Marcus Berkmann, in his book Brain Men, nails the invention of Trivial Pursuit by two moustached Canadians in the 1980s as the starting point of the pub quiz, which is a surprisingly recent and particularly British phenomenon.
Marcus runs Highgate’s The Prince of Wales’ pub quiz, every Tuesday night. It’s highly competitive with a waiting list to set the quiz. There is a talent to setting a quiz: too difficult and people’s concentration drifts away. It has to strike a balance, and every question, even if you don’t know the answer, should ideally be able to be worked out, should be on the tip of your tongue.
I’ve been a pub quiz geek for years and I particularly enjoy when there are questions on food related subjects. I once wrote a quiz round for The Prince of Wales’ quiz on ‘sweets’: great fun, the concentrated silence during the questions and the roars of triumph or groans of disappointment when reading out the answers!
This Saturday, Marcus will be the quizmaster for The Underground Pub Quiz with rounds between courses…winner gets a bottle of wine, no mobiles or googling allowed!
Here’s the menu:
Book tickets here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/92913
All profits will go to Wikileaks.
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