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Ben Gorski hosting Trivia Night at Boltini Lounge - Photo by Ross Topol

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Boltini Lounge »
Address: 211 N. Neil St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 378-8001
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Every Tuesday night, Boltini Lounge in downtown Champaign hosts a Trivia Night from 7-9 p.m. Robb Tobias, the manager of Boltini Lounge, created the trivia show a year ago. Since then, the show’s popularity has expanded. Trivia questions include anything from sports and cooking to “what’s in your wallet?” If you plan on going, get there early, around 6:15 p.m, because tables will be gone by 6:30 p.m. (often occupied by regulars that continue to come in and gain points every week). Not only is the show a great excuse to go out with friends on a Tuesday night, but it’s a great way to be a part of the downtown Champaign community and keep brain cells sharp. In an interview, Ben Gorski, current host of the trivia nights, divulges more on trivia at Boltini Lounge:

buzz: How long have you been doing Tuesday Night Trivia?

BG: Two months. The show has been going on for a year, but I am working this summer for Greg Wolf, who usually does it.

buzz: What type of trivia does the show incorporate?

BG: I make up the trivia questions. We have done a trivial pursuit-style round in the past, but it is not the only game we use. There are five rounds in the show. The first round is general knowledge trivia, which has categories in history, arts, music, sports and geography. I’ll do something fun — like on the Fourth of July I did Independence Day Trivia. We’ll do “Are You Smarter Than Ben?” where Robb makes up the questions and I play along. If you score better than me you get five extra bonus points. Last week everyone was smarter than Ben.

buzz: What do the points won on the Trivia questions count towards?

BG: We’re doing a nine-week promotion now, and there’s two weeks left in it. Basically, we’ve been keeping track of everyone’s score, and there’s a big prize that goes to those with the highest score.

buzz: What is your game show host style? Do you suit up like Bob Barker?

BG: I try to be entertaining. It is a side job, but I learned everything I know from Greg and he is very funny. He said just to be yourself. So when I do get up there I don’t try to do anything that I wouldn’t do, but I try to be funny. I don’t dress up or do a character. I wear a t-shirt and jeans.

buzz: How do you get on a team?

BG: We tried to get people to sign-up and we tried to police it as far as how many people are on a team, but it didn’t really work. So we changed it to the rule where two to six people show up at the door and that’s a team. There are prizes for every round, so if you win a round you get a prize. If you win the whole show you get VIP next week, which means that you come in and get about $50 worth of food. You sit at a reserved table with your team and they bring out share plates. The food is amazing.

buzz: What is the toughest question ever asked and answered correctly?

BG: Oh. Well last week at a Jackpot Round we did Civil War Trivia. I asked who was the only civilian to be killed at the Battle of Gettysburg and somebody got it. I was for sure that this would be impossible to answer, but apparently someone is a buff. One thing we do with the show is give out hints online about the questions for the upcoming week. Boltini is on Twitter/Facebook and they have a weekly newsletter. So if you follow those you can get clues and that helps people to focus in on what to study up on for the week.

buzz: Do you plan on continuing to do this into the fall?

BG: That is the question of the hour actually. Last I heard, Greg is coming back in late August, in which case I would turn the show right back over to him no problem. It is Robb’s show. He created it, he came up with the idea and he hired Greg to be the host. The show will remain at Boltini I’m sure, whether it’s Greg or me or someone else.