Cascade's What the #!*@? Quiz -- a mainstay of the Vancouver quizzing scene -- coming to an end

Sad tidings indeed from Main Street. Karen, the longtime quizmeister of the Cascade Room, has announced that effective next month, that establishment's venerable quiz will be no more--at least as a regularly-scheduled event. From their official facebook page:

Now for those of you who were not with us last night, an announcement! After more than 5 1/2 years, 165 quizzes and close to $30,000 raised for more than 70 charities, our What the #!*@? Quiz night is coming to an end. Our last quiz will be Monday, November 25th…please come and join us for a fond farewell…I've enjoyed almost every single second of it

I will continue with some special event Quiz Nights as well as Quiz Nights on request so keep in touch! This is not "goodbye"…it's "most likely see you soon". So I'll expect to see lots of familiar faces on the 25th xo k

For those who don't know, Cascade is one of Vancouver's longest-running and greatest pub quizzes. Many Vancouverites first caught the pub trivia bug there, including, I am sure, at least a few individuals who now run quizzes of their own. Yet none of them have ever duplicated the sheer quizzing pleasure of Cascade, which was probably best encapsulated in their famous "what's-in-the-shot" rounds, the likes of which we may never see again.

The continued success of Cascade owes everything to Karen's extraordinary commitment to her craft. Each week (and later, fortnightly, and eventually monthly) she would hammer out a full set of questions, the freshness of which was attested by the habitual inquisitions on the news of the day and other happenings of only a few days' vintage. Her annual Quiz of Champions, an invitational grand prix featuring only winning teams of the past year was yet another (hugely successful) expression of the same--for participants it was nothing less than the Wimbledon of Vancouver quizzery.

True to the progressive ethos of Mount Pleasant, 100 percent of proceeds from the quiz went to a local charity of the players' choosing, a fact which makes abundantly clear that the undertaking was, at bottom, a labour of love and not a mercenary ploy to pump up Tuesday night patronage (though that it certainly did).

After more than a half-decade of unflagging quality, the departure of What the #!*@? is to be sorely lamented. As mentioned above, Cascade's final regular quiz takes place November 25 and is sure to be a night to remember.

Bad New, Everyone!

I hate to say I told you so (as some Swedes once mused), but the quiz at the Anza Club is cancelled this month, due to the Canucks playing on the Friday in question. Too bad. Head down to the Storm Crow Tavern on Wednesday to catch the Vancouver Quizmasters in action, if you need to get your fix of Shaun and Eric

Also, The Cascade Room's quiz is now officially a once a month quiz. Look for it the last Monday of every month.

The Playoffs, plus quiz news

If you've ever been to a quiz in the last 4 months, there's a pretty decent chance you've run into the phenomenon of quizzing during a Canucks game, and the inconveniences engendered as a result. This town (and author!) loves its (their) Canucks quite a bit. Most of the times, quizzes are squeezed into intermissions, start late, or even get pushed around to another date. In the regular season, there tends to be a little more wiggle room - very few people care about watching the Canucks play a dead rubber against Anaheim or Edmonton at the end of the year.

But now the Canucks are in the playoffs. The bars that have been hosting quiz no longer need to have a quiz to bring in people on game nights. The Canucks are playing San Jose in the first round, so all the games will start at around 7 PM. When the boys are playing, paying hockey fans are going to want to watch pretty much every second of Canucks hockey, which makes quiz nights a little precarious. How are you, the person who just wants to answer questions, but not have to stay out until 11:30 on a Wednesday to do so, going to cope with that? How will your quiz deal with there being an important game every 2 days for the next 2 months?*

Here's my advice: Ask your local trivia night. Give the bar a phone call before heading out, or send the quiz's facebook page a message. It'll save you some trouble. I've asked around at a few places, and here are the responses you are likely to get:

• Squeezing the quiz in between the periods (Darby's looks to be trying this)
• Shifting the quiz to the day before/after (Cedar Cottage/Gargoyle's and 131 seem likely to do this)
• Cancelling the quiz if it falls on a game night

But don't take it from me! Ask your Quizmaster, and see what their plans are!

In non-hockey playoff news:

• The Cascade Room quiz is back this week! That's tomorrow, so pretty much no one will be informed of this fact, but I'm posting it anyways.
• New quiz alert! I've heard through the grapevine that Yagger's in Kitsilano has a Thursday night quiz - normally starts at 7, very music-oriented from what I was told.

*Optimism!

Monday Night's Alright for Quizzing

So, as with last time, let's handle this in point form:

• The Cove's quiz night is now being hosted by hosted by the team of Eric Fell (of Anza Club notoriety) and Patrick Maliha. I caught the first half of the quiz this week, and it was a good time.
• But you miss Debbie's quiz? Well, fear not, because that quiz has shifted to Gargoyle's Bar and Grill, on West Broadway. Stop by the website and have a good laugh at how old the welcome images are (Jose Theodore in an Avs jersey!). I imagine the quiz will be similar to the old Cove quizzes, or the ex-Fray (current Cedar Cottage) quiz.
• Between those 2, and the Academic quiz night, it looks like Monday night is the night for quiz in Kitsilano. You're almost as spoiled for choice as on a Wednesday.
• The Cascade Room's Monday quiz was cancelled, and they are trying to reschedule sometime soon. Follow the facebox page if you want to find out when it actually ends up happening

The Grapevine

Or, some news pertaining to Trivia in Vancouver. 3 Updates from the last month:

• It looks like Fray has closed down, so their quiz is therefore also finished. It is too bad, because it had some of the better quiz night food in town. If you're looking for a place to go, I'd recommend 131 Water, but there are quite a few other options as well. Take a look at the Master List and see what suits you.
• The Cascade Room quiz is on hiatus until April 15th, so don't act surprised if you show up on a Monday and there is no quiz.
• Finally, good news! There Is No Easy Mode returns to EXP Bar March 27th, at 9PM. I went last time, and it was a lot of fun. It is videogame trivia, and they aren't kidding with the name. A good time if you want to think about videogames all night. 

I've got a few more reviews coming up in the next couple of weeks - Darby's, Relish, Falconetti's and the aforementioned EXP Bar.

For those interested, Geek Bowl VII in Austin was an awesome time. It was definitely the best pub quiz I've ever been to, but that is probably because they run quizzes every night of the week all year, and then try real hard to give you the best possible show. And they did a great job. We came in 32nd. Read the full recap, if you like!

Cascade Room Trivia On Hiatus

The summer downtime in quizzes is here, and with that, the Cascade Room will be taking more than a monthlong break, until mid-September. I can't give you the exact date that it will be back, but I'll try and let you know. Until then, go to the Cascade for some mixed drinks or frosty pints, but not for quiz.

James Bond Trivia at the Cascade!

I feel that as the resident blogger about Vancouver pub quizzes, I should let you know about these things. The Cascade has held (and will hold again), James Bond themed quizzes. If you fancy all thing 007, I advise you come check it out. Since one was just held tonight, the next one won't be until the fall, to coincide with the premiere of Skyfall.

Come on down, and work that MI6 brain!

In case you were curious, yes, this does supersede the regularly scheduled quiz.

Not actually defunct!

Fear not! Vancouver Pub Quiz reports have not died! They just got delayed, while its owner moved across the city. Many new updates planned, trivia nights to attend, etc, etc. In pub quiz "news":

- Cascade is on hiatus for the next month, not returning until the first week in April
- 131 Water's 5 week "win a gift certificate" promotion resets itself after next week. The quiz has been picking up a good amount of steam lately, I recommend heading down!

The Cascade Room

Long live the king, the king is dead. The Cascade Room stopped running their very popular pub quiz in late 2013. The review will be left up so that we can all remember the good times that were. In the mean time, why don't you find another quiz in Vancouver?

Where: The Cascade Room. Located at 2616 Main Street.

When: 7PM on Mondays. Runs monthly, on the last Monday of each month. Registration is at 6, and it's probably a good idea to be there by then. It fills up.

Web Presence:  What The #!*@? - The ORIGINAL Mount Pleasant Quiz Night on facebook

Registration Fee: $2 per player. which is donated to charity at the end

Team Info: 4 players per team, every player over brings a one point penalty.

Prizes: A pitcher of beer, and 25 dollars off your bill

Format: 3 Rounds,usually including a matching question, a entire themed picture round, and a music round. usually about 30 questions, of varying point totals, worth about 60 points or so.

Food and Drink: The food's good, and the beer's great. Also, if you're a fan of cocktails, you're in luck. 

Full disclosure: This was the first pub quiz I ever went to, and I've consistently gone there for about two and a half years. It is my "Home Quiz," if such a concept exists. So, garnish the rest of this writeup with that in mind. The quiz is run by Karen, who as far as I know has been running it the whole time. She's got the act down pat. She used to run it every week, but for sanity's sake cut it back to every two weeks about a year ago, which is too bad. I've always been a fan of Monday night quizzes, since it gives you something to look forward to immediately after any given weekend. The quiz usually runs between two and two and half hours, and is probably the best organized of any I've seen. Papers are swapped efficiently, marked quickly, without much dead time. Experience. I've always liked brisk quizzes, as opposed to 3, 3 and half hour marathons - they make me feel like the purpose of the quiz is for us to hang out and have fun, and not as a way to get us to buy their drinks over the longest possible period of time. I understand the basics of trivia night economics and all, but I prefer it when I feel as though the night is there for the sake of the quiz itself, and not to keep us there drinking longer.

BUT I digress, from this fine quiz. Lots of fun geography questions, good matching questions, and lots of love for the Royals of Britain. Which makes sense - take a look at the decor. If you like music spanning the disco-rockocene epoch of 1975-1985, you'll do well. About once a year you'll find a bone thrown to the bigger hits of the past year, so paying attention to the radio can't hurt either. It is usually of a fairly average difficulty, with a few "tossups" (multiple choice questions that are pretty hard to figure out without topic knowledge) and "difference makers" sprinkled in. Sometimes it goes a bit overboard on the multiple choice questions, but the strategy tends to keep the same teams from winning consistently. There aren't too many streaks rung up here. The competition is pretty solid, with about 4 or 5 teams of regulars always in contention, and the occasional tourist coming out of left field and kicking everyone's asses before returning to France, or Calgary, or South Africa. It looks like word gets around.

Also, any writeup on the quiz at the Cascade would be incomplete without a mention of the yearly Quiz of Champions. It is as it sounds. Once a year, September or thereabouts, an invite-only quiz is held for all the winners in the previous years. The difficulty gets ratcheted up, "Identify the drink by taste" is introduced, and quiz is longer. At the end, glory, and your name on the official trophy.  If you want a blow-by-blow of the second annual Quiz of Champion, a blog has provided a detailed question by question recounting. There have been 3 so far, each won by a different team.


ANYWAYS,  it's the original Mount Pleasant quiz night, and still the only one I regularly go to. Check it out if you have the chance.