From the Local Option quiz, on Wednesday:
Who is this?
Who was the only Beatle--so far--never to appear on "Saturday Night Live"? (This was my favorite question of the night, and I missed it.)
Who is the patron saint of travelers?
What is the mathematical term for 10 to the 100th power?
What is the major religion of Japan?
What is the history of ownership of an object called?
What does the "L" stand for in "URL"?
Who wrote Tropic of Cancer?
It's not just a pub quiz at Celtic Crown. It's "Quizzo," a hugely franchised trivia night put on by the for-profit NAT (National Trivia Association). I've been wanting to review a Quizzo night, especially to compare them to Team Trivia, the other big franchise in town. Turns out, they're not a lot alike--and there's a lot of stuff about the Crown's quiz I didn't like.
"DJ Mike" is your regular host at Celtic Crown, and that was the first bad sign. Either NAT makes their emcees call themselves DJs, which is silly, or Mike calls himself that, which is worse. He's not spinning records; he plays the cheesiest Light FM fare possible--and often plays the same song more than once! Wondering why you're being forced to listen to "We Are Family" twice is distracting when you're also wondering how many championships the Celtics won in the 70s.
The questions are organized into seven rounds of 10 questions, each with a different theme, including a picture round and a name-that-tune round. I was glad about this--it's my favorite quiz set-up and the best element NAT offers. I obviously wasn't the only one who dug it--Celtic Crown draws mostly regulars to its trivia night. Most teams seem to recognize each other, and there's a nice atmosphere of chummy competition in the low-ceilinged room. Frustratingly, though, teams are allowed up to ten people each. This is great if you want everyone from your office to play together, but makes it harder for a team of three or four to have a chance.
Service was slow at the Crown, but there were free wings until 7 with a drink purchase (and if you like Bacardi, you're set for a cheap buzz).
DJ Mike might have been having an off night, but I asked around and other players assured me this was his usual m.o. Despite having a fancy podium and official answer notepads and a belt (which is more style than most quiz hosts exhibit), Mike is a sloooow, bumbling, repetitive facilitator. At times, it was just laughable. He'd claim to have re-written a question (sent from the NAT headquarters in New Jersey) to make it "better"--and then announce a nonsensical bunch of words that made it impossible to know what he was even asking. One round was supposed to award a round of shots to the team with the most right answers, but Mike screwed up the scoring. The last question of the last round was to name the first 10 letters of the Greek alphabet, which was very, very difficult for our host to grade. We almost walked out in impatience.
If this quiz could be made smoother, more efficient, and with fewer sketchy questions, it'd be a three-pinter due to its faithful following and great structure. But it feels like a piped-in franchised evening, and DJ Mike sinks it.
GRADE: TWO PINTS
BASICS
Where: Map
When: Wednesday, 7:30 pm (runs about 3 hours)
How: 7 rounds with set themes
Who: No more than 10 (!) people per team (free to play)
PRIZES
First
place gets $25. Other prizes are offered; I think they differ from week to week. I lost the piece of paper I'd written this all down on. Worst pub quiz reviewer ev-ah.
From the Celtic Crown quiz, on Wednesday:
The James Joyce quiz last night was as fun as the first time I went*--and this after my team spectacularly bobbed it in the last two rounds. There were two 50/50 questions that sunk our chances:
Which is bigger in terms of land mass: Ireland or Sri Lanka?
True or false: One mile is equal to 1.61 kilometers?
Then again, at least we got these right:
Which country was the first to have two female elected heads-of-state in a row?
What does EPCOT stand for?
What's the most mentioned animal in the bible?
What color jersey does the lead sprinter wear in the Tour de France?
Who did the voice for Scar in The Lion King?
*I don't want to temper my exuberant praise for this quiz, but there are a couple things that could make it even more kick-ass: a couple more tables for the teams squished up against the bar (even some temporary card tables maybe?) and ditching the wacky-do-or-die round at the end. It's jolting to have six straight-up, general knowledge trivia rounds...and then be faced with a sheet of word puzzles. If you miss one answer in the last round, you get no points. Wha-hat!? It's too much of a competition shake-upper, I think. Though I fully accept that I probably only think this because I sucked at the "singer anagrams" last night.
Due to a miscommunication and general CTA-induced lethargy on my part, I missed quizzing at Crew last night. Tonight I'm off to the James Joyce, though, and tomorrow I'm checking out the Hidden Shamrock, so my week's not a total loss!
To tide you over, can you tell who this?
I haven't been to any pub quizzes this week (sniff) because I've been sorting out the paperwork and heartbreak involved after my scooter was stolen. My scooter was a big part of what made me able to zip around to 2 or 3 pub quizzes a week and 1. not go crazy waiting for public transport, 2. never worry about finding parking, even in Lincoln Park, and 3. be home in time to get enough sleep for, you know, my non-quizzing life.
Not that I haven't already given the iO pub quiz its props [see below] but, as a children's librarian, I might have to resort to self-flagellation for missing their quiz this week--I mean, check out what the theme was.
iO isn't really a bar, but it has a bar on its ground level for folks to the improv shows iO is famous for. (Actually, maybe people do just go to the bar sometimes--what do I know?)
The quiz starts later than most--a little before 10--but I was still home before midnight so no wus-out excuse there. It's hosted by Joey Bland, who was not only on Jeopardy and won twice but was also willing to talk to me and my geekly friends about the experience. Joey comes up with the trivia questions for the evening, which are clustered together under more-specific-than-usual themes like "Harolds" or "The Olympics."
Joey stands on a small stage to emcee, and I loved that there was actually someone in the light booth operating a spotlight and playing songs to match the questions. I also liked that the quiz limits teams to five players--five is such a delightfully manageable number. Besides, the space is set up so that you're lucky to fit your five around your little table. Everyone's smooshed together, and it adds to the convivial atmosphere.
The grading set-up is unusual, in that three or four iO-ers move around the players' tables to check their answers. There's plenty of joking and pleading and things move at a brisk pace. I wish Joey would at least take a moment to tell us what the team rankings are--here's barely time to over-indulge in cheap-ass PBR. Something else was totally different with this quiz--the same people grading our answers (obviously improvers) performed scenes while we guessed which movies they were from.
When the worst thing you can say about a pub quiz is that it's too short, starts too late and isn't really in a pub, you're onto something. Of course, the iO Pub Quiz has only had two go-arounds so far, but I think it deserves a lot of regulars.
GRADE: FOUR PINTS
BASICS
Where: Map
When: Tuesdays, 9:30 pm (runs about 1 hour)
How: 5 rounds with loose and varied themes
Who: No more than 5 people per team (free to play)
PRIZES
First place gets 50% off their bill. Second place gets 25% off. Third place gets their choice of a couple soft pretzels or a pizza. Plus, there's free tickets to iO shows and other random goodies passed out.
This is a bit overdue, but the long holiday weekend blurred things a bit. Last week I went to three pub quizzes. The new iO offering (which I look forward to reviewing tomorrow) on Tuesday night, Joe's again on Wednesday, and The Spread on Thursday.
Well, these questions aren't really frequently asked, but they've all been asked, via email or comment or conversation. And I like answering stuff.
Why haven't you reviewed [whichever pub] yet? I know you went to their quiz, but you haven't told us what you thought.
Dude, chill. I've never taken more than a week to write a review of a new quiz. And I solemnly vow I never will.
How do you have enough friends to play with you all the time?
I'm blessed? And I'm good at pleading.
What's are your strengths and weaknesses, trivia-wise?
I rule at Arts & Literature, American History, and Celebrities. I drool at Sports, World Geography, and current Pop Music.
What's your favorite pub quiz in Chicagoland?
So far, it's a tie between the James Joyce and the Local Option.
Why do you bitch about the prizes? It's all free--what's your beef?
Well, it's not free really, though a lot of places don't charge you to play. I often quiz at places I wouldn't usually visit, on nights I (and most folks) wouldn't usually go out drinking. Trivia nights are designed to get money flowing toward the bar, yeah, but sharing some of the proceeds with the players just makes good business sense.
I'm not claiming bars should be passing out treasure. My preferred prize structure is 50% off your tab for 1st, 25% off for 2nd, and 10% off for 3rd, with rounds of shots and silly extras thrown in for best team name/answer/etc. As Kevin (the host at Rocks) points out,
The only thing that balances out not having "huge" prizes is it sometimes makes people too cut-throat and can take away from a good time. That's why I will never recommend a bar give away, for example, a big cash prize. The last bar I was at playing trivia that had a cash prize, there was a dispute every other question that made players constantly run up to the TJ to complain/protest. So you have to find a happy medium.
