What do black rabbits, funny white guys and Grandmaster Flash have in common? They all came up in Tuesday’s trivia night at, you guessed it, the Greenpoint bar Black Rabbit.
Was that question too easy? If it was, then maybe you’re a trivia maven and you don’t even know it. Even if you aren’t, the fun to be had at Black Rabbit (91 Greenpoint Avenue) every Tuesday night is worth the mild embarrassment of getting a few questions wrong every once in awhile. In fact, even I played along this Tuesday, which, if you knew me well (and had ever been in the same room with me and an episode of “Jeopardy!”), is more than laughable. The truth is I don’t do trivia. It’s not how my brain works. But yes, I had a blast at Black Rabbit and even learned myself a few things!
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Creeping faster than I’d like towards 30-years-old (only three years and 9 days left before I tip that scale), there are still so many things my mind isn’t really clear about. Fortunately, I’ve been living a life of ignorant bliss. I’ve been daring to walk the streets without the firm knowledge that Alexander the Great was Macedonian and that Stevie Wonder wasn’t actually born blind but was in fact born premature and formed cataracts on is eyes while in the hospital incubator!! How dare I!
But these little tidbits of information are true, or so sayeth Black Rabbit’s trivia co-hosts Aimee Carlson and Matty Clark.
“I’d say that I’ve got kind of a ‘Jeopardy’ mind with random knowledge no ones ever going to use,” said Clark, who has been guest hosting while the original co-host Timmy Williams is away. Williams, who started the trivia night with Aimee in December of 2007, is currently in Los Angeles right now doing work on his day job: being a member of the NYC Comedy Troupe ‘The Whitest Kids U Know.’
Ever heard of them? I hadn’t until trivia night, but I’ve since checked out their website and been thoroughly entertained. One of their skits, which normally air on IFC, was about Ramen Noodles and high-brow banter. Does it get better than that? I don’t think so.
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“So how does this trivia thing work?” I asked Aimee and Matty as people started trickling slowly into the bar around 8 p.m.
They informed me that there are six rounds and that in each round there is a bonus question that, if answered correctly, is rewarded with a free shot. People play in teams and the winning team gets a $25 bar tab and maybe some more shots.
“Some people get pretty happy and drunk by the end of the evening,” said Clark.
Where do they get the questions, you wonder?
“We come up with the ideas for questions based on stuff we’re thinking about at the moment,” said Aimee. “It takes a lot of research and we don’t use any trivia websites. Though the Facebook trivia is becoming very tempting.”
Fascinating!
This week’s trivia had the following amazingly titled rounds: Film & TV, Music, Historical Rulers, Questions You Don’t Know the Answers To, Trivial Pursuit Trivia, and Mnemonic Devices. After those were played out, there was a Bonus question about the “best movie ever”
