Let's Get Quizzical

My passion for trivia began when I was 8 years old while watching Jeopardy! with my grandmother.

I was so amazed and perplexed each time she would confidently yell out the answer, and even more so when Canada’s sweetheart Alex Trebek deemed her correct.

Frustrated at my own inability to respond, I set out to invent a kid version with questions like what do you get when you mix blue and yellow? and How many legs does a spider have?.

As I grew older, my relationship with trivia flourished beyond just being a die-hard Jeopardy! fan.

While at University, I frequented various pub quiz events around campus, and after graduating and spending a summer volunteering on organic farms in Europe, I was luckily able to track down quiz nights in several big cities throughout my travels—and even won a few times, too!

In 2017, I made the big move to Vietnam to be an English teacher. On just my third day in Saigon I met the man that is now my fiancé, Michael.

He had never participated in a trivia event before but was more than happy to delve into the scene.

So, after hearing about a weekly Wednesday night pub quiz at Game On Sports Bar, we knew exactly where to go on our first official date.

Despite a second last place finish, Michael thankfully developed a thrill for quizzing.

We were lucky enough to make friends with the trivia night organizers and managed to secure ourselves two returning spots on their often first place finishing team.

After proving our commitment each week with our punctuality and enthusiasm, we made the decision to venture into the more daunting role of hosts.

Our first night co-hosting went well, aside from a few hecklers, oh, and Michael accidentally giving away one of the answers.

After asking for the number of Canadian hockey teams in the NHL, Michael followed up his question by stating "also, there’s a bonus point to any team who can name all seven!”

A fun year and a half of gaining experience as both players and hosts, Michael and I then made the decision to relocate our lives north from Saigon to Da Nang, Vietnam.

The trivia scene in Da Nang was lacking, so, once we found jobs and began to make some friends in our new city, we decided to invite a small group of co-workers over to expose them to our sacred art.

Thankfully it stuck, thus beginning a new journey that saw us rotate as hosts amongst a group of international expats. We would drink Bia Saigon and 333, passing around joints in between rounds while eating my infamous guacamole and chips.

As time progressed and the love our friends had for trivia evolved, our quiz nights only got more intricate and competitive.

What was once a basic format of 6 questions within 6 categories quickly developed to involve interactive categories like circling capital cities on a map or doing a blind taste test.

To make things even more exciting, we added in-between-round games like a 3-legged race, blindfolded darts, and a splits competition, to name a few.

The location of our quizzes also improved.

From beginning cramped in our small studio apartment to hosting on rooftop patios, our favourite coffee shop Bros Kafé, and even at the beach!

Michael and I have since moved to Canada, but we often look back on our time in Vietnam with fond memories of laughs, triumphs, upsets, and beautiful friendships that developed while participating in trivia.

Even after leaving, we kept up virtual trivia with our Da Nang group for a few months during COVID lockdown, and now we can enjoy trivia once again with friends in Canada, who we have successfully persuaded to the trivia side.

On top of getting to do trivia parties with my friends, I have also been able to make and host trivia for my cousin’s bachelorette party, my best friend’s birthday, a few baby showers, and even for a ‘Friendsgiving’ Thanksgiving dinner.

Whether you create a fun slideshow of trivia questions or just ask questions verbally, trivia is a great way to bond a group of people and give them something interesting to do together.

Although all aspects of trivia intrigue and excite me, I have often been asked which questions I most enjoy. Questions that require a little extra effort or involve compound answers have always been my favourite, although I do also enjoy riddle-type categories like before and after and rebus puzzles.

Here are a few questions that I loved creating. The answers are below!

Each time a friend shares their experiences with preparing and hosting for the first time, I am reminded again of the difficulty involved with creating a successful trivia.

My best advice to any budding trivia connoisseur is to vary the difficulty level of your questions. Nobody wants to participate in a quiz that is way too hard. On the other hand, having every team produce a perfect score is also not very fun.

The trick is to find a balance between attainable or obvious questions and those that take a little more time and commitment to solve.

As a part of Memberful, I aim to act as a guide through the daunting task of deciphering fitting categories and choosing questions, while also preparing and presenting an insightful, balanced, and most importantly fun trivia show.

I hope to provide a space for people to ask questions, gain feedback, request custom-made trivia, and everything in between.

Helping others find the confidence and preparedness to host a trivia event of their own would give my passion true fulfillment.

That and being able to continue spreading a love for trivia with everyone who is willing to participate!

ANSWERS:

Question 1: A- SpongeBob SquarePants B- Blue’s Clues C- UP D- Family Guy E- The Simpsons

Question 2: 1. Sum 41 2. Finger 11 3. 4 Non Blondes 4. 2 Chainz 5. Matchbox 20 6. 50 Cent

Question 3: A. I, Tonya- Figure Skating B. Creed- Boxing C. Goon- Hockey D. The Miracle Season- Volleyball E. Bad News Bears- Baseball F. Battle of the Sexes- Tennis

Question 4: 1. Tower- Giraffes 2. Cyclone- Scorpions 3. Unkindness- Ravens 4. Harem- Zebras 5. Flamboyance- Flamingos