Wednesday 3 December 2008

The Night’s Gig


















I think I’ve decided; – I hate nights like this one.   We had three teams in, tonight, and it’s heartbreaking, for me, to see it this quiet!

I’m stubborn enough to keep going, even with a minimal audience; - but it’s very dispiriting, none-the-less.

Which left the one new team we had in looking very unimpressed, and the Bonus pot looking very puny

However, on the upside, the bonus pot has gone up; – it’s now at £7•75.   Small, compared to the Hutton’s, last week’s, but better than at the start.   And that was off the back of this question.

What’s the successor to the Independent Television Commission, and in which year of this century did it go into operation?

Obviously, the answer is Ofcom, in 2003; – which nobody got …

As another upside upside, George –the trainee assistant manager, there– has volunteered to chalk the Harold’s A-Board, for next week.   Which is something of a relief.

I’ve always believed that I do the best I can, with the resources available to me.

However, it helps if each venue also tries to much my effort’s.   And simple little things like putting up an ad on exterior A-boards can help so much, I’ve noticed.   I know Sue at the Hutton is planning to, as soon as she has the chance, so it’s nice to know that someone at the King Harold is planning to do the same, there.

Anyway, here’s tonight’s question; – Set sixty one, in a series of Sixty-four, I should add …

ROUND ONE: –  GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.


Q1) Which sea is north of Turkey?

A1) The Black Sea.


Q2) What colour are the flowers of the Saint John’s Wort?

Q2) Yellow?


Q3) Anton Segovia was associated with which stringed instrument?

A3) The guitar.


Q4) Cold meat & cold potatoes are the two main ingredients of which dish?

A4) Bubble & Squeak.


Q5) Which king is supposed to have hidden in a tree after the Battle of Worcester?

A5) Charles the 2nd.


Q6) Heriot Watt University is in which Scottish City?

A6) Edinburgh.


Q7) What does a theodolite measure?

A7) Angles


Q8) Which poisonous gas is given off from a car’s exhaust pipe?

A8) Carbon monoxide


Q9) Which motorway goes from east to west, across the Pennines?

A9) The M62


Q10) Workers, drones, and queens are varieties of which insect?

A10) Bees






ROUND TWO: – BLINDED WITH SCIENCE.


Q11) In which Lancashire town was the first test tube baby born in 1978?

A11) Oldham.   (Louise Brown)


Q12) In which country did the study of geometry originate?

A12) Egypt


Q13) When was chewing-gum first patented -1869, 1899 or 1919?

A13) 1869.   People chewed gum long before this, as far back as the ancient Greeks.   According to scientists, people who chew gum while performing memory tests (such as quizzes) score significantly higher than those who do not.


Q14) Oxides of two chemicals create acid rain: – name either.

A14) Nitrogen and sulphur


Q15) Which letter is positioned between F and H on a computer keyboard?

A15) G


Q16) What is thanatology the scientific study of; – death, old age, or taxes?

A16) Death


Q17) The vernal equinox marks the end of which season, in the northern hemisphere?

A17) Winter


Q18) What does the mathematical symbol comprising a triangle of three dots mean?

A18) Therefore


Q19) Soyuz was the name of a Russian spacecraft, but what does the name mean; – union, league, or flight?

A19) Union


Q20) Bright’s disease affects which organs of the body; – the liver, the kidneys, or the  spleen?

A20) Kidneys







ROUND THREE: –  AT THE MOVIES.


Q21) Which song did Doris Day sing in three different films?

A21) Que Sera, Sera


Q22) Alan Alda was the only actor to appear in the film, and TV version of which comedy?

A22) M•A•S•H”  He played Hawkeye Pierce.


Q23) In the “Star Wars” series, what sort of creature was Chewbacca

A23) A Wookie


Q24) Film actor Ronald Moodnick is better known as which cast-member of the film “Oliver”?

A24) Ron Moody.


Q25) Which Disney character sang ‘…some day my Prince will come’?

A25) Snow White


Q26) Which British actor provided the voice of the evil Scar in Disney’s “The Lion King”?

A26) Jeremy Irons


Q27) Susi und Strolch” and “La Belle et le Clochard” were, respectively, the German & French title of which Disney film?

A27) Lady and the Tramp


Q28) In which Walt Disney classic would you find the three fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather?

A28) Sleeping Beauty


Q29) Which cartoon bird  made his cinematic debut in “Walky Talky Hawky” in 1946?

A29) Foghorn Leghorn (full name Foghorn J. Leghorn).


Q30) Which British star married the former Miss Guyana in 1973?

A30) Michael Caine.




ROUND FOUR: –  SPORTING CHANCES.


Q31) Which Martina was Wimbledon’s most successful women’s champion?

A31) Martina Navratilova.


Q32) Sir I. V. A Richards was better known as which West Indies cricketer?

A32) Viv Richards (Isaac Vivian Alexander)


Q33) Was Kristina Egerszegi cold, or wet, when won her 5 Olympic Gold medals?

A33) Wet: – she was a swimmer.


Q34) Jack Dempsey was a heavyweight … what?

A34) Boxer.


Q35) Which Steve was knighted, after the 2000 Olympics?

A35) Steve Redgrave.


Q36) How often is the Epsom Derby held?

A36) Annually.


Q37) What shape is a dartboard?

A37) Circular.


Q38) In what colour shirts do India play floodlit matches?

A38) Blue.


Q39) In which decade was the Rugby League World Cup 1st held; – the 50’s,60’s or 70’s?

A39) The 1950’s


Q40) Glen Hoddle finished his playing career with which club?

A40) Chelsea.




ROUND FIVE: –  THE WRITTEN WORD.


Q41) What egg-shaped nursery-rhyme character appears in “Alice Through The Looking Glass”?

A41) Humpty Dumpty.


Q42) What was the 2nd book, in Terry Pratchett’s discworld series?

A42) The Light Fantastic.”


Q43) Mrs Beeton famously wrote about cookery.   What was her 1st name; – Isabella,  Arabella, or Bella Donna?

A43) Isabella.


Q44) Are Penguin books paperbacks, or hardbacks?

A44) Paperbacks.


Q45) Three of the four Gospels are known as Synoptic.   Name one of them.

A45) Matthew, Mark, Or Luke.


Q46) Who wrote “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”?

A46) Beatrix Potter.


Q47) The Muslim Holy Book is called The Qu’ran; - what is ‘Qu’ran’ the Arabic word for?

A47) Recite.


Q48) In which year of the 1880’s was the 1st Sherlock Holmes story published?

A48) 1887


Q49) In which French city did Oscar Wilde die?

A49) Paris


Q50) What blinded most of the characters in the “Day of the Triffids”; – a comet, an explosion, or poisoned tap water?

A50) A comet




ROUND SIX: – GENERAL KNOWLE IGNORANCE.


Q51) In 2005, what type of Russian vessel was trapped off the Kamchatka peninsular?

A51) A submarine.


Q52) What kind of garment is a montero?

A52) A cap.


Q53) According to the old proverb, what is the road to hell paved with?

A53) Good intentions.


Q54) Who wrote “The Bald Prima Donna”; – Eugene Ionesco, Seamus Heaney, or Harold Pinter?

A54) Eugene Ionesco


Q55) Which biblical figure had a coat of many colours?

A55) Joseph.


Q56) What word can follow ‘band’, ‘mass’, & ‘pass’?

A56) ‘Age.’  (Bandage massage, passage.)


Q57) In February of 2006, Marks & Spenser started selling a red version of which fruit?

A57) Bananas


Q58) If it’s 12 noon GMT, what time is it in Oslo?

A58) 01:00 PM


Q59) How many wives are you allowed, under Sharia law?

A59) Four.


Q60) In which London Park would you ride along Rotten Row?

A60) Hyde Park.



Feel free to cut and paste out there, folks, but please, feel free to leave a comment or two, by way of thanks.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget, mate, that people are hard up at the moment, with lots of presents to pay for. Also, if you'd been traipsing round the gift shops every lunchtime then you may not want to go out on an icy, bitter tuesday evening. If you continue the quiz when it is odds on to be poorly attended you will sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the landlord and the punters. I know a break means less profit but you have to look long term...

Nik Nak said...

Good point; – but I’ve also found keeping it going, week in, week out, is near enough the best way to have a basis for further building.

Anonymous said...

then you'll have to put up with threadbare nights. and any onlookers will say "that must be a shit quiz"

Nik Nak said...

I’m hoping the bonus will help, even though it’s growing slowly.
And, as I’ve mentioned, the A-boards will help

Anonymous said...

The A boards pronounce the quiz but don't solve the problem of why people are staying in more often. It is not because they are unaware of a quiz!

the bonus round in the last quiz I did was 60 pounds after the first week....

I don't think they work, either, if they are not free to enter. It defeats the object of the word BONUS!

I don't wish to piss on your bonfire but hard decision will have to be made if you are to survive in this game...

Anonymous said...

A boards won't solve peoples money worries or their prioritised commitments. They are skint and busy not because they are unaware of a quiz...

and the last bonus round i attempted was 60 pounds and rolled over to 130 pounds... and was free (hence the word BONUS)

If you are to survive in the entertainment field then you will need to adapt to the audiences whims! however much it goes against the grain.

Nik Nak said...

Not to put too fine a point on it, I have survived in the pub quiz game for about five years, now. I started running the original Hutton quiz, back in 2003, and a pound per team member was a standard price to each of the quiz I’ve either attended, or run; – not as many as some, granted, but plenty enough to show me a viable and successful way of doing it.

And also where I learnt and observed much of what I post here.

Which is why I make the point in this post about A Boards, or any kind of exterior advertising; – it catches passing customer’s attention, especially with named prizes.

Both of my two current venues are tenancies; – as such, are strapped for cash. As are most of their regulars. The fact that the quiz nights funded by the contributions of the customers is, for those two venues, a large part of the appeal.

I also know from the feedback I’ve received at each, and from the customer comment received at the quiz I ran at now closed Sir Charles Napier, that the bonus is a big influencing factor.

As is seeing A-boards —indeed ANY exterior advertising— advertising any kind of either event, or prices at a given pub.

Additionally, having a free to enter quiz would present more financing burdens on both the King Harold and the Hutton, as I know out of what they pay me, I’d not be able to finance any viable or meaningful prizes.

And neither I, nor the two pubs I work for, would be able to fund a £130 bonus question, which would certainly bring in the punters – but be beyond their immediate means.

I can’t pretend to be an expect on pub quizzes.

I CAN claim five year’s of running pub quizzes that have been popular and well attended, and run them the way I know is successful, and long lasting.

I hope that gives some food for thought.

As a final thought, Anonymous, I believe you have a valuable contribution to make. However, I feel that posting anonymously is mildly insulting, and would be happier if you put your name to your comments. I’ve just started to moderate any comments I receive, here, and intend to not publish any anonymous comments. Please, keep commenting. But I’d appreciate knowing who you are.

Just to show faith, my real name is Paul Downie.

Please let me know yours.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

i do not mind if you do not post my comments. I am a quizmaster with 30 years experience. I am trying to help you prevent overkill of a poorly attended quiz in hard times. I am trying to say that advertising will not help make people buy X if X comes at the expense of rent and food. Many people have already started the round of xmas works outings and the shopping for xmas trappings is in full swing. a midweek quiz night is not going to be well attended, and since you have been expressing concern on this, i was trying to point out the reasons. It is free advice and your choice whether to take it. I am not expecting you to raise the funds for an proper bonus round, just pointing out what you are up against. As to my anonymity, my name would mean nothing as I do not know you personally. But good luck, whatever steps you take for the survival of an entertainment concern in belt-tightening times.

Nik Nak said...

Thanks; — your right, these are very hard times. And any help, or suggestions are appreciated.

As to anonymity, though, I’ve always found it’s nicer to have quizmasters sticking together, and for that … well, you can follow my point, I hope.

I’d rather get to know a fellow QM, and be able to talk openly, and exchange both sources, ideas, and experience.

You’ve raised some very valid points, that, while I don’t disagree, doesn’t stop me working away at my gigs, or bring optimistic about the future.

Or want to continue, with a format I’ve grown comfortable with, and know works.

Nik Nak said...

I also know that, in good times, both venues have regularly had 13 to fourteen teams, at each event. THAT’s why I keep at it!