Pub trivia combines drinking, thinking

By Laura Kenyon

It's 10 p.m. at Mary Ann's on Beacon Street, and a Boston College senior is slumped over a table, clutching his head in one hand and a Bud Light in the other. But he's not drunk. He's thinking. The Jackson Five's "ABC" is playing in the background, and everyone in the bar is struggling to figure out what the four, single-letter motion picture ratings were in 1968.

In one area, five boys and a girl are locked in a huddle, shouting answers at each other with more ferocity than they've shown for their schoolwork all semester. One boy grabs two square scraps of paper titled "Team Lemiwinks" and scribbles "G, R, M, X" on one and "A, B, C, D" on the other. Their initial answer is being threatened by the DJ's song. But is it a clue or a red herring?

"Okay guys, which one?" he asks.

"General, Restricted, Mature, and X. That's got to be right," says another.

"Yeah, I've never heard of a movie rated D!" the girl cries.

"But listen to the song. 'A, B, C'..." another boy implores.

The Jackson Five begins to fade, and Team Lemiwinks becomes frantic. Time is running out. Someone grabs the paper marked "A, B, C, D," races around the bar waving it in the air like an airline ticket for a departing flight and throws it into the DJ's hand.

Don't worry. This is not a study group gone terribly wrong. It's pub trivia. And in the age of the Jeporady king Ken Jennings, The Weakest Link, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, this British-rooted game has quickly been gaining steam in the Boston area.

OK, next question. "Who invented the first electric razor in 1928?" DJ Joel roars above the chatter.
Voices erupt, and scrawling pens scream out "Remington!" and "Gillette!"

No one guesses Col. Jacob Schick, so the DJ proudly announces a "social." This means when everyone gets a question right or everyone gets a question wrong, everyone takes a drink. Bottles are raised, voices cry out in victorious defeat, and glasses clink. It's just another night of drinking and thinking.

"Pub trivia is fun because it gives you a chance to go to a bar without the intention of getting completely smashed and show how much worthless knowledge you have accumulated," says Chris Liberti, A&S '05.

"It's great because you can find trivia anywhere in the city. You don't have to stick to the same old bar," says Chrissy McCarthy, A&S '05.

In pub trivia, also known as team trivia or pub quizzes, teams of roughly six people gather in bars and give themselves wacky names like "Team LStat," "Ken Jennings," and others that should only be uttered behind bar doors.

The DJ asks questions in various categories, spins a tune that may or may not be a clue, and awards teams points for their correct answers. Winners can receive prizes such as money, T-shirts, or sports tickets.

It's not a good idea to argue with the DJs, unless your name is Michael O'Neill. When he challenged an answer in Atlanta, the host offered him a job. When he returned to Boston in 1997 he began Pop Quiz Team Trivia at Kinvara and T's Pub. "At the time, it was the only trivia game of its kind in Boston," he says. As the demand grew, O'Neill hired other hosts and Pop Quiz Team Trivia is now available at 12 locations each week.

"Team trivia is great entertainment because it is interactive, informative, competitive, social, and rewarding," says O'Neill. "It is also free."

Two years after O'Neill, another trivia buff popped onto the scene. Bob Carney, sometimes called Bob the Trivia Guy, is a Marshfield, Mass. native who started Stump! The Pub Trivia Game in 1999. During the first year, Stump! was hosted at only four bars. Now Carney's game is featured at 40 bars.

"It's becoming cool to go out to a bar and play trivia," Carney says. "Before I think people only thought it was for nerds."

Robbie Donovan, manager at Kinvara, agrees. "It's a good time for everybody," he says. "It attracts a number of crowds."

"It makes our Mondays a lot busier," says Patrick, a doorman at Our House.

Most bars offer pub trivia on what are considered off-nights, mainly Sunday through Wednesday. "Bar owners need to find new ways to get people into their bars and trivia is a great way to do that," says Carney. "It's a great crowd too. They don't go out and have 10 beers, but they'll have a beer or two, order some food and play some trivia."

And it's not just a student thing. Ursula Sullivan, associate director of Academic Services at BC, says she's been going to pub trivia for years. "We had a group that would go all the time," she says. "Then people got married, had kids, but we still have a trivia reunion every three months."

Sullivan says she still goes to the Green Briar for trivia a few times a month, and has made team trivia part of the end-of-the-year office party. "It's a great release for us. In terms of work people, it gives us a chance to go out together. And not just by sitting and having a beer. It's a conversation starter for the next day."

"Anything that combines socializing with friends and drinking is usually a good thing," says Tim Dillon, CSOM '05.

Who commissioned the creation of the Guinness Book of World Records? Stumped? It was Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness brewery in 1954. After arguing with a friend over the fastest game bird, he thought it would come in handy in settling similar disputes all over Ireland ... especially in bars.

Social!

(This article originally appeared in the 9/28/04 edition of The Heights.)