Many people are familiar with Trivia Nights, but if you have never participated in one, many questions start to come up. Today I will reveal 5 things you need to know before participating or organizing a Quiz Night.
If that's sounds like interesting for you, read on!
Origins of pub quizzes
Pub quizzes stem from the UK, from the end of
the 1970s and remain a hugely popular entertainment type to date. The specific
thing about these types of quizzes is that players form teams which then answer
to questions related to general knowledge, sports, science, art etc. These
quizzes are most popular in Europe, but their popularity is also spreading to
the USA and other parts of the world. The biggest pub quiz ever was hosted in
Belgium in 2010. It had over 2000 participants.
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| A typical Irish Village |
How to participate
To participate in a pub quiz, one must
assemble a team. Your team should consist of experts in different fields. The
quiz itself is made up of classic questions, multimedia, music, or abstract
tasks. Teams collect points and the team who ends up having the most points
wins rewards. Rewards are usually in cash or in bar coupons. Also, a team can
be proclaimed quiz champions if they keep first place at the end of the season.
The point of these quizzes is to have fun and
hang out, but also to popularize knowledge.
After you assemble a team, you can participate
in a pub quiz. The minimum amount of members varies depending on the pub where
you're playing, however, most pubs require at least two people to assemble a
team. Don't worry if you never participated in a pub quiz, because after your
first pub quiz night, you'll become crazy about this type of entertainment.
Who are the quizmaster
Quizmaster is usually a term that refers to
the person hosting the quiz or the organizer. It shouldn't be mistaken for
'quiz master' – someone good at quizzes, because everyone mostly avoids this
term to avoid ambiguity.
In most pubs, quizmasters change from one week
to another, while some pub quizzes are most frequently hosted by pub landlords.
After you have been participating for a while, you might host your own pub
quiz. Just ask the landlord or whoever is in charge of trivia nights if you and
your team can be quizmasters.
How to host a quiz night
After the landlord gives you and your team a
green light, you can start preparing your own quiz. First, remember all the
things that you didn't like about previous quizzes or something people were
complaining about. Maybe it was too short, too long, too specific, too general?
Try to learn from the mistakes of others and avoid doing similar things when
hosting a quiz.
Secondly, remember all the things that you
enjoy about trivia nights and try to incorporate them into your own quiz. You
can even google for ideas. Just make sure your quiz ends up as an original, fun
event.
What to ask?
The most important part is figuring out the
questions. For most quizzes you will have to come up with a fair amount of
questions so you and your team should put some work into it. Every team member
will probably have a different idea about what the questions should look like,
but try to be democratic and incorporate everyone's ideas into the quiz. Most
importantly, try not to keep your questions too easy, but also don't make them
too complicated. Also, don't phrase questions in an ambiguous or complicated
manner.
This can't be stressed enough: although pub
quizzes are superfun for teams that are competing, they should also be
entertaining for the quizmasters! Don't get stressed, enjoy the night with your
friends and share your passion for knowledge with other quiz-colleagues. If
your quiz turns out to be a hit, you may even become a frequent quizmaster at
your local pub.
