Trivia Night meets Speed Dating in a cool new event format which allows intelligent people to meet, mingle, and conspire together to win prizes. Strangers bond as they discuss the trivial challenges they’re issued. There’s lots of laughter and debate as the two-person teams, a boy and girl digest each query. Depending on the category, they’ll search their memories for answers or clues they can share with each other. The dynamic duos are spit-up every three questions as the men cycle around the room.
Trivia Night for Singles trivia program is thirty-six questions divided into three themes, each with twelve questions and answers. Prior to this evening’s event, we had some growing pains in which the limitations of our earlier designs were painfully and embarrassingly revealed. You can read a blog report of our first trivia night for singles and how we used a colour wheel to rotate people about the room in what felt like a random shuffle. But it was flawed from the beginning as attendees complained about how they didn’t get to meet everyone, and so much movement spawned confusion. It felt disorganized despite all the planning and preparation that went into each production. So, we evolved the show; we made it one-on-one and now only the men move and it feels a lot like speed dating, but it’s better because the trivia gives the participants something to talk about.
Upon entry, all attendees are confirmed using the Single in the City app, issued a name tag, a pen, and a sheet of paper which is pre-formatted with thirty-six numbers and blank spaces for answers. There was also space for feedback. The sheets asked which questions were most and least likeable. The participants who took the time to fill-in these optional blanks were mostly female which doesn’t share the whole picture, but regardless the data allows organizers to capture the girls’ perspective. The least favourite questions were the sports questions! Here are the four most popular questions based on the printed feedback, post-event interviews, and how the crowd responded when presented with the answers (loud gasps, and or cheers).
The most popular question in the Canadian Trivia portion was one which you might encounter in any trivia night lineup. Indeed, I copied it from a hoard of standard issue Trivia Night Questions which I found online, and I’ve seen it included in other collections. It’s a crowd pleaser because it’s ‘doable’. It’s not something most people know offhand, but the answer can be deduced if you think about it. One glance at the crowd saw men and women staring into space while counting their fingers. The answer is 6 time zones, or is it 5.5? Just kidding. It’s six.
Kenny vs Spenny was a hit comedy in 2010. This Canadian media question was another crowd pleaser even though it’s rather obscure knowledge at this point. It has been more than thirteen years since the Comedy Network aired Kenny vs Spenny. The series concluded with an hour-long Christmas special which aired on December 23, 2010. The series was nominated for the Canadian Comedy Awards in 2010 and 2011 and for Gemini Awards for many years beforehand. The show has spawned several replicas including a family-friendly French Canadian version called Frank vs Girard. Most female participants at our Oct 4th event knew Spenny’s name and were fans of the show.
Frederick Banting is the correct answer. You won’t find this question listed anywhere else online. Frederick Banting was born in Alliston Ontario, and few people know he was a decorated war hero BEFORE he discovered insulin. He lived a truly remarkable life merging art & science as he travelled the world painting fine art pictures and doing Classified research for the Allies before WWII. A Canadian Trivia challenge simply has to include a question about Frederick Banting.
The captain of a curling team is called The Skip or Skipper. This was the one sports question which everyone seemed to enjoy and it was answered 80% correctly, which is ideal. The woman in the picture is Tracy Fleury and I borrowed this shot from a CBC article about her joining Rachel Homan’s curling team in 2022. It’s safe to assume, none of our participants would know anything about Canadian woman’s curling, except their positions.
2000’s Era Pop Culture Trivia was the most popular module and had the most answers (the least blank spaces), and the most correct answers, and consequently, the highest rating on participants’ feedback sheets. The module is mostly book authors, movie roles and music of the 2000s.
This question was the most popular query in the module as per the feedback sheet, and it’s because everyone alive knows Jim Carrey played the Grinch, a grumpy, green recluse who despises Christmas and the joyful residents of Whoville. I believe the question had a 100% correct response rate which is not ideal, but people like being right and so it’s a crowd-pleaser.
2000’s Era fashion was represented by Christian Louboutin, the shoe designer who debuted stiletto footwear with red-lacquered soles in 2004. His designs were recognized as the Most Prestigious Women’s Shoes in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The female participants loved this question and most had personal stories of shoe-aspiration meeting reality price checks. The men asked if spelling counted.
This question exposed the travelers among the participants. Anyone flying to Europe in 2009 -2010 was aware of Iceland and how half a dozen Icelandic volcanoes (and one active volcano and its ash plume) made things difficult for jet engines.
There were loud groans when the answer was revealed. The Simple Life – many folks had seen the show and knew the answer – it was on the tip of their tongues. That’s a good question and good response.
The idea behind LIFE Trivia is to present questions people might encounter in everyday life. Challenges might include queries related to standards, tax rates, Provincial laws, special licenses, units of measurement, marriage & divorce, parenting, and the facts of life in general.
The answer is cords. A cord of wood measures 4 x 4 x 8, piled as tightly as possible.
Some folks wondered how this query could be considered ‘life trivia’ i.e. challenges from everyday life, but the originality was roundly appreciated. Live Long and Prosper is the answer and fifty percent of the attendees got it right, which is great.
The hand wash symbol appears entirely foreign when isolated alone on a pink screen.
Lots of people know and love McDonalds’ characters. Most kids grew up with these mascots, and Grimace is one of the more popular figurines.
If you’d like to experience the entire show, you can download the all three decks. Have fun.
Trivia Night for Singles – Canadian Trivia – Deck 1
Trivia Night for Singles – 2000’s Pop Culture – Deck 2
Trivia Night for Singles – Life Trivia – Deck 3
