What is the Big Quiz Thing?
Basically, a multimedia live trivia game show. All the fun of Jeopardy!, except that you get to play! And hang out with your friends! And laugh! Geeks and cool kids alike gather in teams to test their knowledge on the best trivia content in the business—from pop culture, music, history and sports to the completely indefinable—with excellent prizes and eternal glory at stake. We play in multiple rounds, with the quizmaster reading the questions and displaying them on the big screen; you collaborate as a team and write down your answers on your Big Quiz Thing Answer Pad. (Nobody shouts out anything, nobody has to be dragged onstage and embarrassed.) It all culminates in the Lightning Round, followed by the big Three-Way Finale. Between rounds, we take quick breaks to add up the scores and let you drink, socialize and strategize.
Don’t think you’re good at trivia? Four things: (1) No one’s actually really bad at trivia. Except idiots, and you’re probably not an idiot. Some people are especially good at trivia, true, but everyone has their own bank of knowledge, and the BQT covers a pretty wide range. Plus, playing as a team means everyone gets to contribute. (2) The BQT favors questions that require a little more thought that typical bland trivia questions—we like to say they’re “figureoutable.” If you’re well versed, give yourself a chance—you probably know more than you think. (Want some examples of our questions? Check out the bottom of the page.) (3) Go for a Smart-Ass Point! (See below.) (4) You’ll have a good time even if you lose. The competition is fierce, but the priority is fun.
Smart-Ass Points
Don’t know the answer? Write down a wrong answer. If we find it amusing and read it to the crowd, and they laugh, you get the point—we award you a Smart-Ass Point. But be warned: It’s harder to make trivia geeks laugh than you might think (trust us, we’re professionals).
Wait, there’s a bar down the street from me where they have trivia for free. Why should I pay for this?
Well, with bar trivia, you often get what you pay for: a boring host reading boring questions. And besides, the Big Quiz Thing isn’t bar trivia—it’s a multimedia trivia game show, taking the pub-quiz concept to a whole other level. Fresh and offbeat content each and every time, with video puzzles, audio clues, sound effects, professional staging and hosting, deejayed music, the most entertaining trivia questions in the business, and much more, all at a world-class venue: a complete interactive night of entertainment, all for less than the cost of a movie, and with the possibility of winning something back! No wonder The Onion called it “way more than a middlebrow excuse to drink beer.”
Teams
Our rule for team size is minimum four, maximum eight—though this is rarely enforced. Remember: Fun first, competition second. And if you need a team (or extra members), let the staff know at the show, and we’ll match you up with (hopefully smart) other players. Also, no need to register beforehand; just show up and make it happen.
Prizes
Cash, show tickets, DVDs, books, tons more. Have a product/event you want to expose to a trivia-hungry audience? Go to our sponsorship page to learn more.
I’m a hardcore trivia geek—no crappy jerk-off pub quizzes for me. Has this got what it takes to satisfy my cravings?
Absolutely. We offer a serious good time to quiz mavens of all skill levels, including New York’s most unstoppable trivia geniuses, who’ve made the BQT their home for years now. The BQT’s trivia writer and senior quizmaster, Noah Tarnow, is a former Jeopardy! contestant, VH1 quiz show champ and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Phone-a-Friend. He’s professionally written trivia questions for numerous magazines and radio shows, and was a notorious Trivial Pursuit terror throughout his college dorm. When it comes to live trivia entertainment, the Big Quiz Thing is all anyone needs.
