Thursday 15 November 2012

Common Pub Quiz and Quiz Show Questions: Tips to Improve Your Trivia


Overused Tricky or Trick Questions
  • When given a question you have to really look at every word individually and you may have to think outside the box. For example: who was the first person to step foot on Australia? It certainly was not Captain Cook it was obviously an Aboriginal.   
  • The capital city of Australia is Canberra and is located in Australian Capital Territory (ATC). The capital of Luxembourg is Luxembourg City
  • What is the only object visible from space/the moon? This is a very bad question. The correct answer is probably none. Often the correct answer given is the Great Wall of China despite the fact you can’t see it. If you don’t believe me, believe NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html
  •    In Only Fools and Horses the car used is not a Reliant Robin it is a Reliant Regal Supervan
  • The World’s largest desert is Antarctica. A desert is not defined as being hot it is a region that gets very little rain (precipitation). When was the last time you heard it rained in Antarctica
  • The only person who can drive on British roads without a licence plate is the Queen.


Celebrity Names

  • Paul McCartney’s middle name is Paul; his first name is James. 
  • Ray Charles last name is Robinson. Also, he was married twice and had 12 children with nine women.
  •  John Denver’s real name is Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.
  • The Popes “pope” name is not his real name. For example Pope Benedict is really Joseph Ratzinger and John Paul II was Karol Józef Wojtyła.
  • Celebrities often shorten their names to make them easier to remember (and often less forign). For example Fred Astaire was Frederick Austerlitz

Series to Watch or be Aware of:

When it comes to TV it is not possible to have watched everything. Instead it is worth focusing on a small number of highly popular shows which still retain a loyal following.
  •          Roy Clarke sitcoms: Last of the Summer Wine, Open all Hours and Keeping Up Appearances.
  •          One Foot in the Grave
  •         Only Fools and Horses
  •         The Two Ronnie’s
  •          Morecombe and Wise
  •          The Good Life
  •          MASH
  •          Star Trek
  •         Cheers
  •          Seinfeld
  •          The Cosby Show


Films to be aware of 

You can estimate the popularity of a film (the more popular the more likely questions will be) is to go to IMDB most voted and the Top 250.  

  •        Gone With the Wind
  •       Singin’ in the Rain
  •         The Shawshank Redemption
  •          The Godfather
  •          Pulp Fiction
  •          Lord of the Rings
  •          Star Wars
  •          Monty Python
  •          It’s a Wonderful Life
  •          Apocalypse Now

Books to Read

  •         Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare. There is always a Shakespeare question. Just read or see the most famous ones: Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.
  •          The Great Gatsby
  •          A Tale of Two Cities
  •          Harry Potter
  •          The Lord of the Rings
  •          The Catcher in the Rye
  •          To Kill a Mockingbird
  •          Nineteen Eight-four and Animal Farm
  •          Catch-22
  •          The Iliad and The Odyssey