Pub trivia to entice crowds

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Wednesday nights can often amount to nothing more than homework and sleeping, but a local business, the pub Growler’s, has an alternative to the Hump-day blues! Every Wednesday from 7 until 9, Growler’s hosts a trivia competition hosted by none other than New College’s own James Birmingham (‘0?) and thesis student Nolan Bensen.

Completely free for teams of two to four, Trivia at Growlers has been in place for a few years now, but it has only recently been handed over to New College alum Birmingham and current student Bensen, both of whom have experience through Brain Bowl. Birmingham actually writes the questions, which he admitted “are going to be more academic than regular trivia questions in order to draw the New College and Ringling crowds.”

In an e-mail interview, Bensen described that while Birmingham is the headman of this endeavor, he “eager to do it during trips [Birmingham] may take.”

“Basically it’s pub trivia like any other,” Bensen explained. “The only unique aspect, really, is that [teams] bet points in three question sets. [They] hear what the categories of the next three questions will be, and use that to decide which [they] want to wager the most points on, and which the least.”

The top placing teams get a $30, $20, and $10 pub tab, respectively, and if participants are underage, the bar tab also works at Big E’s as long as the order is placed from Growler’s.

While trivia can often feel intimidating to some, Bensen advised, “Playing trivia makes you good at trivia […] If you want to be good at trivia without playing it, the next best thing is to watch Jeopardy a lot, but I would honestly recommend attending pub trivia games of a few different types in a few different places over that.”

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