit number of difficulties, yet the she-canine fails to be among them.") Not only are they fun to make, they're pretty easy, too, at least for me. I should start working on that book.

Finale time: Fat Kids, somewhat improbably, did it again, three wins in a row, this time triumphing over Jefferson Davis Starship and, represented by Elsie the Token Female, Gerard Depardouche. Fat Kid Dave won on "Tom Bosley -- best known for playing Mr. C on Happy Days -- won a Tony in 1960 for portraying what politician?" And that's what tri-peating looks like:
The standings:

1. Fat Kids Draw Apple Pie Charts: Third straight win, first time that's happened since we instituted the Three-Way Finale. Perhaps it was the voodoo fetish doll they brought with them.
2. Gerard Depardouche
3. Jefferson Davis Starship
4. Incontinental Congress/Strippers for Stephen Hawking (tie)
6. Fantastic Fournicators
7. Oh Noah You Didn't
8. Rosemary's Baby Got Back
9. Sugah Titz
10. Squirrels on Film

Next: Back at Crash Mansion September 13. Then…

The New York City Clash of the Trivia Champions is coming!
The New York City Clash of the Trivia Champions is coming! Register today, and please, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell people you're indifferent to.

Recap: Mysteries being solved

First of all, I think I'm getting closer to cracking the case on TMZ's post today featuring Steven Slater's head on my body. That photo of me is available via iStockphoto. I'm getting in touch with the photographer to learn what's what, but it's probably his call.

Now then, tonight's Big Quiz Thing: our long-awaited return, the first (public, NYC) BQT since July 7. Obviously, there was much news between now and then, so plenty to recap from a trivia angle: the disgusting fate that befell Kings of Leon at a concert, the operation that made Dick Cheney even creepier, the horrible pun of Sting's new album title. I didn't have room for Wyclef running for president of Haiti.

The video round, "Who the Hell Were Those People?," was fun, and I don't blame you for confusing Deng Xiaoping with Jiang Zemin. Though really, you shouldn't confuse Ken Starr for Penn Jillette. Just saying. And to the person who thought the audio-round "Time's Up!!!" gimmick was unfair, it wasn't, and besides, my trivia philosophy has always been that it's better to be creative than to be unfair. (Not really, don't get upset.)

Speaking of which, that round featured a clip from the song "Closing Time," by Semisonic (Three Doors Down? Jeez…), and I promised to tell a story about how I was responsible for its success. (Not really, but more than you'd think.) It was 1998, I was working as a peon at Rolling Stone magazine, desperately trying to get the rockist powers-that-be to let me write record reviews. I had become a Semisonic fan back in college in Minnesota, the band's home turf (they played an awesome outdoor show in our arboretum), and I got the sense that the band's record label would get behind this new album, Feeling Strangely Fine. It took some arm-twisting, but I was able to convince my bosses to run my piddling positive review in the magazine (this was pre—they ran reviews online), and it was shoved to the back of the magazine, sans illustration. But it ran, and a few months later, there was "Closing Time" coming out of every radio in the civilized world, back when that meant something. The record went platinum, and I was gone and forgotten by Rolling Stone within a year. The music biz, ladies and gents.

Back to the BQT: The Three-Way Finale pitted returning champs Fat Kids vs. Gerard Depardouche vs. Incontinental Congress (under the guise of Genghis In-Khan-tinental). No one knew about the iconic shampoo ads starring Cybill Shepherd, Cheryl Tiegs, Kim Basinger, and Brooke Shields, but the Fat Kids successfully defended their title, winning on "In 1995, what city of many millions of people officially changed its name?" Well done.
The standings:
1. Fat Kids Are Mostly Water Weight
2. Gerard Depardouche
3. Genghis In-Khan-tinental
4. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
5. Fantastic Fournicators/Hulk Hogan's Cunning Stunts

We're back at (Le) Poisson Rouge in two weeks, August 30. And register now for the NYC Clash of the Trivia Champions! $1,000, a trophy, and fucking glory, people!

Recap: Summer. Fun. And yes, spectacular

Aloha! Thanks, everyone, for being part of the summer fun that was tonight's Summer Fun Spectacular. 92yTribeca is a lovely venue, and we had a great time there, though I agree, the sight lines aren't the greatest in BQT history. (But I was right about the lemonade, wasn't I?) Maybe tossing around the beach ball wasn't the best idea ever, but I continue in my goal to make the Big Quiz Thing more like a Phish concert.

Some behind-the-scenes details: The video round, the Trivia Color War (various traditional color-war games, each adapted into a trivia question), took a lot of work, and while I think the end product was a touch convoluted, I was happy with it. The integrity of the structure held, all the facts were appropriately factual, and everyone humored me during the Team Cheer question by singing the theme song to Cheers (we didn't have to levy anyone with the -1,000 points demerit). As for the general color war we played throughout the evening, congratulations to Team Blue on the somewhat meaningless victory. Behold their prize; we'll be giving away more at future BQTs, for future reasons.

The audio round, Sounds from the Beach, was slightly plagued with technical glitches (fine, more than slightly), so it fell to me, Quizmaster Noah, to sing some of the clips. I did my best, though I apologize to any Katy Perry loyalists out there for being unable to sing "California Gurls" and resorting to merely a string of insults. Like she cares.

Finally, the big Three-Way Finale: We had perennial champs Gerard Depardouche, perennial not-so-champy Fat Kids, and apparent newcomers (though their Three-Way rep, Chris, had been with us before) Bobbi Eden's Twitter Followers. It was tense, since Buck of the Douche blazed into the lead with the figuroutable "Q: The Houston Astros play their home games at Minute Maid Park, which was renamed in 2002, from what suddenly unfortunate name?" But then the Fat Kid cruised to victory on two straight right answers, finishing with "Q: What 1986 summer movie was featured the final performances of both Orson Welles and Scatman Crothers?" And that's how we play it.

Standings:
1. Fat Kids Lower the Bar
2. Gerard Depardouche
3. Bobbi Eden's Twitter Followers
4. Jefferson Davis Starship
5. The Enola Gay Agenda (Now with Less Gay!)

That's it for July, folks (except for a crapload of private parties, and this). We're back at Crash Mansion August 16, then (probably) (Le) Poisson Rouge August 30. Keep up with the calendar. And definitely get ready for September 27, when we'll be at the Highline Ballroom for The NYC Clash of the Trivia Champions. Registration will be happening any day now here. Stay cool.

Recap: Who are these people

Tonight's Big Quiz Thing was especially gratifying, because—and I don't have statistics to back this up—we seemed to have a lot of new people in the crowd. (Normally, the BQT player contingent is about two thirds regulars, an assertion I do have a little bit of evidence to support.) But tonight seemed suffused with newcomers, and not just because it was Rebecca Ikler's birthday and she seemed to have brought along everyone she ever met. It was most obvious during the Big Three-Way Finale, which featured two newish teams, Room with a Vuvuzela (last joke we'll get out of that for the time being) and Not Penny's Boat, alongside the eminently familiar Sugah Titz. And the Titz won, which just goes to show I slant things in my regular teams' favor (KIDDING!).

But I get ahead of myself. As expected, Round 2, "The Museum of Painting Mash-Ups," called upon a different set of knowledge than most BQT games, finally making use of that art history class you took sophomore year for no apparent reason. My favorite is above; I literally squealed when I had the idea (seriously). I liked this Goya–Grandma Moses mash-up a lot, too:


The audio round, "Never Break the Musical Chain," took a lot of work, more than you'd think and more than I'd planned (I kept messing with it to get the right mix of artists). Still, I considered jacking it up to 20 songs, just to prove that I could do it. Ah, maybe some other time—maybe the New York City Clash of the Trivia Champions! (More on that below.) And thank you for appreciating the four-part questions on LIRR stations ("The first person stumbles on a banana peel") and celebrity perfumes; the Big Quiz Thing, the Fragrance, is in the works. In return, do me a favor: E-mail (Le) Poisson Rouge and tell them to bring us back. Demand it!

The standings:

1. Sugah Titz: The Fantastic Fournicators might be the winningest team in BQT history, but I believe Chrissy of Sugah Titz is specifically the winningst woman in BQT history. Impressive.

2. Not Penny's Boat/Room with a Vuvuzela (tie)
4. Squirrels on Film
5. The Fantastic Fournicators: Very proud of this, I am:

6. Birds of Ill Omen/Gerard Depardouche (tie)
8. Jefferson Davis Starship
9. Kathleen Turner Overdrive
10. Strippers for Stephen Hawking

Amazingly, we had no Smart-Ass Points tonight! I was reduced to giving away sympathy pastries to the last-place team! What happened to the funny? Next time…

…speaking of which, the next show is in ONLY NINE DAYS!

Yes, we're doing the Summer Fun Spectacular on Wednesday, July 7, at 92YTribeca. Trivia Color War and lots more; don't forget, this will probably be your last dose of BQT till August. (Unless you want to follow us to Boston; c'mon, road trip!) And get ready for September 27, and the first ever New York City Clash of the Trivia Champions—teams of four, $100 per team, $1,000 grand prize, a cool trophy, tons of glory, at the Highline Ballroom. We make it happen for you.
more details and registration coming soon.

Recap: Somehow, it all comes together

Clearly, I was born under a lucky star, because against all odds (take a look at me now), everything came together at tonight's Big Quiz Thing at Crash Mansion. DJ GB wasn't there, the crowd was stupid large (haven't done the count yet, but I estimate eleventy billion), there was some annoyingly loud hip-hop concert blasting from upstairs, and the video system didn't work until the end of Round 1. We party Bowery style.

First of all, since most of Round 1 went unseen if not unheard, I need to show off my handiwork here. The graphic for returning champs Gerard Depardouche is above; really proud of that. Also worth displaying here: the intro graphic for the four-part question about TV sequels:
Thankfully, the system came together in time for Round 2, the video round, "The World's Ugliest Musicians," which, yes, was pretty easy, give or take a few people who just know him as "the ugly dude from the Pogues":
Shane MacGowan is his name, of course. And then Round 4, the audio round, was "Get High and Watch These Movies," featuring all your favorite stoner flicks. Nights like tonight are what I keep mind when I get that occasional e-mail asking if the Big Quiz Thing is appropriate for kids. (Even the private ones are tricky.)

And yes, there was some controversy surround the Lightning Round. First of all, none of you have heard of Rap Snacks (I'm sure the folks upstairs at Crash Mansion know all about it), and then there was the issue of a couple of teams not handing their answers sheets in before the buzzer. Yeah, okay, it was crowded, but my man Adam (charitably agreeing to forgo playing the game to help EDP and me in our time of crowded need) was definitely at the back of the room, collecting sheets. Live by the trivial sword and all that. If it's any consolation, Strippers for Stephen Hawking, had I counted your points, you would have tied for seventh place (even if you'd gotten a perfect score, you wouldn't have made it into the Finale). So you know, no harm, no foul, if that's what that saying means.

Speaking of which, another awesome Three-Way Finale, pitting Jefferson Davis Starship against Cash Cab for Cutie against the Fantastic Fournicators. JDSer Anthony knew last night's winners of the Best Play and Best Musical Tonys, but Fournicator Steve busted out two straight correct answers on "Although it was mentioned only a couple of times during its seven seasons on the air, what TV sitcom was about a family whose last name was Wilkerson?" and "In the 1920s, some fans spent $20 each for a vial of what sex symbol movie star’s bath water?" And thus, there they are, your winners:
Man, I look creepy there. The standings:

1. The Fantastic Fournicators: Really excited to make a returning-champs graphic for them. You can imagine.
2. Jefferson Davis Starship
3. Cash Cab for Cutie
4. Gerard Depardouche/Team! The Musical (tie)
6. Sugah Titz
7. Come on BP, Light My Fire
8. The Glassholes Redux
9. Incontinental Divide/Oh Noah You Didn't (tie)

And don't forget: We're back at (Le) Poisson Rouge next time, Monday, June 28. Then: The only public Big Quiz Thing of July (though we are in Boston) is the first ever BQT Summer Fun Spectacular, a special Wednesday night show, 7:30pm, at the lovely 92YTribeca. More details to come on the blog, which is where you are right now.

Recap: How did I miss that?

So Strippers for Stephen Hawking was unable to successfully defend their title at this evening's Big Quiz Thing at (Le) Poisson Rouge, but Greg of SFSH pointed out something amazing to me…

I was very proud this weekend when I uncovered the elusive trivia nexus of the two big celebrities to pass on these past few days, Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper (and I agree with one team's name: "Brittany Murphy's Husband Doesn't Count"). I spent a couple of hours scouring their respective IMDb entries, and I finally came up with this question…

What’s the common description: An actress who worked closely with Gary Coleman, and the nickname of a character in a famous 1955 movie that included Dennis Hopper?

A whole bunch of you knew the correct answer. But Greg told me that in fact, Coleman and Hopper did once appear in a movie together (you haven't seen it). Incredible—I always forget about IMDb's "credited alongside another name" function.

That was the big news at tonight's BQT, from my perspective, but it was fun all around back at (Le) Poisson Rouge. "Sayings of the Silver Screen" was challenging, but fun—Cher smacking Nicolas Cage in the face is always good for a laugh. And yes, the actual Groucho Marx quote is, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." (Though Groucho himself later mangled the quote in repetition.)

And the best Smart-Ass Point of the night was, justifiably, given to the team that crapped out on the audio round, failing to ID John Lennon but saying it was a "talentless fuck." Ah, yes: Stand by your unpopular opinion.

Finally, the Three-Way Finale pitted Incontinental Congress (under the guise of Lincoln Incontinental), against Gerard Depardouche, against seminewcomers the Glassholes. None of the gentlemen knew what Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is, nor the link between a sitcom set in the Chicago ghetto and NYC City Hall in the '20s and '30s. But "Buck" of the Douche claimed victory with a good guess on "In 2009, the top five names for American female babies all ended with what letter?," and then confidently ringing in on "In the 1970s and 1980s, four Super Bowl halftime shows featured appearances by what performance organization?" And that's how it happens.

My camera ran out of juice; this is the iPhone at its least worst

The standings…

1. Gerard Depardouche: First No. 1 placement of 2010.
2. Lincoln Incontinental/The Glassholes
4. Jefferson Davis Starship: Farewell to Mike, moving on to the great trivia city of Cleveland
5. Strippers for Stephen Hawking: No two-peating, but they did know the real Coleman-Hopper connection.

NEXT: We're back at Crash Mansion in two weeks, June 14, with "The World's Ugliest Musicians." Then two weeks later, June 28, we return to Poisson Rouge; keep up with the calendar here. In the meantime, visit Yelp and tell the world how much you loved the BQT tonight. Karma is what makes the world go round, you know.

Recap: The angst! The angst!

First of all, I am ready to go the Hell. The four-part question in round 3—on literary suicides—was perhaps in poor taste, but come on, it's not like any of you knew those people personally. Although I swear, Hunter S. Thompson once walked right past my desk, blowing one of those little small plastic whistles, and I smelled him smoking weed in my boss's office. I've lived an odd life.

It was an extra-challenging night at the BQT, but that's the way it shakes out sometimes. "Cryptic Geography NYC" tested your head, your brain and your mind too. The first part was a clue to the NYC landmark's location, the second part its name. My favorite: "In the far end of Handler: The fishing equipment, affected by THC." YouTube video soon.

Also tonight, we mentioned the forthcoming Fan-Generated Question of the Week (better name TBD). Visit our Facebook page and click on this discussion and submit your best trivia query; my favorite will show up at the next BQT. Free point for you!

And speaking of next BQT, we're returning to (Le) Poisson Rouge. But first…the THREE-WAY FINALE!

It was nerd-o-rama, as representatives from returning champs Incontinental Clown Posse, the Fantastic Fourincators, and Strippers for Stephen Hawking took the stage. Smart guys, but incredibly, nobody even hazarded an answer to "What movie featured a character whose final words were 'Corn nuts'?" (Oh, man, the audience was steamed on that one.) But John of the Strippers, back against the wall with zero points, pulled out victory on "What vegetable is a national emblem of Wales?" and, finally, "Several years ago, what annoying female celebrity was associated with the following word: kinkajou?" He's so Hollywood.

Your winners:
Yes, she's holding up a $20 bill. She won that, you know.

Your next show: Monday, May 31 (yes, Memorial Day), back at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street. Bookmark the calendar and never get lost, ever.