Trivia jockey Dan Cassidy posed the killer question: “What is the only state capital that borders another country and is accessible only by sea or air?”
The contestants’ tables buzzed. What’s Washington’s capital? Olympia? Why isn’t it Seattle? Don’t get distracted. Is Olympia on the ocean? No idea. What about Alaska’s capital? That’s too easy. Or is it? Hmm, maybe Anchorage is correct. Wait — is Anchorage the capital? Or does Juneau sound right? Time’s up, get the card in!
“The only state capital to border another country is . . . Juneau, Alaska,” proclaimed Mr. Cassidy.
The announcement was met with some loose, gloating applause, a chorus of groans, as well as a few stray grumblings about Anchorage’s underachieving status as a non-capital.
It was Thursday night at the Wharf in Edgartown, which means Stump Trivia Night, a competitive team trivia contest that runs weekly starting at 8 p.m. (preregistration begins at 7:30 and fills up fast).
And this past week it was a 1980s movie-themed trivia night. Fliers to save the Hill Valley Clock Tower littered bar stools, and the strains of John Williams’s Superman theme boomed throughout the pub. Many patrons marked the occasion by dressing in their finest throwback regalia. High-tops, wide-necked T-shirts slung over bare shoulders and aviators were back, if only for the night.
Some costumes were harder to identify than others. One man looked vaguely like a pirate. To those more attuned to 1980s sensibilities it was clear that he was, in fact, Ted from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Perhaps the most creative costume of the night was worn by Samantha Church, who sported a T-shirt and bandana of her own design, emblazoned with an elaborate pattern of hand-drawn blue lines.
“I’m from Tron!” she said exasperatedly to curious teammates.
Mr. Cassidy, who is an Oak Bluffs police officer by day, organizes the weekly event and presides over the night’s activities with an iron fist. “Decisions of the Trivia Jockey are final,” the trivia score sheet ominously declares in bold type.
“Dan’s great,” said Wharf manager Vinny Mangarano. “Every week he picks the theme and he usually gets pretty into it. I remember when he picked a 1980s television theme, he had this great costume for Hannibal from the A-Team.”
On Thursday night Mr. Cassidy was Marty McFly from Back to the Future, complete with the puffy orange vest made famous by Michael J. Fox.
“What are you, in the Coast Guard?” a fearless contestant jeered to a round of raucous laughter.
The weekly event is for many participants an excuse to get out in the community in the colder months and maintain their sanity.
“There’s not much going on here in the winter,” echoed Mr. Mangarano, “so it’s a great opportunity for people to be social and have some fun on a weeknight.”
In perhaps the only human endeavor that could link Howard Cosell, Anne Boleyn and NSYNC, trivia has a unique way of illuminating unusual gaps in participants’ knowledge.
“After tonight our team realized that we need to learn more about 20th century United States presidents and reality TV,” confessed contestant Chris Meane.
On this particular Thursday the competition was formidable. Participating teams included Team Wolf, Back to the Wharf: Part 976, the more topical Lyin’ Tiger and Cheetahs, Oh My, and the more disturbing My Gremlin Threw Up on Your Leg Warmer, among others.
For team My Gremlin, it has been a hard slog this trivia season; the team has often played the role of frustrated runner-up to its rivals, whose irreverent name references a 1980s sitcom character but also a piece of recent news: Alex P. Keaton Has Two Mommies.
“Someday we will defeat them,” vowed a determined Cassidy Look of Edgartown.
“They are like the Tiger Woods to our Phil Mickelson,” said team captain Jim Hickey. “And I hate Tiger Woods.”
When his team is later stumped on the question: “Which was the last U.S. President not to attend college?” The team captain is incredulous when the correct answer is revealed to be Harry S. Truman — not his team’s guess of Theodore Roosevelt.
“Help me out here girls, you’re killing me here,” he complained to his teammates. “We can’t lose to [Alex P. Keaton].”
But on this night the vaunted Alex P. Keaton squad beat themselves, and a scrappy upstart, team I Can Out-drive Tiger Woods, claimed the first place prize of a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant. The second place prize is $25 and a prize also goes to the best team name.
“We came every week all summer when they had it at Nancy’s,” said Garrett Box of team I Can Out-drive Tiger Woods, “and we’ve come every week here at the Wharf and never won. It feels great to finally get one.”
Throughout history, mankind’s thirst for knowledge has been matched only by its thirst for beer, both of which are easily sated at Trivia Night at the Wharf. However, the event is also open to those 18 and up, and Mr. Mangarano is quick to point out the ageless appeal of trivia.
“We had somebody bring in their 80-year-old mother once and she had a blast,” he said, adding: “And she also got some questions right.”
Besides the ongoing dissemination of world knowledge, next week’s bar trivia theme celebrates that other great field of human achievement: boy bands.
Comments
Comment policy »