Q: “I’m putting a team together for a trivia night this week. Wanna go?”
A: “Oh, I’m not a trivia person.”
Christopher Short has found folks’ underestimation of knowledge they tote in their brains to be, as they say in trivia circles, the MCWA … or Most Common Wrong Answer.
“There will always be something you can answer that nobody else on your team can, and you will leave feeling like the whole night would’ve been for nothing if you hadn’t been there,” says Short, a Crawfordsville resident who has been chief editor for Geeks Who Drink (GWD) – a pub-trivia company with more than 700 venues in 42 states – for more than six years. “A big part of my job is to put the answer on the tip of your tongue with subtle hinting in the question.”
Although there are no GWD venues in Crawfordsville, Short has brought the company’s pub-trivia experience to a handful of local community nonprofits with which he’s affiliated.
After a successful July trivia night at the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County, he’s hosting a similar event at XX p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at St. John’s Episcopal Church to support its food-security outreach.
Teams of up to six will compete in eight rounds of questions spanning a bevy of topics and including audio rounds (music, movie or TV clips) and a visual round (identifying photos or images). No team? No problem. Just show up, enjoy a drink and maybe you could lead your team to trivia glory.
“We always have free agents who turn up and everybody’s friendly,” Short says. “This is a great event for singles or young couples without kids near Crawfordsville to come out and meet new folks.
“Plus, it’s a way for people to see what I do for a living.”
Short serves as final arbiter on questions written for use in GWD’s daily quizzes and his annual tally runs higher than 20,000 questions. His bona fides? Look no further than his six-game “Jeopardy!” appearance in 2011, a run whose support from Crawfordsville business he fondly remembers.
When it comes to GWD questions, Short maintains a consistent tone and tenor – punching up and taming down when necessary.
“I always say we’re primarily an entertainment company where trivia is our medium to entertain people – sort of a comedy show where you also get to show off what you know,” Short says.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
Here are sample questions from Christopher Short’s trivia night in July. (Answers below)
- What soul-music legend called his backup group the Raelettes?
- Which animal can see in the ultraviolet spectrum – cheetahs or bees?
- After Linda Hamilton, two “Game of Thrones” stars battled Terminators as Sarah Connor. Name either one.
- Little Falcon Heene made the news in 2009, when his lying parents said he was stuck in what kind of conveyance?
- Ariana Grande will play Penny in NBC’s Travolta-free live production of what ’60s-themed musical?
- 1) Ray Charles | 2) Bees | 3) Emilia Clarke or Lena Headey | 4) Balloon | 5) “Hairspray”
IF YOU GO
Trivia Night
St. John’s Episcopal Church
212 S. Green St.
Crawfordsville, IN
(765) 362-2331
Admission: $5 / person
Teams: Up to six people; bring a team or join when you arrive
Proceeds: Benefit St. John’s food security outreach in Crawfordsville
