10 hours of trivia and one fun "Eye of the Tiger" video montage

I am super excited about Sunday's 10-hour Big Quiz Thing trivia bonanza! I don't remember when I started going to Big Quiz Thing, but it was likely 20012, because I used to go with my ex K in 2003 at The Slipper Room. I have bounced around from various teams, dated my share of trivia players, once gone up in the final round and was so excited about knowing Justin Bieber's age it was okay that I somehow missed the answers related to an issue of Us Weekly I had just read, and so much more. BQT is a trivia night, yes, but it's also a community of friendly nerds. I interviewed Quizmaster Noah Tarnow in 2004 for Gothamist. I am not the person who tends to know a lot of answers (although, hilariously, I correctly guessed George R. R. Martin last time, though we wound up putting something else) but I always have such a fun time. BQT is one of my very favorite things to do in New York City and if you are at all curious, I think it's safe to say this will be an incredibly memorable, one-of-a-kind marathon event. Get your tickets here. Whether or not you're in New York or don't care about trivia but do enjoy 80's pop culture, check out this video:

cause secretly I'm timid

The other night at trivia there was a question that went something like this 1977 musical, which was later turned into a movie, featured Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a character. We guessed Evita, and I wanted to throw out Annie, and I did, to one teammate, but was too…nervous, I guess, to throw it out to everyone. Maybe it felt too “girlie” and then I talked myself out of it, like Evita was a real person, that makes more sense, etc. Not even sure why I thought of Annie other than that I watched it while babysitting last year and that seemed the right era. So when we found out that was the answer I felt really dumb, especially cause earlier I’d thrown out a guess that we’d used and it was right. I need to get better about speaking up but, yeah, I’m kindof like Liz Phair (see post title):

You had me at "Rock & Roll Lullaby Mind-Fuck"

Last time at Crash Mansion, the bar ran out of beer (!!) and Roseanne Barr was the big celebrity sighting (just at the bar, post Sammy's Roumanian, not there for trivia, alas). Who knows what'll happen next? Also, next trivia is Monday, July 23rd, with a special Jewish trivia event July 25th, see their site for info.

From Noah Tarnow of Big Quiz Thing (and also a shoutout to one of my favorite bald guys, EDP)

“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 trivia event, packing in hipster-nerd acolytes since 2002. And on Monday August 6, the BQT returns the sprawling and swanky Crash Mansion for another feverishly intense presentation of trivia delights for nerds of all persuasions.

Quizmaster Noah Tarnow (a “geek savant,” according to Gawker), with sidekick EDP, presents the ultimate meaningless-info test, with a stupendous grand prize of $200 and other wonderful giveaways (cookies, Big Quiz Thing T-shirts, stimulating reading material) and the glory of knowing that you possess more useless intelligence than hundreds of your peers. And even if players can’t even hazard a guess, there is hope: If a wrong answer makes the quizmasters (and the crowd) laugh, it’s counted as correct and is granted a Smart-Ass Point. Between rounds, DJ GB spins for your musical delight.

And now, the BQT returns to the tremendous Crash Mansion on the Bowery, following a triumphant and packed June debut. This edition’s featured video round, “The Magazine Flashback Mind-Teaser,” asks players to fill in the blanks on covers of recent periodicals, and the audio round, “The Rock & Roll Lullaby Mind-Fuck,” challenges players to identify popular songs, as interpreted on infant-lullaby instruments. Plus, the awesome video round, the famed Lightning Round, big Four-Part Questions, clever banter, semantic arguments, inept flirtation, etc. Plentiful seating and drink specials make everything even cooler (by quiz-show standards, at least).

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 Village Voice’s pick for “The Best Place to Show Off Your Inner Nerd.”

The Big Quiz Thing returns to Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery at Spring St, Monday, August 6 at 7:30pm. Admission is $7. For more info, visit bigquizthing.com, or contact quizmaster Noah Tarnow at noah at bigquizthing.com.

Quiz me this…
Q: Who’s the only past People’s Sexiest Man Alive who is no longer alive?
Q: What’s wrong with the phrase “Chai tea”?
Q: What New York chain store is named after the cross-streets of its original location?
Q: In 1987, The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker suddenly stopped doing what?