What do you know?

Quizzo pub trivia makes thinkers out of drinkers

By R.Overdorff

- For the CDT

“Roll out the barrel and we’ll have a barrel of fun.” This could be the mantra for an informative and learning experience called Quizzo.

Question: What is Quizzo?

Answer: Team trivia played every Tuesday night at Otto’s for fun and prizes.

If you happen to know the length of George Washington’s nose on Mount Rushmore or who invented the Slinky, you might be smarter than you think.

“I brought the idea of Quizzo with me from Philadelphia, where there is nothing short of a cult following for the game, something I am trying to establish in central Pennsylvania,” said Jon Mackey, senior Quizzo master and former Philadelphia cop, who now resides in Williamsport. “I originally started Quizzo one night a week at the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport for some extra money. As the weeks went on, Quizzo’s following began to grow, and more nights were added, eventually becoming a full-time job for me.”

In addition to the Bullfrog and Otto’s, Quizzo can be played at other locations in Williamsport and Lewisburg. No matter the location, the game offers a fun night out with a dash of learning mixed in for good measure.

The logistics of Quizzo are pretty straightforward. The game consists of four rounds of trivia with each round having 10 varied questions. Each correct question is at least worth one point.

Questions cover a variety of topics including sports, music, history, health and pop culture. Added to the mix is an occasional speed, audio or themed round that may feature questions geared toward a certain era of music, film or a year in baseball, with the goal being to amass the most points.

With an arsenal of more than 6,500 questions, Mackey has rightfully earned his self-proclaimed title of senior Quizzo master.

“I spend about two or three hours every day working on Quizzo questions. I’m always gathering more each week,” he said. “About 99 percent of the comments I get from players is positive. As with anything there will be complainers though: ‘The questions are too hard,’ ‘Why so many sports questions,’ that type of thing.”

Mackey gathers his questions from an array of sources, including a collection of reference books and the Internet, with the exception of Wikipedia, which he said he does not trust as a reliable source.

“It’s interesting to see how the players and teams interact during a game of Quizzo,” he said. “The game attracts a wide mix of people of different ages. It’s a great way for friends to spend time together and hang out.”

Another reason for Quizzo’s popularity is that it fills a typical, entertainment-barren Tuesday night in Happy Valley While Mackey is busy hosting Quizzo every Tuesday night at the Bullfrog in Williamsport, he relies on his junior Quizzo master, Eric “Krusty” Toombs, to act as the host.

“Eric, my man on the ground in State College, reports Otto’s averages anywhere from 10 to 15 teams of four to six players each week.”

Because Mackey is the man with all the answers, does that mean he has also become scholarly in the process?

“I have over 6,500 trivia questions on my hard drive. I was wondering if I printed them all out and tested myself, I wonder how much of the info I have retained,” he said. “I have tried out for ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ twice since I began doing this almost three years ago but with no luck∑ — if that says anything.”

Where to play:

9 p.m. Sunday: The Pub, 200 E. Fourth St., Williamsport
Monday: 8 p.m., The Hotel Edison, Fourth and Market streets, Sunbury; 9 p.m., The Valley Inn, 204 Valley St., Duboistown
9 p.m. Tuesday: Otto’s Pub and Brewery, 2105 N. Atherton St., State College; Bullfrog Brewery, 229 W. Fourth St., Williamsport
9 p.m. Wednesday: Kimball’s, 972 Second St., Williamsport
7 p.m. Thursday: Vic’s Pub, 2167 Old Turnpike Road, Lewisburg