Parlor game pub quiz
February 6, 2020 11:33 PM Subscribe
I have a feeling y'all would be the right people to ask about this.
Somebody wants me to host bar trivia or something similar. I would of course love to. But as much as I enjoy bar trivia games, they kinda suck for reasons including that 1. they're not a spectator sport: people will only stay in the room if they're participating 2. people form teams and don't find occasion to meet strangers, which is exactly the opposite of the point of going to the bar and maybe 3. being the only person on stage is hard.
I guess what I need is recommendations for parlor games that have both a participatory and speculatory aspect. I imagine it as me on stage, with one person on either side, us miked and the audience participating. It's mostly a quiz (where do I find good trivia questions?) but there are also in-between games between me and the onstage participants about whatever, which largely serve as conduits for embarrassment to make the audience laugh. See "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue," which I haven't listened to but sounds like it's on the right track.
I want it to feel like a UK panel show, but I don't have any professional comedians on hand. These would be ordinary people.
Basically the question is WHAT'S SOME GOOD GAMES TO PLAY except they are games where there are viewers who are also participants.
Somebody wants me to host bar trivia or something similar. I would of course love to. But as much as I enjoy bar trivia games, they kinda suck for reasons including that 1. they're not a spectator sport: people will only stay in the room if they're participating 2. people form teams and don't find occasion to meet strangers, which is exactly the opposite of the point of going to the bar and maybe 3. being the only person on stage is hard.
I guess what I need is recommendations for parlor games that have both a participatory and speculatory aspect. I imagine it as me on stage, with one person on either side, us miked and the audience participating. It's mostly a quiz (where do I find good trivia questions?) but there are also in-between games between me and the onstage participants about whatever, which largely serve as conduits for embarrassment to make the audience laugh. See "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue," which I haven't listened to but sounds like it's on the right track.
I want it to feel like a UK panel show, but I don't have any professional comedians on hand. These would be ordinary people.
Basically the question is WHAT'S SOME GOOD GAMES TO PLAY except they are games where there are viewers who are also participants.
One quiz i went to last year had none standard rounds, the only one i can remember was that at the beginning everyone got a sheet of paper and had to make a paper place. Longest flights got points for their overall total. You'll need space big enough for long flights to do this.
A toin coss conmpetition might also be possible. Basically tossing from an oche to get closest to the wall. I'll leave you to work out your own rules and round set up.
posted by biffa at 3:41 AM on February 7, 2020
A toin coss conmpetition might also be possible. Basically tossing from an oche to get closest to the wall. I'll leave you to work out your own rules and round set up.
posted by biffa at 3:41 AM on February 7, 2020
I've always enjoyed Balderdash type games -- basically everyone invents definitions for an obscure dictionary word and someone has to guess which is the real definition. It could pretty easily be turned into an onstage bar game like you're describing -- I've heard it played on the radio.
posted by mekily at 7:34 AM on February 7, 2020
posted by mekily at 7:34 AM on February 7, 2020
Agreed with the above a bit: you can slightly modify your standard pub quiz and instead of people huddling at a table just have each table send delegates to the stage for a round or question. It doesn't work if you have lots of teams and it irritates very competitive pub quiz types but if you allow some chatter and heckling and ribbing from the floor and you as MC/compere can give the patter and sass right back it can really be a fun night, and certainly often more fun than groups of people whispering together with their heads bent over answer sheets for long stretches.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:02 AM on February 7, 2020
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:02 AM on February 7, 2020
A spelling bee could be adjusted a bit to work for adults
posted by soelo at 9:58 AM on February 7, 2020
posted by soelo at 9:58 AM on February 7, 2020
Response by poster: Thank you for your answers, you are helping me sharpen up the idea! Keep going. But where do I find the questions? I once hosted an informal quiz, and I wrote some of the questions myself, which was loads of labor. Not interested in doing that again. Neither interested in using trivial pursuit cards.
posted by Sterros at 12:42 PM on February 7, 2020
posted by Sterros at 12:42 PM on February 7, 2020
Aw, I was just going to suggest something using Trivial Pursuit cards or similar.
From onstage, you read out a question from the card.
Table 4 answers it correctly. They're all invited up on stage.
If everyone from their table can (individually or as a team) answer the rest of the questions from that card, they win...I dunno, an appetizer or a round of drinks or something. If not, they go back to their seats and you ask another question to the crowd.
So answer a question correctly, you get to come up on stage. Answer some more questions correctly on stage, and you get a free pint or half-price on your burger?
Alternatively, (although it might take a bit of research and some showmanship), you could do some game-theory Monty Hall Let's Make A Deal routines, rather than trivia. Have a Carrot in a Box tournament? Or mix them: Your correct answer lets you come up and collect one of two envelopes. One's empty, one's got a tenner. Oh, you want the blue one? Crowd, what do you think? Tell you what, I'll give you a fiver right now, if you give me the envelope back and go sit down. No? Wanna keep it? How about this? You stay up here, I'll ask another question, the answerer comes up and gets the other envelope. Now do the two of you want to switch? Etc.
posted by bartleby at 1:15 PM on February 7, 2020
From onstage, you read out a question from the card.
Table 4 answers it correctly. They're all invited up on stage.
If everyone from their table can (individually or as a team) answer the rest of the questions from that card, they win...I dunno, an appetizer or a round of drinks or something. If not, they go back to their seats and you ask another question to the crowd.
So answer a question correctly, you get to come up on stage. Answer some more questions correctly on stage, and you get a free pint or half-price on your burger?
Alternatively, (although it might take a bit of research and some showmanship), you could do some game-theory Monty Hall Let's Make A Deal routines, rather than trivia. Have a Carrot in a Box tournament? Or mix them: Your correct answer lets you come up and collect one of two envelopes. One's empty, one's got a tenner. Oh, you want the blue one? Crowd, what do you think? Tell you what, I'll give you a fiver right now, if you give me the envelope back and go sit down. No? Wanna keep it? How about this? You stay up here, I'll ask another question, the answerer comes up and gets the other envelope. Now do the two of you want to switch? Etc.
posted by bartleby at 1:15 PM on February 7, 2020
If you need questions, get a child's book of weird and wonderful facts. A children's librarian can help you. Then turn the facts into questions.
posted by Enid Lareg at 7:04 AM on February 8, 2020
posted by Enid Lareg at 7:04 AM on February 8, 2020
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posted by Wobbuffet at 11:50 PM on February 6, 2020 [2 favorites]