Quizzo News and Notes
Digg It!
First, I played with some of the Satan's Minions at Nodding Head on Sunday. Irish John was hosting. He seems to be a bit mellower than he used to be. First time I've ever played his quizzo where he didn't tell a single person, "Shut the **** up, you stupid ****." (To be honest, I was a little disappointed. The highlight of his quizzo is always when he gets really pissed.) The quiz was pretty good. More minutiae than mine, I think. I couldn't really help all that much. He doesn't really ever venture into my wheelhouse, which is US history and sports. We won though, pretty easily, at least partly because Mike of the Minions is the King of Minutiae. The next night I went with D-Mac and a few of the Chin Omelettes over to New Deck. (We were gonna play Dark Horse but DH John got sick.) Not a bad quiz, pretty good mix of questions. The New Deck isn't my favorite bar in the world, and the food was so-so, but the food and drinks were pretty cheap. We lost to the Sofa Kingdom by 3 points, and finished out of the money. I still like Dark Horse quizzo better than either of these quizzos, but they were perfectly good.
Palestra Jon wasn't so lucky. He played out in the burbs. Here were his thoughts: I went out to check out some suburban Quizzo at Iron Hill Brewery in Media. Nice place. Bad Quizzo. 5 rounds. ...ALL POP CULTURE, straight out of trivia book. A numerical question 11 to each round, almost impossible (how many pounds of meat can a wolf eat at one sitting---20). To show how bad this crowd is, they asked only one general knowledge question out of 50---In what war was the Battle of the Bulge---only 1/3 of the teams got that right. On the good side, $3 homemade microbrews and cheap appetizers.
Finally, the Satan's Minions took a field trip to Kildare's last night for their award winning quizzo. They said that it was ok, but there were several major problems. First of all, length. Three and a half hours long. Then, all the questions were worth one point apiece, except for one question, which was worth ten. That question? "What Kildare's bartender was named Best Of Philly by Philly Style Magazine?" Teams could also joker that round, so if they knew the bartender, they could get 20 points for knowing it. This question took place in the first round, so anyone who didn't know it essentially lost after round one, because they had to work out of a 30+ point hole. There were six rounds, all with topics. They were: 2 audio rounds, Cartoons, Animal House, Headlines, and Advertising Slogans. There were no history, gegraphy, science, or politics questions. According to Mike, "I think they had to keep all the questions pop culture related, or they would have upset the crowd, which consisted entirely of idiot drunken frat boys." The quizzo also featured a chugging contest (which, I have to admit, is kind of a fun idea.)
Anybody out there played any good or bad quizzos lately? Let us know what you recommend (and which ones we should stay away from) below.
A wolf can eat 30 pounds if it's that Subway meat.
You're the only QUIZZO for me, Johnny. My friends, The JAMS, play Sex QUIZZO but all ypu win is "novelties". I'll pass!
I've played at Ray's Happy Birthday Bar on Tuesday a few times. It's a very good (albeit difficult) quizzo run by Chris R.
I have to confess right up here at the top that I went to Kildaire's with the lowest of expectations. Not that I have anything against Irish amusement park bars--I'll admit to liking Fado, for example, and would even argue that it's a decent approximation of any one of many random "real" pubs you could find on Grafton Street. Anyway, Kildaire's isn't Davy Byrnes, but it's not a terrible place. They had boxty on the menu, even if they did pluralize it with an apostrophe.
The quiz is packed with extras. Mike Minion likened the opening to a morning radio show: a host and a sidekick with microphones kicking off the 6 rounds of questions as if they were previews of upcoming traffic reports. There were bits of random entertainment between rounds, too, sort of like minor league baseball for grown adults who drink like college students. At one point, a representative from every team was summoned to the scoring table to chug shots of Bailey's in pints of stout (a decidedly un-Irish spectacle, with a name to match). Interesting you and Mike should mention this, because I placed second in this contest--or would've, if the 6' 5", 250-pound hulk next to me hadn't stowed his iron forearm in the space right in front of me. I was already imagining the fame and glory surely attendant on defeating 12 bouncer-sized men in a chugging contest when the arc of my victory swing was rudely interrupted by this guy's arm. He glared, someone else won, and I shuffled quietly away (rather wisely, I think).
The "bartender's name" question was difficult to accept as the basis for distinguishing between a comfortable victory and an anonymous tie for fourth, but it wasn't designed to knock anybody out of contention--it was a gift, in fact, and everybody else got it right. What's really odd about that question is there where four teams who got it right and *didn't* double their points for the round. The host assured me that the 20-point question wasn't a normal thing. Anyway, I have to disagree with Mike about the idiot drunken frat boys--or at least to mention that the atmosphere was quite friendly and surprisingly enjoyable. It's a nice community event, as far as I could tell.
OK, so I am a biased MAGMA-ite, but Chris's quizzo at Ray's Happy Birthday on Tuesday's is a very good time. He really works hard on the questions and Ray's is low-key, fun, and cheap.
I have known Chris for a long time and as a long time pal, I would not reprazent if it wasn't also very good. He has found his groove.
quizo is sad; jgt you've got real talent; get a real job.
Making fun of people's jobs is sad. Boring, you've got real real talent. Get a real life. I suspect the fact you don't like quizzo is that you're not very smart. I mean, anyone who doesn't know the difference between a period and a semicolon probably wouldn't do very well at quizzo.
I've been playing Steve Odabashian's quiz Tuesday night at Downey's (Front and South, starting somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00). I've never been in the bar, other than to play the quiz, but whatever obnoxious South street contingent might be endemic to the area seems to clear out by the time the quiz starts. As a result, the space is refreshingly quiet, even when the quiz is crowded, and there is table service. Sometimes you get random diners eating seafood in the next booth, and one night, a phalanx of female vodka promoters invaded to distribute glowing necklaces and light-up pens (we needed an extra pen). With the quiz in the dining area, though, there is plenty of room. It's post-JGT0-at-O'neill's, too, so there's no loyalty at stake. In fact, several teams seem to be taking in the Steve O. quiz as a kind of late-night supplement to the JGT quiz.
For those of you who haven't been defeated by him at a JGT or Irish John quiz, you might recognize Steve O. from the piano bar gigs, the Andy Reid impersonations, etc. Questions are pretty evenly distributed ... television, literature, sports, pop culture, geography, and ephemera / minutiae. Four rounds, with a speed round and a joker option. Scoring is exceptionally quick, and prizes are generous -- $50 and $25, with the management already talking about doubling them. I'd hate for yet another quiz to become overcrowded, but I'll take the chance and recommend this one heartily.
When did Steve O. start doing Tuesdays at Downey's? I did it there for... oh, maybe 4-5 months back around the summer/fall of 05. I had heard two folks who used to play mine there took over after I left, but I haven't seen them in a while.
Speaking from a strictly personal perspective I did not love the Downey's gig - the infamous fight I once told JGT about (and led to the "bad things happen" part of my schtick) occurred there - though George (the bartender) was a good guy to work with.
Hey, if Steve O. has made a success of it, good on him.
JLK
I have been hosting at Downeys for 2 months now. I was hosting at Helium Comedy Club for about 3 months prior to that (but it is hard to get people to stick around after a 2 hour show to play quizzo). So, most of our traffic (about 20 people) would be from word-of-mouth. We had 2 regular teams of about 6-8 players. And there would usually be 2 smaller teams from week-to-week.
The Downeys ones have been big lately. A lot of post-JGT O'neals teams walk a couple of blocks for the relatively easier/less competitive/higher stakes game.
Brian and Jen did host it for well over a year, and I think they just got sick of it.
George is a great guy and bartender.