Happenings: Trivia Nights Return to SCV (rejoice at will)

LA has started catching up with the rest of the nation over the past couple of years with trivia nights at bars, pubs, eateries, and what-have-yous. Until a few months ago, Santa Clarita was even in on the action. Every week, you could head to the Rose and Crown (you know, the little British pub on Lyons in the 99-cent store parking lot) to eat fish & chips, drink beer, and answer questions about the winner of the 2002 Oscar for Best Picture or the most populous city in Finalnd. You jotted down answers after vigorous debate with your table over who really knew their game show hosts or pasta shapes better. You dreamed of winning the $25 gift certificate, proof of your supremacy in the trivia realm. Things got competitive as your table tried to shut out that family of seven that won every week. There were highs and there were lows. It was team trivia, and it was good.

And then it all went away. Personally, I blame a certain M.C. (“Trivia Master”) whose name starts with a J- and ends with an –osh…but I will stop short of naming names. His 80s announcer voice, while occasionally amusing, could not win the love Santa Claritans had already lavished upon former announcer, Tara. Slowly, teams that once competed regularly began to show up less often and, eventually, the Rose and Crown bid trivia nights a stern British farewell.

It's back, cheesy logo and all. Click here to go the the King Trivia website.

After months and months of wandering through a cold, trivialess valley, trivia night returned to the SCV just last week. My fellow Claritans, I urge you to partake in this most universally appealing of activities. Here’s what to do/expect:

1. Show up to Chuy’s on Wednesday nights before 8pm with friends, family, love interests, or nice vagrants you meet at College of the Canyons. (Any group is fine; trivia nights draw families, twenty-something hipsters, and groups of jaded baby-boomers alike). Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler Restaurant is the Mexican place located on the Old Road in Stevenson Ranch. I know, it’s hard for me to leave Santa Clarita proper, too, but I think a foray into Stevenson Ranch for some trivia is forgivable. If anyone asks, say you only left the City of SC to keep an eye on the shady characters in SR.

2. Sit on the patio (that’s where the action is).

3. Determine your team name. Try something local, like Team Flemwatch or Saucy Saugusans.

Luc presides over the trvia fest.

4. Order some drinks and eats and let the trivia unfold. Trivia Master “Luc” will guide you through seven rounds of questions over an hour-and-a-half or thereabouts. There is no pressure; you scribble down answers your table agrees on and hand them in. Whoever has the highest score at the end of the night gets a gift certificate to Chuy’s, and there are opportunities to win free rounds and other goodins if you are particularly adept at Simon Says or Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Having now devoted nigh on 500 words to promoting Wednesday Trivia Night at Chuy’s, you may suspect I have some selfish interest in the fate of said trivia night. I do. I want to challenge you and your team in trivia, and it’s so much the funner when there’s a good turn-out. Come on, Claritans, I know you are all very good at eating and drinking and feeling competitive with your neighbors. So why not do what you do best? It's time for trivia.

P.S. One of the answers this Wednesday night will be "Vienna." I promise.