We Interview: Trevor Trifiro of All-Star Pop Culture Trivia
Seattlest has heard good things about the All-Star Pop Culture quiz at Jillian's ever since it started up. We still haven't had a chance to check it out—Tuesday's our regular trivia night, even when we're not hosting. But since the spring season kicks off tonight, we did the next best thing: interviewed Trevor Trifiro, the brains behind the quiz.
Assume I've never played pub trivia before. What should I expect when I come to All-Star Pop Culture trivia?
If you've never played a pub quiz before, that's the way we like it! Our quiz is extremely different from your standard variety pub quiz format imported from England. Ours is more of a game show, presented in a multimedia show on screens all around the room.
Each quiz features 6 rounds of 10 questions, each round of a particular category. We also have a Half-time Multiple Choice question, and a Bonus Round Question at the end of the quiz. Each question in each round is worth 1 point each, the Half-time question is 10 points, and the Bonus round question is like Final Jeopardy, where you can wager any amount you like up to 20 points—but it's negative if you get it wrong!
Each Thursday starts at 7p.m. and last about 2 hours. And it's all ages until 9p.m., so you can bring your kid for those questions you think you're too old for!
Each team has a $10 entry fee each week, and the winning team of the night receives 50% of the money collected that night (usually over $100). Since All-Star Pop Culture is a league and we total each team's score week to week, the remainder of the entry fees go towards the team ranked #1 in each city at the close of the season, and also to the winner of the Championship at the end of the season. 100% of the team fees go back to the teams, and are available for any team to win.
What inspired you to create a quiz focused on pop culture?
Well, the real spark in creating the league came from VH1's World Series of Pop Culture, which (sadly) aired for only 2 years. Being a pub quiz fan, and a huge TV game show fan, I found a hole in the local "quiz scene"—everyone does what I like to call "textbook trivia." Don't get me wrong, I love pub quizzes and still go out to play them in the off-season. But how about all of us who don't know all the elements on the periodic table, or what is the widest river in Missouri?
Some of us are experts at equally trivial things like '80s Hair Metal, or Heist Movies, or Aaron Spelling TV. I specifically sought out those folks that weren't playing pub quizzes already, but given the right material, would enjoy them.
What does "pop culture" cover? Sports? Politics? Celebrity gossip?
Our categories fall into 1 of 5 genres: Film, TV, Music, Personalities, or Minutia. The last one can get a little vague, but we keep it it fun and pop culture oriented. We slip in a few sports questions every once in awhile. Politics have come up in a quiz or two, but again very rarely. Celebrity gossip ... I don't like the word gossip. Gossip can create a lot of disputes from the teams since the sourcing can get unreliable, so we like to stick to Celebrity News.
Do you ever slip in a highbrow round just to change things up?
If you asked the teams they'd probably say yes! But I like to keep things fair and competitive for all levels. If we have a highbrow round, it will have some easy questions in it.
How many teams are hardcore, seriously competing for the division title? Is it fun for a team to come and play for a week with no intention of trying to win the whole thing?
I'd say that about 50% of the teams are seriously competing for the divisional title, while the rest are there to just have fun. Since we average 20-25 teams each week, the nightly prize can be worth popping in for just a week. If nothing else, the multimedia quiz is fun for everyone. All the fun of a non-league pub quiz night can still be had in our league. We've just added MORE competition and fun with the league format.
How did you get involved with Jillian's?
I first got involved with Jillian's through our sister company, Seattle Poker Open, which is a free poker league. We started hosting free poker tournaments at Jillian's back in 2005, and I developed a good relationship with the management and the staff.
When we created All-Star Pop Culture, I approached Jillian's first about hosting it, since their existing trivia night at the time wasn't working out for them. We got 14 teams the first night, and that has been our slowest night in over a year. Jillian's has been integral in the success of the trivia league.
How do you coordinate Seattle's quiz with the out-of-state divisions? Are you hosting them, or does someone else do it?
Each division of the league (Seattle, San Francisco and Pasadena) plays the same exact quiz, on the same exact night, at the same exact time. Through the miracle of modern technology, we create each quiz in a digital format that each location can download and run each Thursday night. While I play Quiz Master in Seattle, each of the other locations have their own QM's. No matter what location you are playing in, you'll get the same exact experience as the others.
Do you write all the questions, or do you collaborate with other writers?
I write most of them, but work with another couple folks who contribute every now and then.
How much time does it take you to write a week's quiz? Do you work week-by-week or a season at a time?
We map out the categories for each season before it begins. We plan each week, and which week will have video categories, or themes for the week, during the off-season just before we start up. Then we write the individual questions on a week-by-week basis. At one point we wrote questions for about half the season ahead of time, but found that writing them each week keeps them fresh, and allows us to put relevant current events in. From concept to playable multimedia quiz, it takes us about 25 hours of work each week.
What do you think makes a good trivia question?
Well, there are all kinds of question "flavors," but my favorite is the kind of question that the quizzee is sure they know ... it's in the back of their mind ... and at the last minute it comes to them. I think that is the most fun type of question for pub quizzes.
That said, I think that looking at the question specifically is a little too close. If you back up to the category level, you'd get a better idea of how we write questions. We try to write questions for all levels of difficulty, so everyone can have fun. With 10 questions in each round, on average you'll see 3 easy questions that don't require much knowledge in the category, 4 or 5 that are fairly easy if you know the category, and 2 or 3 that are "stumpers," meaning you have to be an expert in the category to get it right. We really put a lot of effort into making a quiz that is, as a whole, fun for everyone, regardless of your knowledge level.
Is it true you humbled Ken Jennings?
Inadvertently, yeah. He was pulled in as a secret ringer for Little Lebowski, the San Francisco team that traveled up to participate in our Championship. Unfortunately, pop culture doesn't seem to be "his thing," and they were beaten in the head-to-head finals competition. I tried to chat with him about it after, but he kind of left in a hurry once they lost!
If you want in on the full-season action, get to Jillian's tonight. Sign up at 6:30, quiz at 7:00. If you can't make it, you can hear Trifiro in action every week in the Seattle Times's weekly trivia podcast. Search for all-star pop culture on iTunes.
