by Deborah Rogers –
What’s the one thing that a British person living abroad always says they miss about home? Family; a certain variety of tea; Marmite; these might come out of their mouth, but deep down what they are really thinking is “I miss the pub!” My goodness, how I miss the pub. Getting your own pint from the bar, a bag of crisps to share, the hubbub and banter all around you. Maybe a game of pool or maybe, when you’re in your local on a weekday night, there’s a pub quiz. Some guy with a microphone and a devilish selection of questions that will have everyone in your crowd competing to show off their knowledge of European Cup winners, or hit singles from the 1970s. Nowadays you only have to form the words “I wonder if …” and half the people in your company will be picking up their phones and finding the answer for you. The long late-night debates of yesteryear, raging over who starred in what film (“You know, that actor, who was in that other film with the woman from …”) seem to be obsolete, but you’ll never take away my right to argue over the answers to a pub trivia quiz!
I emailed some friends: “How are you, I miss you, can we get together?” There’s only one way to do it safely and that is online. A year into this pandemic madness and most people have sampled one or two online activities. Possibly a book club meeting, or an AGM, or you “gathered” with extended family over the holidays. If you’ve been on Zoom you’ll know some of the pitfalls: of people muted (or not), of talking over each other, or the very worst, of totally stilted conversations. I wanted to see my friends, but I wanted a reason for them to feel enthused about it too. That’s how I ended up hosting my own pub quiz, and having the most fun I’ve had in quite some time.
Pre-Covid I’d been to a few Drink & Think trivia nights at Boondocks in Sidney. They were always fun nights, very loud and interactive, making the most of host Tom Watson’s unflappable stage presence. Rolling with the times, Tom has invested in “mmhmm,” a nifty app that upgrades the standard digital experience, and now allows him to host his trivia nights – with all the bells and whistles – to players in their homes.
I invited friends from seven households to join. I chose eight o’clock on a Friday night for the most chance of “going out” energy. This initially elicited digital groans from friends who are usually winding down at that stage of the week. But I promised fun and chat and the chance to have a drink together and they all joined. Ahead of time Tom sent me a list of topics to choose from. The quiz had five rounds of five questions each and the potential subjects were wide ranging. I avoided “Sports” as it’s a very weak area for me, and thought I’d also keep the playing field level by not selecting “Literature.” Later I would discover that level playing fields are for losers – by then it was too late!
There were drinks in most hands as we shared some hellos and catch ups. Everyone was armed with pre-printed play sheets, and a whole range of excuses for why it wouldn’t be their night. I had some guesses as to which friends would excel in which categories, but mostly I just felt a deep contentment settle on me to see all those lovely faces beamed into my home. You don’t know how much you’ll miss things until they’re gone, and the easy company of friends has been so sorely missed this year.
Tom joined our call at eight on the dot and took over as host so my husband and I could play too. It’s different having someone live to interact with; he could watch all our faces, get to know us a little, pick up on clues or comments and engage us all in the evening. The quiz rounds were just hard enough to have us frowning and discussing together, and special effects like videos, sound effects and music made it feel much more of an event then if I’d just been reading questions out to the group.
It took just over an hour – about the right length of time to remain engaged. Although my friends Alison and Dale were the clear winners, everyone tried, and everyone had fun. Afterwards we enjoyed a debrief about the experience.
“We had tons of fun and would both happily do it again”; “It was great, and so nice to see everyone!”; “He was a funny host,” oh, and “one bonus is I was in my PJs the whole time!” I think my friends and I will be planning a real life pub quiz when the time is right, but for now it’s nice to have this option for some online fun.
Want to book a Virtual Pub Quiz? Contact Tom: tom@pulsetalent.com.
