For some reason that I won’t try to understand, we tend to hate exams when we’re young but when we grow older we tend to love trivia nights which are technically the same, or are they not?
Either way, we had a chat with Ben Sorensen to break down the elements that make the best Trivia nights. Ben is a full-time performer, writer, voice artist and not only does he happen to love Trivia, but he also hosts them.
During our online interview, we came up with five ingredients that make the best of your experience in a Pub Trivia night:
- Drinks and Food Specials. Delicious meals and beverages at affordable prices will always have a positive impact on the most powerful weapon during Trivia nights, your memory! This one is definitely a must, don’t you think?
- Quality of questions. We never want to leave trivia night feeling it was either too easy or too hard to respond to the questions that we were asked. We all like the challenge of good, fun, and relevant questions to make us feel somewhere between I know it all! and there’s still so much to learn in this world!
- Host. Of course, Ben and I spent more time here than in the rest of the elements of this list. But in a nutshell, we want someone with a sparkling personality who can read the audience and is also able to graciously set the engagement values or how people interact with each other. In other words, a funny facilitator who is aware of his audience to pick the right questions while balancing the many times over competitive crowd.
- A sense of community. Your Trivia night must fulfil a sense of belonging. It should be an event that allows you to start building new friendships or at least makes you feel like you’re part of a group that shares similar values.
- Ambience. You can tick all of the above but if the character of the venue is not welcoming and inviting it’ll be hard to have a good trivia night. The venue must feel like home, it should invite you to come back again. And the right ambience can be very subjective, maybe for some, it’ll be being pet friendly and for others, it’ll have to do with a memory of their folks’ house when they were younger.
Do you think we missed something you value during Pub Trivia nights?
While things open up again, Ben hosts an online Trivia Experience that you are welcome to join, just click here to buy tickets and learn more.
To end our conversation, I asked Ben about his three top venues in Brunswick for Trivia night. When pubs are back open, Ben suggests the following:Â
- Tuesdays 8pm – B.EASTÂ
- Wednesdays 7pm – East Brunswick Hotel (hosted by Ben himself!)
- Sundays 3pm – The Cornish Arms
If you don’t live in Brunswick and want to see Ben in action, you can find him here:
- Tuesdays 7pm at the Belgian beer cafe
- Thursdays 7pm at Generations in Port Melbourne
LET’S STAY SAFE NOTE: Please double check times and be aware of COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria before showing up or booking a table 🙂
