The Olde English

About

Geeks Who Drink's weekly pub quiz, at The Olde English Pub & Pantry in Albany, NY!

Hosted by Quizmaster Darius Romero, Tuesday nights at 7 PM.

Story

What’s a pub quiz?

Simply, a quiz game played in a pub. It's an Anglo-Irish tradition, but our goal is the same: to foster friendly competition, and promote social drinking. A noble cause!

Isn't that just “trivia night”?

No, and no. Most so-called “trivia nights” consist of either an MP3J reading Trivial Pursuit cards in between bad music, or a bunch of people staring at TVs with buzzers in hand. Our quiz burns through nearly 70 multimedia questions in two exciting hours. The quizmaster gets to know the players, and smack talk flying around in all directions is pretty much par for the course.

Does it cost anything?

With rare exceptions, no. You should buy food and drinks though. Our business model is no big secret: We drive business to our host venues or we get fired. So just ordering water is NOT cool. Plus, fish have sex in that stuff.

Do I need to sign up beforehand or can I just show up and play?

Just show up. Team size is limited to six. Play solo if you'd like, but don't blame us if you're lonely.

All right, so what’s in it for me?

Besides a couple hours of free entertainment, the top teams get bar gift certificates. Plus there are chances to win free pints (or gift-certificate equivalents) for answering five bonus questions throughout the evening. We also have bizarre prizes courtesy of our weekly Bonus Email Question. Finally, your team can revel in the eternal glory of having your photo posted on this here website.

What's the quiz format like?

The quiz consists of eight rounds of eight questions each, played by teams of up to six people. Questions are read aloud by the quizmaster and teams write down the answers, turning them in at the end of each round.

Rounds 1, 4 and 6 are themed rounds – anything from “Eight Questions About Sex That Won’t Make You Too Uncomfortable” to “TV Shows Your Parents Watch.” Round 2 is a music round worth double points: name the artist and title for each song clip. Round 3 is a multiple choice round or a speed round. Round 5 is a visual round based on a printed handout. The all-audio Round 7 usually covers movies or TV shows, and is worth the standard eight points. Finally, Round 8 is always 16 points on Random Knowledge.

One round can be jokered, doubling your points for that round only (yes, the 16-point rounds are fair game). The team with the most points after eight rounds is the winner.