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Last Updated:
Sep 23rd, 2008 - 09:05:08 |
Quizmaster Mikey & Quizzo!
Study Hall With Alcohol
Do
you know which Carly Simon song was used in a Heinz commercial? Which
of The Beatles was the youngest? What about the ingredients to Chicken
Cordon Bleu? If you can answer any of these questions, you're a shoe-in
for the pub trivia game, Quizzo!
Quizzo! started in Philadelphia
years ago and became the talk of the bar scene there as groups of
friends would gather at their local watering hole to outsmart other
teams. Michael “Quizmaster Mikey” Yum learned of this phenomenon from a
Philly friend and posed the idea to his then employer, Pub 1281. After
hitting a homerun with that crowd, Yum has made Quizzo! his full-time
gig and bounces around Eastside bars with his challenging questions and
wild antics (moon walking contests and condom-balloon competitions).
“It’s so much more than trivia,” explained Yum. Song requests are taken
and there are bonus rounds, which include puzzles, brain benders and
multiple-choice questions. “I am terrible at the game,” stated Yum.
Yum
got his start in the nightlife scene playing in a reggae band when he
was 19. Through various gigs around town, he was able to make contacts
in the entertainment biz which prepped him to become Quizmaster
Mikey. After losing a corporate job, Yum began working with Pub 1281 as
their entertainment coordinator and has been doing Quizzo! since. “One
of the biggest things I learned being in a band is how to handle a
crowd and how to handle a microphone,” said Yum who also spent time
selling handbags when Quizzo! first launched. “For the record," noted
Yum, "I was an amazing handbag salesman. People loved that Gwen Stefani
shit.”
Mike Yum's Quizzo! locations include Dooleys on Sunday
nights, Tudge’s Pub on Tuesdays, Engine House on Wednesdays, Cadieux
Café on Thursdays with Wild Woody’s starting in sometime this month.
Yum is also in the works with a large entertainment company to bring
the game to many other locations throughout metro-Detroit.
The
trivia in the game is written by Yum’s creative director, Becky. The
categories vary, but Yum said, “Pop Culture is a popular one. We have
general knowledge categories that we call Potpourri categories.” Other
categories include sports, history and Japanese culture. “The cool part
is at first you’re like, ‘Well, I don’t know shit about Japanese
culture,’ but then we start to ask the questions, like ‘What does a
sumo wrestler throw into the ring as a sign of purity?’ The answer is
salt, I don’t know if you knew that.”
Yum's Quizzo! isn’t the
only bar trivia out there, but he is a crowd favorite. “I use
professional equipment which our competitors out there don’t,” said
Yum. And if you are looking to be a Quizmaster when you grow up, he has
just the job for you. “I have a QIT (Quizmaster In Training).” The
training includes learning to use the equipment and how to entertain a
crowd. “Drunk learning — it’s actually a proven method,” stated Yum.
And as a soon-to-be college graduate, I agree. | RDW
Pop quiz, hot shot: quizzodetroit.com
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