MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2007 | BACK TO SCHOOL | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN | 59
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Teammates await as one of their players writes down what they believe to be the correct answer to the question.
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The points are also doubled in the second round, and at the end comes a final question, for which teams know the category and must make a wager before they are asked the question. The team with the most points wins.
Smackdown in L-town
Several bars around town host trivia nights. Andy Morton hosts what is arguably Lawrence's most popular trivia night, Smackdown! Trivia at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
"There are a lot of people that just remember the strangest things," Morton says. "Where else are you going to be able to vomit up all of that knowledge?"
Jon Nicklas, Overland Park senior and a regular trivia player, says that people who are into trivia are usually relatively smart people who like to learn eclectic information that can come in handy during conversation.
"For some reason, I like knowing obscure facts," Nicklas says.
The best moments in trivia are when the answer hits you like a bolt of lightning, says Dan Pierron, Olathe senior, who plays and hosts trivia regularly in Lawrence.
Pierron's love of rivia began with Trivial Pursuit when he was a kid. He participated in scholars' bowls in high school and now plays at bars for fun. During school breaks, he usually doesn't miss an episode of Jeopardy! he says.
Some people might be naturally more inclined than others to soak up trivial information, says Ray Hamel, a former trivia writer for the New York Times and co-author of The New York Times Trivia Quiz Book. He says that the ability to recall trivia is a talent that people are born with.
"I've known people who try blunt
force memorization of facts," Hamel says. "Trivia people want to know what they know; studying takes the fun out of it."
Both Hamel and Morton, the trivia host, have experience on the other side of the trivia aisle as well: they have to write it. Hamel says that most of the puzzles he writes begin with a basic theme and he then formulates questions related to that theme. Most of the questions come straight from his own trivia-filled memory, Hamel says.
He then fills in the last few pieces needed by looking online or in a thesaurus.
The host of a trivia contest announces questions and correct answers to a field of players. Several bars in Lawrence offer trivia as a form of entertainment.
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Morton has to write 100 new questions each week for Smackdown! Trivia, an event he has hosted for seven years. "Do that math," he says. Sometimes it feels like a chore for Morton, and other times he has no
trouble creating the 12 categories and questions to fit them, he says.
ers" and teams who play trivia create team names like "the Fibonacci Sequins" and "the Amazing Racists".
Morton says that sometimes he intentionally tries to irk people with the categories he creates. His favorite example? Full House questions.
Trivia is a creative effort; hosts come up with categories like "celebrity pedophiles" and "famous cheat
The winners of trivia usually earn a small cash prize, but they also walk out with enough tidbits of worthless information to add up to one bloated ego and several weeks' worth of bragging rights.