Cheap and Free NYC Trivia Nights

Calling all NYC geeks, dorks, and nerds! The following is a round-up of a variety of cheap and free trivia nights aroud the city. Be sure to watch Jeopardy, Cash Cab, and Who wants to be a Millionaire to bone up before the big night.

The Big Quiz Thing
Monday trivia night featuring five rounds of trivia with ten questions each, covering general knowledge such as geography, politics, history, sports, literature, current events, and NYC factoids. For extra help before the Quiz check the blog (http://blog.bigquizthing.com/) for the Not-so-Secret-Secret Clue. Special rounds include a music round, a video round, and concludes with a lightning round (teams must answer ten questions in five minutes.) Officially the team minimum is four and the maximum number is eight, but these numbers are rarely enforced. Don’t have a team, but have a love of all things trivia? No problem! Just show up and the host will hook you up with a group. The great thing is if your team has a collective brain fart and doesn’t know the answer, you can make up your own funny reply in hopes of nabbing a Smart-Ass Point-Basically you get the point if you make host Noah Tarnow chuckle and if the audience of fellow trivia geeks laughs the hardest at your response. At the end of the night points are tabulated and the top three scoring teams send up representatives to compete in the three-way (not that kind of three way;-) finale round to determine the winner. First prize is $200, Second prize is $50, and Third place is $25. Other prizes include theater tkts, books, DVD’s, CD’s, and sweet treats. Don’t despair if you don’t do well-tenth place teams get $25! http://bigquizthing.com/

The next BQT night is:
Monday April 9, 2012
7:30 p.m.
M1-5
52 Walker St. bet Church and Broadway
$10
Read about my personal BQT experience here:
http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2009/08/big-quiz-thing-trivia-for-trivial-price.html

Last Exit Bar Pub Quiz
This is a late-night (begins at 9 p.m.) trivia night occurring on the first and third Monday of each month. Teams of four or fewer compete by answering ten rounds of five questions each. Be warned: these team numbers are strictly enforced here, so be sure to wrangle three other trivia geeks to play with you. Most questions cover general knowledge, but there are some unique rounds including Canadian or not Canadian (decide if celebs are from the land of hockey and maple leaves), Last Exit Theater (hosts perform scenes from well-known movies), and Bodega Price is Right (guess the price of items such as a bag of pork rinds.) For an extra advantage before the game, go to the quiz’s website for a clue to one of the night’s questions. There are breaks bet rounds when music relating to the previous round is played, past examples include The Golden Girls theme song. There is also a longer break about halfway through the show (perfect for a smoke break ;-) and to rest your brain for a bit. The space is cozy so be sure to get there early to save spaces for your teammates. Prizes include cuts of the admission money and drink tkts. http://www.lastexitbar.com/lastexitbar/index.html

The next quiz night is:
Monday April 16, 2012
9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Last Exit Bar
136 Atlantic Ave. bet Clinton and Henry Streets

Trivia Night at Keats
For a quirky quiz head to Keats’ Kwiz Nite Tuesday trivia experience. Hosted by Trivia Tryst, the game incorporates rounds like Name That Loon, Homonyms, Famous ‘Captains’, and Dan’s ‘Dromes (all answers are palindromes) as well as general knowledge questions such as sports, history, literature, and music. Admission is free and the cash prizes are $50 for first place. You can also fuel up those brain cells by noshing on some cheap burgers (less than $10 and served on an English muffin) as you battle it out with fellow trivia geeks. http://keatsbar.com/index.php/en/

The next trivia night is:
Tuesday April 10, 2012
Keats Restaurant
842 2nd Ave bet 44th and 45th Streets
9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Other cheap and free NYC trivia nights worth noting are Wednesday nights at Common Ground-play board games before the game starts and get pre-show round clues by following CG on Twitter, Quizz-Off at Pete’s Candy Store-six rounds of 20 questions each, http://www.petescandystore.com/quizz.html, and Chow down on your free personal pan pizza w/drink purchase at Crocodile Lounge and see if you have time to squeeze in a round of skee-ball while you’re there for trivia on Wednesday nights! (http://www.crocodilenyc.com/)




Know of any other cheap and free trivia nights around BYC? Post them below in the cpmments section!