Pub quizzes turn drinking games into thinking games

Dave Kuhn, left, and Brian Kerrigan consider a potential answer at Kildare’s. Kerrigan, who was his high school’s valedictorian, is considered the man to beat in Scranton.

NIKO J. KALLIANIOTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

As Todd Hiller named the elements, Brian Kerrigan, 24, of Scranton jotted them down, converted them to their abbreviated counterparts, then wrote the word “bones” on his answer card. He repeated this process nine more times, with different element combinations resulting in the names of popular television shows.

Minutes later across the bar at Kildare’s Irish Pub in downtown Scranton, Jessica Kane, 33, of Scranton and her friends waited to hear their score for a round of trivia and debated what topics might pop up during the quiz sessions that night.

“If it’s got anything to do with George Carlin’s seven dirty things, I’ve got it,” Kane joked.

“Well, you know we’re OK if there’s a Disney round,” Colleen Joyce, 28, of Moosic said.

Kane looked to Kerrigan’s table.

“We do keep an eye out on them,” Kane said of Kerrigan and his group. “Every week they’re here, and they do really well.”

It’s no wonder. Kerrigan attended the Ivy League Cornell University and was the valedictorian of his high-school class.

“This is just something I’m really good at,” he said. “Our best is winning six out of eight rounds. The ultimate goal, of course, is to go eight for eight.”

Pub trivia, which goes by many names, has become extremely popular in larger cities, such as Philadelphia and Boston, but has only just begun to trickle into Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The games are free to play, and while the word “pub” might lead many to guess that only college-age crowds get involved, that’s not the case. Not only students but professors from local colleges come to Kildare’s to test their mettle, and even children are welcome at Applebee’s in Wilkes-Barre Township, which just finished its second week of Tavern Trivia last night. While Applebee’s has some serious competitors, some rounds are designed to be kid-friendly.

Free Online Game Review: Bing Family Feud

Remember Family Feud with Richard Dawson? Well here it is online and free! Hours of family fun trying to guess the most popular answers to simple questions. While the music can be annoying at first – you can turn it of by clicking the small menu button at the bottom left of the page and the clicking the circle next to menu, the game is SO easy to play, and just like the game many of us know so well. It is easy to see with bright colors, easy to hear with simple, clear sounds – and loud, if necessary, easy to use – just click your choices and both see and hear whether you are right or wrong, and easy to understand with its simple steps and choices, especially if you watched (or still watch) the TV Game show of the same name. While you may not get all the answers right – but who does – you will certainly have lots of advisers who will more than likely want to chime in with their collective wisdom to help grandma or grandpa, or any other player for that matter, win the family feud for your family. Lots of fun – I recommend it.

Family Feud, Family Feud, Family Fortunes, Al Roker, Celebrity Family Feud, Louie Anderson, Richard Dawson, Ray Combs, John O'hurley

PM: Program Manager (Online) July August 2002 Issue

The F Word, How to Survive Your Family

Games for all ages, 100 fun activities everyone can play

Video Games Based on Game Shows, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! in Merchandising, 1 Vs. 100, Family Feud, 1 Vs. 100, Double Dare, Golden Balls