As captain of my high school’s Scholar’s Bowl team, I won no laurels among the cool kids. In a teenage wasteland, it merely confirmed my “geek” status and delayed dating indefinitely. In Prague, however, the credential may finally pay off, thanks to the popular trivia throwdowns that take place almost every night of the week.
While the thrill of victory is nice, the true prize may be the sense of community and opportunity to build a new group of friends.
That sentiment is echoed by many participants, including Pete Baumgartner, an expat who has lived in Prague for 20 years and joins two to three quizzes per week.
“There are even cases of people meeting and getting married,” he notes. “I know one couple who met at the Globe quiz and got married. And on one of my teams is a couple that totally met through quizzes.”
“I met my boyfriend through trivia,” adds Barbora Imrišková, a quiz night devotee and English teacher from Bratislava.
Building friendships without smartphones
Having participated in quiz nights at the Globe and James Joyce, I can understand why. There’s a camaraderie forged by teams working together to achieve a common goal. In fact, it’s a big part of the fun.
The banning of smartphones drives bonding, too. Without them, team members must speak directly to each other and work through ideas to find answers. It’s analog conversation at its purest and connects team members more effectively than any digital device, social media platform or app.
“It’s maybe the only place I know where you’re kind of locked in a room with people and not allowed to use your phone,” enthuses Imrišková.
Baumgartner highlights the benefit, too. “It brings you back to 20 years ago, when we didn’t have our phones and had to remember things.”
For Irish-born Luke Ryan, who, along with American Grant Podelco, serves as quizmaster on Monday nights at the James Joyce, the no-phone rule brings some much-needed digital detox, too.
“I very rarely take my phone out for the whole night, and it’s quite nice to be away from it and to just chat with people.”
That helps foster a spirit of inclusion, and it’s visible in the demographics. Trivia nights bring together a motley crew of expats, tourists, travelers and locals of all generations and backgrounds, united in their passion for little-known facts and useless knowledge.
“Can you think of any other place where you’re rewarded for being an unapologetic nerd?” asks Imrišková. “Other people might think your interests are weird and not want to hear about your favorite dinosaur. But here, everybody wants to hear about your favorite dinosaur because there are six of them on the question screen.”
That welcoming attitude rings true for Ryan. “We, and the other teams, go out of our way to make new teams feel welcome and make sure to give them shout-outs,” he emphasizes. “It’s a great way to meet people.”
Solo flyers are welcome, too, and there’s almost always a spot available on a team so you can try out the quiz, as I did. The quizmaster will ask around for you, too, saving you the anxiety of approaching teams personally.
Finding the right Prague quiz night
That said, there is some variation among the quiz communities. Each may skew one way or another in its composition, which might make a difference to nervous newcomers looking to get started.
These differences can also affect quiz formats, lengths, team sizes, question types, difficulty levels and prizes. Hudecek will even read the crowd and adjust questions accordingly.
“A lot of the time, I change questions if I see that there are a lot of younger people in the crowd who might not know Alice Cooper, for example. So I can be a little bit flexible and make the quiz a bit more relevant to them.”
That shows how much each trivia night’s personality comes from the quizmaster running it, as each brings their own approach and preferences. Indeed, that’s the biggest distinction Imrišková sees between the quizzes.
“If I go to Mike’s quiz on Sunday at Sally O’Brien’s, I know it’s going to be super fun and kind of modern,” she notes.
Imrišková also champions the quiz nights at Third Coast Pizza and The Cabin, the only two venues with female quizmasters. “For me, as a woman, it’s maybe a little less intimidating.”
Whatever your preferences, Ryan says, “There’s a quiz for every quizzer.”
That said, he does acknowledge the intimidation some may feel when looking to get involved.
“I’ve heard this so many times: ‘I’m afraid to go to a quiz night because I’ll look stupid,’” he reflects. “But afterward, they say, ‘That was actually quite good fun; I got some questions right; no one made me feel stupid, and I learned some stuff.’”
Baumgartner describes this exact experience the first time he attended a quiz at the Globe.
“I just sat at the bar and didn’t play. I was too shy and afraid to participate. I remember Dany asking, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to play?’ and I said, ‘I’m just here watching.’ But when I saw I could answer a lot of questions, I thought it’d be cool.”
Plus, quizmasters want you to get the answers, too, as a blank answer sheet will probably mean an empty chair the next time. That’s why Hudecek pauses each round at question seven to check in with every team and offer hints and nudges to help them along if needed.
This approach helps make the Globe a good option for first-timers, as its quiz is easier and more free-flowing than other sessions. The size of the space also allows for a large number of teams.
Imrišková recommends the quiz at Beckett’s Irish Pub as another good entry point for trivia nights. “Quizmaster Maarten is very friendly,” she explains, “and the questions are a good mix of general knowledge, but also a little bit challenging, which stretches you.”
Regardless of which location, day or quizmaster fits best, the important thing to know is that the door is open and all are welcome.
For Ryan, that’s what keeps the seats filled with many of the same people, even if their team is unlikely to win. “They keep coming back because there’s a good spirit in the room.”
It won me over, too. You can now count me in for weekly quiz nights.
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Summary for: Trivial pursuits build valuable community at Prague's quiz nights
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