The City Paper, in a short writeup about the Quizzo Movie (Scroll down) said that I was “equal parts old-time toastmaster (think Georgie Jessel) and quick thinking wiseacre.” Which got me wondering: “Who the hell is Georgie Jessel?” Jessel was, according to Mike Wallace, a “showman extraordianry and a man about town in every town he’s ever been in.” (Watch terrific Mike Wallace interview with Jessel here, though he comes off as a bit of a curmudgeon.) He was an earlier vaudeville star, and was initially cast to star in the Jazz Singer, but turned down the role because Warner Brothers owed him money at the time.

He later became a very famous and sought after-dinner speaker. He also had a scandalous personal life. He dated many Hollywood starlets, and married movie star Norma Talmadge in 1934. (They divorced in 1939, and rumor has it that he later broke into her house and shot at the man she was dating at the time.) It was also in 1934 that introduced “The Gumm Sisters” to a crowd in Chicago. After the crowd laughed at their name, Jessel convinced them to change their name to the Garland Sisters. Shortly thereafter, one of those sisters changed her name from Frances to Judy. They discuss it in the above video.

The quizzo film airs tonight at the Painted Bride at 6:30 p.m., with an aftermovie quiz at the Plough and the Stars at around 8:30. Quizzo at the Khyber is cancelled for this week.

A couple of intriguing options for quizzo goers tonight. If you are looking for some points in the JGTSpI, I would highly suggest playing at the Ugly American. There is no clear cut favorite. Three different winners in the past three weeks. That kicks off at 8 p.m. If you want to play with the big boys, I would suggest going to the Bards. I miscalculated, and put a $35 prize bounty on Steak Em Up even though they’ve only won 2 in a row. No worries, it’s never a bad time to put a bounty on their heads, especially in the last quiz before their big documentary comes out. The bounty stands, and Duane’s World is rumored to be coming to try to take it. If you want to test your mettle against the two hottest teams in quizzo right now, be at the Bards at 10:15 p.m. Hope to see ya tonight!

Mike Minion is hosting an All-Sports quiz at the Ugly American on Friday night. Here are the details.

Calling All Sports Fans!

Sports is all about competition. To quote the opening speech from Patton: “Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser.” Well, to win, you have to play.

The Ugly American is the place for winners to be this Friday night. Why? First and foremost, the Phillies will be on the big screen TVs. If that’s not enough, there’s gonna be an All Sports quiz with plenty of cool prizes to be won. And since the season just got underway, the theme is a tribute to baseball, with an interesting twist.

To be a successful quizzo player, all you have to do is answer questions. But to be successful in the major leagues, a player has to be able to hit, run, field and throw. So the first 4 rounds of questions will be: Hitting, Running, Fielding, and Throwing. The twist is these rounds will be about any sport other than baseball. The 5^th and final round will be 10 challenging questions on baseball (and you can probably count on a few of them being about the Phils).

Now, you might be saying, “I don’t want to answer questions when the Phillies are on – I just wanna watch the game.” Believe me, I understand exactly how you feel. So, all the questions will be asked BETWEEN innings. One round of quizzo = one inning of the game. We’ll start after the first inning is over, and the last question will be asked at the end of the 6^th. The final scores and prizes will be awarded during the 7^th inning stretch.

And what prizes!. In addition to the normal gift certificates, I’ll give away: a Wade Boggs baseball bat, a pair of Everlast training gloves, a Blackburn bicycle pump, a baseball that tells you how fast you throw, a sleeve of golf balls, an amazing Nerf football with fins, and a bunch of baseball caps. The winning team gets a solid (plastic) gold (colored) trophy to take home, too. Best of all, corn dogs will be one dollar during the quiz.

Step up to the plate and prove you know your sports.  Starting time is 8 p.m. See you at the Ugly American.

 

Next week is gonna be like whoa off the charts. More on that in a minute. But first let’s get to tonight. We start at the Vous, where the Jams have been on a hot streak, winning an incredible 6 of their last 7, their only loss coming by one point. Can you knock them off? Action starts at 6:15 p.m. On to the Black Sheep, where Duane’s World has been on fire as of late, winning 4 of the last 5. Action starts at 8. An interesting quiz this week. Fairly easy for 3 rounds, but the 4th seems to be a bit of a doozy. I would highly suggest showing up at both bars early. I expect pretty good crowds tonight.

In other news, a few things to keep in mind. First of all, there are rumors of me hosting a few quizzes at the Kimmel Center later next week. Details coming soon.

Also, remember that the Quizzo documentary is showing on Monday night at the Painted Bride.

This Friday is an all-sports quiz at the Ugly American with Mike Minion. Action starts at 8. More details coming soon.

And tomorrow night (Thursday) remember that there is a $35 bounty on the Steak Em Up. I’d love to see someone beat them in their last quiz before the movie comes out.