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In 2024, I participated in 280 quizzes (that is 58 less than last year). Of those I hosted 27 online, 21 of those from home and 6 'on the road' from Bournmouth to Dunmore Head, The Westernmost point of The British Isles. (Join in my on-line quizzes at 7 PM Quiz on facebook) The vast majority of the rest were SpeedQuizzes 21 of them I would not want to go back to, all things being equal (Click on the map and look for 'meh!'). 19 of them I considered 'OK', 37 'Good', 45 'Excellent', and 131 'Top Rated' Of the latter category I have 14 'Quizzes of the Month' |
I like to spread the love, so I steer away from giving venues two quizzes of the month, hence there are some damn fine quizzes not on this list.
If you home in on my entry for this pub in January 2024 you will see the justification for it being Quiz of the month. Luke the host has now gone to Australia, and given that replacement host Chris has been unfair to me means this out of the running. Shame, cos its a super pub with some lovely people.
This feels like a tough one to write, but it should not be; it is in contention for Quiz of the Year. At a Casino! We won the biggest prize we have won in a pub quiz. And we were second! OMG!!
First the host: Shaun, who I saw only last night at Grange Moor, and was full of praise for, with much the same format except with a short observation round, i.e. a very good set of questions with particular nods to the variety of formats and especially music. And to humbly reiterate, the best team by a mile won by a mile and there was nothing anyone could have done about it.
The screenage was spectacular with a screen that must have been the size of the largest of roadside billboards, and Shaun's sound, timing, and humour was on the money. No wonder Alan from SpeedQuizzing wanted him to host this most prestigious of gigs. Why 'prestigious'? How about free entry, a complimentary top class Czech lager, and £400 in prizes?! (£200, £125, and £75). I have only ever 'won' £100 cash for winning a quiz in a thousand of them, so this was on a different planet in terms of prizage. And that has to be a very significant consideration when assessing the merits of a pub quiz, especially when the content and presentation is top notch - one of those when the SpeedQuiz questions are augmented way on the positive side, cake mix with clotted cream, merengue, ginger, manuka honey served by cheerleaders on roller skates (OK that's enough, we get it).
And that beer was only £4 a pint anyway, if you bought two at a time, so really it wasn't as if you got screwed up somewhere else. I guess the psychology is for every 1000 people who join the Casino one of them blows tens of thousands. Is that immorality or humanity? It's both. I fear immorality is the defining characteristic of Homo Sapiens.
I often mention good competition as being noteworthy. Today the first placed team was as good as I have happened upon, and from the half way mark we (Grom and I) had resigned ourselves to second place. We played just about as well as we could of, left very little out there, and, still got beat 993 to 853, 140 points, or 16.5% behind. It was only the last round that was worth twenty points a question with ten bonus. I was pondering during the quiz that even if Zoe Green had been sat with us we would not have won (She is a friend from back in the day who is super handy at quiz and totally brilliant at music). Ironically we would have won with Zoe - as she was the cornerstone of the winning team today, and was sat with her back to us twenty yards away and I never even saw her until the very end of the night when I sought out the winning team 'Thin Quizzy' to give them 'spec. What are the odds? :)
QOTM. We drove home happy after a fascinating day.
I LOVED IT.
I have just spent 30 minutes looking through some great quizzes from March '24 with eye wipingly fabulous hosts, pubs and people, and Ashley scared me last night. Some of them have already been quiz of the month. Seven remain, each of which I just would love to tell how bloody great they are. They put me as a person to shame as a pessimistic, self centred, grumpy, friendless old bastard. Shit I'd wake up on a sunny day and complain abut fucking jets first - It's not the day's fault!!
So one of the last things Ashey said to me last night was "Quiz of the Month?". I have been pondering that ever since. And I can't say, because there are two days to go.
Bugger, let's talk about the quiz. Ashley is very much the "It's just a lot of fun" persona, like Alan Partridge and Alan Carr had a child and told him to be extrovert. The thing is, I really think he knows exactly what he is doing. I've grown to like Ashley's style but have always tempered my amusement with a little cynicism that it is more a bit of fun than quiz. Today was a quiz payer's quiz in disguise. I will readily criticise score hiding, but I have good reason to think that today it was in no way malevolent. The music was like connected but varied, I have said Ashley puts so much work into his quiz, and this was an example, he didn't even tell us it was connected! The special round he put on for last week's losers was a niche topic but he made it gettable with a couple of multiple choice. A buzz-in round; had I died and gone to heaven? There was score inflation, the nearest wins was a ridiculous amount (in the middle not the end of the quiz), but he only put fast tracks on to question 10 of the last round of 20 (in evil mode) and it was the wheel as opposed to automatic, which meant that in addition to being dead lucky I could more or less relax, thinking "how is he gonna roger me?" and with each question passing by telling myself "He is not!"A big meal and a pint for a tenner. Free quiz with everlasting transferable prizes. Great presentation and a lovely welcome, good sound where I was, lots of great questions. I am so glad I made the trip. And if Ashley pitched it at me, well then he made a damn good job of it.
There was so much so right about this quiz, I don't know where to start. £3.30 a pint?. Perhaps in that it vindicates everything I maintain about quizzes being enjoyable, challenging and fair, and by presenting the basics well, we have a pub where one literally couldn't move at times (honestly, the times I had to say "excuse me, may I squeeze past?"). It was just solid.
I will do a comparison with last night's quiz in Lymm, which I thought was terrific until the last five silver snitch questions. Lymm has a population of 12,700 (2021), Moulton has a population of about 3,000. I can confidently say that Lymm is not only more affluent it is more of a 'destination' village, having received many accolades. I cannot say with absolute confidence that some forms of fuckaboutery increase or decrease footfall. There were 11 teams in a busy corner of the pub at the quiz in Lymm of a Friday night, and there was plenty of space away from where the quiz was. Tonight there were 21 teams and every seat was occupied an hour before the quiz started. I can say with absolute confidence that I have not seen a shred of quantitive evidence to suggest that rogering good teams to prevent them winning benefits beer sales. I can say with absolute confidence that I dislike being prevented from winning.
Anyway, back to today's quiz, I want to thank Andy from the bottom of my heart. He was so forthright and he owned what he did (he used the phrase several times!). The questions, the format, the presentation, the entry fee (zero), the prizes (zero!!!) the delays, the system, the introduction "go for a drink somewhere else and come back for the last question, you could still win" and "here is a point for a team which has done something nice". I found myself in total agreement on everything. He didn't say "it's just a bit of fun". He didn't have too; it WAS. It struck me that everyone in the pub thoroughly loved it and the vast majority stayed on for the karaoke (even if Miley Cyrus was "a bit too contemporary"!!!).
I cannot remember a quiz I've enjoyed more for its own sake. On a re read on May 1, I realise just how quiz of the month it is.
This may be the best pub quiz I have ever been too. Since I started keeping records I am 25 short of 1,000 of them. Some I have visited many times, many only once, but I have records for 539 different ones. I have many, many more, but never kept comprehensive records. I would warrant that no person has visited more different pub quizzes, than me, in the world.
And this may just be the best one!
Now, defining 'best' is problematic. What criteria are we judging? Content? Presentation? Reward? Consistency? 'Fun'??? It is impossible to quantify precisely, but, as I sit here pondering, I am thinking some combination that when collated leads me to ask. Of all the frikking BRILLIANT pub quizzes I have been too, if I could only go to one of them for the rest of my life which one would it be? It breaks my heart to have to choose one, given that I love some of them that much. I would need more time to reflect, don't we always?, and things might change. You fall in love, ten years later it's acrimony and sadness. My favourite child is the one I'm thinking about. Oh stop prevaricating and tell us what makes this so good.
Simplicity. 60 questions, scores on screens, constant leaderboards, consistent scoring, good sound, good screenage, zero feckaboutery, busy pub, a flipping great prize of all the cash, twin hosts who I didn't spend much time watching but, though boisterous and noisy DID NOT impose any dick swingery on proceedings, maintaining an affable relationship with the entire crowd by 'roving' and interacting, with a bonus of little things for the teams at the bottom of the table. The music bingo and play your cards right were entirely divorced from the quiz. When you go for a meal, you might not be bothered about an opera. When you go to a quiz, you may really not want to endure 30 minutes of 'hitmix' bingo. Thank you!!
The daft thing is, this is not flawless!! (IMHO of course). Perfection is impossible. Once you know it starts after 9 that is one of those flaws eliminated. Once you realise that if you are old and want a conversation you don't sit in front of the speakers - well d-huey. I'm drifting here, but Wythenshawe is worth many a PhD in social sciences, geography, economics, and psychology. For me, to be here, with my friend, bickering about what to do, drinking beer, observing the world and doing a quiz is good. And this is as good as any.
PS. I have never enjoyed hitmix bingo. Until tonight. But that's another story!
If all pubs were like this I would not feel compelled to write about them. I would just have to admit the world was a great place and that I am a favoured son. This makes for such an interesting comparison with my last quiz, in Dorridge, in that the content, structure and presenter were kind of clones, but the soul was entirely different. From the get go and the phone call (answered immediately here), pure consistent meritocracy in scoring, zero feckaboutery, no meanness, pleasant customers ready with congratulations, innovative, dynamic and interesting music from distinctively different places time-wise, and not being ripped off with prices. Nice prizes for first and second here, and divorcing the nearest wins to a jackpot question is such a pleasant change from the golden snitches that some hosts use them for; a true opportunity to bring everybody back into the mix up. I want to thank Jo from the bottom of my heart for restoring my faith in human nature and my enjoyment of quizzes, and Somerset will now be officially my second cricket team.
Hypothesis: People with relative high wealth and position may avoid true tests of ability. Far better to shore their status up by feigning understanding that their clique can agree upon (Oh Waitrose is so much better quality than Lidl, Vincent Van Gogh is just the best, price reflects value), than allowing some upstart to run intellectual rings around them. The king is in the altogether. I suggest in Dorridge he would be lauded. In Taunton I hope he would have a tougher time. Sorry for going off on one!
I really thought Ambleside was going to get quiz of the month. On the last day of the month it has been usurped. Why? Well, it boils down to what do we go to a quiz for, and fundamentally it is questions, and of the contenders at the end of July this quiz gets the edge. An Olympic round with questions straight out of the oven - wow, as good a specialist set as I have heard, challenging, original and bang up to the minute. The Geography round was so not SpeedQuizzing (the company) style. The music round was proper, all shuffled in with the SpeedQuizzing set. Like DJ Daz two nights ago, Chris is real attentive, exemplifying that edge which good full time hosts have over pub staff delivering not just the questions, but the event (It can be subtle, but it is a thing). I was umming and ahing right to question 17 in the last round when he said "that's it with fast tracks" - In retrospect it was a slam dunk.
The real magic is making a meritocracy seem wide open. Everyone had skin in the game up to three questions remaining, and although we won by a chalk, we were not 100% sure, ergo neither was anyone else.
A lot of good quizzes this month, but a shitload of questions by a bonzer host in a beautiful place = a great night. Quiz Of The Month July 2024
Quite simply I (we) have been to very few quizzes as good as this. I must remind myself I am writing as a quiz player for quiz people. I am trying to think of something I can mark Geoff, James, or the pub down on, and, as a quiz player who likes a beer and practically free food, I can not. I'm going to go to my what makes a good quiz list and see just how many boxes it ticks.. All of them just about, nothing significant missing. 120 questions in two hours with zero feckaboutery without being rushed.
Geoff HAD taken the shit questions out, there were three prizes, The sound was perfect, the crowd were lovely and no wonder. James, who alternates hosting these with Geoff, was not just attentive and welcoming; despite being naturally these things, he, dare I say, tried to be even nicer! And impossible as it seems he nailed it. Geoff likewise, although a DJ, really understood quiz, and primarily seemed to conduct it as a quiz player, with not an iota of resentment to us (we played pretty balls out and loved it).Today I went to watch the film Twisters. It surprised me in that I enjoyed it a lot, but let's face it, it was 'just a bit of fun'. Some quizzes are 'just a bit of fun'. This quiz was so much more. The only way this is gonna be beaten for quiz of the month is if I go to those one off billions of prizes thing which does 100 great questions. Or one just as good which leaves our scores on the handsets. These two guys are the dogs. Go and see Chris Judge at the Dysarts on a Wednesday and this on a Thursday just five miles apart and you just may get too see TWO quizzes of the month on consecutive days. That's a one in 450 chance. Fingers crossed. Whatever. Great guys, great quiz, we are blessed.
It was a tough choice for QOTM this August. 120 questions and food edges it.
Damn computer's broke! So I'm trying to dictate this onto my daybook. I am nervous talking to my phone like this because I would like this review to be a quarter as good as Chris's quiz was this evening. I don't often say it, but this is the recipe performed perfectly. 60 questions general knowledge, 20 good, balanced, music questions, low value nearest wins. In between the rounds were short bingo games maybe two or three questions worth of points, so all in all a beautifully balanced quiz and genuinely just a bit of fun. Chris is the most amicable of hosts, we were lucky enough to be sat near him and the sound and screen were perfect. I nearly forgot. There was a contentious question. The detail is immaterial. Chris dealt with it on the fly perfectly, everybody happy.
All this really is not important compared with the pub. it was ram jam packed with 22 teams one handset per team; there was no more room to sit down. Some pretty decent competition, a buzz in round... Omg, what on Earth more could we ask for in just over 90 minutes? Five stars Slam Dunk. Cash prize, buzz in round and great music. I can only have a joint quiz of the month this August
This may be the quiz I've most enjoyed so far in Ireland this last three weeks, and I have been to a lot of good quizzes. I do believe that seeing the scoreboards on our handsets between every question was luck rather than design, but oh what a nice thing it is for me to have as a player, divesting me of a major, rational, seed of concern, and allowing me to measure my responses and play a better game.
That the second placed team, Flooring Porter, jumped on the mutually assured construction of not getting into a bitch slap fight, and, but for Sulphur and a 20 point wheel spin for me, might easily have won. Whatever, because the 'best' teams left each other alone they virtually guaranteed themselves a huge chunk of the prizage and glory, and tapped a small tack into the coffin of stealing points off other teams. I have to re-listen, but I played that part of the quiz much better than I have done in the past, and got a general round of surprise and approval when I asked first if I could decline, then if I could take the ten points off myself, all in good humour. Of course it flummoxed Chris a little, but he did get his 'interesting' round which ended up with me getting slotted perhaps four times, but eeking bloody revenge on the transgressors! I was lucky, but bitch slaps are still not nice. It was both remarkable, and dare I hazard, pertinent, that the reaction was so positive to my initial exchange. Never mind the great prizes, the biggest gain for me was forever knowing there is a terrific team of four, mixed generation, who were not only super adept at the task in hand, but, far more importantly, aware of the critical nature of co-operation, resulting in what I perceived as friendship, mutual admiration, loyalty and genuine net social benefit.
In Father Ted there is a character, Fred Rickwood, who presents 'A Song For Ireland' who seems drunk and incomprehensible until he tackles the job in hand of presenting the show, when he becomes the model host, articulate and competent. Is that an Irish thing? I'm trying to say I thought Chris was great, as a person, and a host.
The music round was notable in that although the weight was 1990s, it suited me, with Junior Senior and Bowling for Soup and a couple of very lucky punts, so once again, I only sing when I'm winning?
Free? £100 worth of prizes?? Being told that in Ireland all tab prizes must be honoured without time of purchase constraint??? This, despite the point steal round, has to be considered at the end of the tour as being in the mix.
Today is a first. I am writing this review, giving it Quiz of the Month and it isn't even starting for two hours. AND IT HAS A BITCH-SLAP round!!!
For three years it has been sticking in my craw - Why hasn't Sam had a QOTM? If I had to pick one of the many absolutely fantastic hosts that I have seen, nobody has anything remotely like my experience, if I was asked, 'Who is your Paul Scholes?', I would say 'Sam Gandy' immediately, and he is not even ginger. He is loyal to Manchester United (big negative), he can get a little emotional (big plus), but most importantly he is the consummate professional, the players player, rock solid, wipes the floor with any amount of idiots on TV and radio.This quiz will, I know, get it on merit. My trip to Ireland was a separate entity, and though I have seen some damn good quizzes in Blighty this month, it is really a no-brainer.
On a personal level, Sam has lit up mine, and many other's lives, during and after COVID. We are lucky to know him.
I don't know what I'm like, but the quiz itself was what I aim for
Beautiful. Not in a 5 hours to get ready Cara Delevingne red carpet kind of way. Nothing complex, no affectations, just everything was - just right. The first three records I heard were Thinking of You, What a Fool Believes, and I'm Coming Out (big up Nile Rogers!). The first person I spoke to was the girl behind the bar who was just so welcoming and kind enough to key in her membership number. Johns was £3 ish a pint. There were pictures of Marilyn Monroe AND Jeremy Clarkson in the bog. It was a cosy, friendly, warm gentrified pit village club. I was lucky enough to sit next to James and his family, and I bet they ask to come here again. And I've not even started on the quiz.
Phil was exactly what I think these things demand. Clear, perfect timing, warm, attentive and entertaining without doing a dump on the quiz itself, and any aficionado will tell you, SpeedQuizzing sets knock spots off the average written one. I really have not particularly enjoyed the two quizzes I had been too before this, and they put me on a bit of a downer. What joy to realise that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world.
So, Rob and Steve (comiteeee), Brad Pitt Benjamin Button in reverse, the manageress who didn't tell me her name, let alone phone number, everybody in da house, and especially Phil Monk. You made an old man happy!!!
Choosing this months Quiz of The Month should not have been difficult, I've really not been to as many as usual. I had it down to two, The Moss Trooper and The Bird I'the Hand. I stared at these for an hour and thought "Feck it - simplicity is the key"
Quiz of The Month November 2024
Spoons. SpeedQuiz. £100 prize. A trifecta of awesomeness. And then Gareth. I should really come here every week (at least until I win!). Do the board in Watford pay any attention? (I know they do, but Tim Martin has a lot on his plate). 36 teams on a dark December boxing day when going out is going out of fashion, and the unassuming, yet brutally competent, Gareth managing to persuade even me to thoroughly enjoy myself. Emily and Robyn. I love it all. Xxxxx
As inevetiable, I have not afforded due praise to many of the hosts on that map.
There should be no trepidation on my part picking out a quiz of the year, having said that, re-reading stuff I wrote months ago does rekindle affection, and shame me, that my pessimism tends to usurp my experience.
The most memorable dichotomy I had was picking out a quiz of the tour from Ireland. I wrote this on the way back over on the ferry on the 20th September"
"As the dawn breaks over Belfast Lough I still don't know what my quiz of the tour has been. My host of the tour, my parking spot, road, mountain, pint, swim, meal, walk, day. It has been over 30 days, and now I have the pleasure of imagining I am obliged to pick one. Which one would I say to myself is the one I would recommend most highly to Lulu, Lee and Helen, Miles, Dave and Sue, myself, and especially Ashton (whose birthday it was yesterday)? I'm on the plank with the point of a cutlass in the nape of my back being told too pick one. It is 'talk like a pirate day' and the scurvy blaggards are serious. I must list them side by side, re-read, compare and make a choice, otherwise I'm shark food. And honestly at this moment in time I would contemplate saying in my best 'I don't want to bitch slap' voice - "I'm not picking - kill me". Then I would think of Princess Jennifer and say. "Give me an hour". Jeezus.
I've shortlisted the 21 quizzes to 15, by selecting the 'Top rateds'. Next step whittled them down to seven, re-reading every one. I literally groaned to cross off the list. It was like saying you have 15 puppies and you have to drown 14, with the fear that they will survive, grow up to be rottweillers, a super intelligent, cooperative, understandably vengeful pack, bent on ripping me to pieces, even though I loved them all. The ferry crabs out. I have just had the best month. Went outside to watch the Ards coast slide past. Went to listen to podcasts and sleep. Three hours into the voyage and The Isle of Man dominates our course a 'labbard (I'm still on talk like a pirate day). Gannet. How can people waste so much food? Why do they sit in cars at night for an hour with their engine running?
Right, I know what my personal favourite was, the one I most enjoyed. Upstairs at Flannery's in Cork. But bitch slaps.. Feck I am not a fan of Bitch Slaps. So that is two of the seven I've crossed out, OMG I loved the Groomsport Inn as well so much. I know the best voice and person I learned the most from - Darren Graham - what a wonderful man. Speaking of wonderful men: Keith Shanley. I do not think I have ever happened upon a host who is so ethically grounded. I've seen him three times, and his ethics got me the first time! I learned and took advantage in the two I have visited this time around. Harry's first night in Galway - showing how easy it is to be brilliant with 60 questions, but along with the mighty DJ Baldy Mick I am leaning towards the larger sets. I'm not running a beauty contest here, but my DJ Baldy Mick mug is my favourite prize. Nevertheless they're fired!! Three remaining quizzes. I got followed out of Grace Neils and threatened with violence. Absolutely great quiz and host but that's crossed off. The straightest quiz I went to in the Republic was Brady's in Maynooth. Free to enter and a massive heap of prizes I wrote "I cannot possibly give a quiz of the tour award," after seeing John. But I have too, otherwise the puppy gets it. I know why I have been prevaricating for 8 hours now. Sometimes a decision is easy, but when they tell you all the entries in a Blue Peter competition were great that's bollocks, the prize was always going to the producer's niece, they barely glance at most of them (sheer speculation on my part). If any of the hosts on the list feel a bit miffed, I don't blame you. I said in jest at the beginning of the month that Irish hosts were better than Limeys. I really don't know about that, but I do think that the standard of quiz is higher here, and maybe that's down to a Northern Ireland seed thing, where quiz 'teams' do the rounds (paramount to cheating, I know), where they enjoy copious and original content.There is an understanding that the later a film is released before the Oscars, it's chances of winning are higher - It is fresh in the minds of the Academy. On my first quiz in Bangor, one month ago Adrian Harris introduced himself. On my penultimate quiz he joined me and boy - now I know what a good player is. My last quiz was a payer, the prizes were simple and I came third.
Now I have to pick a quiz of the tour. All seven are plum back in the mix"
I can do what I like herein. I want to be fair, but I do not want to constrain myself with self imposed protocol. So, much as I absolutely loved all the quizzes I have written about above, and a great many who I have missed off (my bad), it is a no brainer for me. If somebody asked me what quiz they should go to of all the ones I had enjoyed in 2024 I'd say take a month off and get on that ferry from Liverpool.
Thanks to Alan Leach and the crowd at York for the product.
You are all winners
Thankyou