A lot going on right now. In addition to the JGTSpI, there are a bunch of cool events going down in the next week. Here’s the latest:

Sports quizzo tonight at the Ugly American, hosted by Mike Minion. Quiz starts at 8 p.m.

Quizzo Documentary at the Painted Bride on Monday night. 6:30 p.m., with a mini-quiz at the Plough and Stars afterwards. Also, I’ll buy ya a beer if you bring your own (reasonable) trivia question to the Plough that night and can stump the Sofa Kingdom with it.

Not only will I be hosting a mini quiz at the Plough and Stars after the movie on Monday, but I’ll be hosting quizzes at the Kimmel Center next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. I will have full details on Monday, but just so you know: each quiz will start at 10 p.m. and there will be a different theme each night. It’s gonna be really cool.

Hey kids, gonna have a very fun quiz next Friday night the 25th that you should check out. It is $15 to get in, but that includes admission to the museum, admission to the Da Vinci exhibit (Tix are normally $24.50 to the exhibit alone), and quizzo. There will be a DJ, raffles, and yes, there will be booze. Gonna be a very fun night, and a cool way to check out one of the city’s coolest spots. Hope you can make it.

• IN OTHER QUIZZO NEWS: The Legend of Sofa Kingdom, the documentary about the quizzo community, will be showing at Cinefest next month. There was recently a writeup about it in the AV Club.

It’s all about Quizzo, Philadelphia’s pub quiz game. Local teams (Sofa Kingdom) and celebrities (Johnny Goodtimes, the Bob Barker of Quizzo hosts) involved with it are showcased in this entertaining documentary.

• The JGTSpI is now through week 2. Scoreboard coming Monday. There is currently a very easy physical challenge that can earn you some points. Just wear an article of clothing with a team in the tourney on it (see post below). And don’t worry if you haven’t scored yet. This one is gonna run a little longer than in the past, so you’ve still got plenty of time.
• If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest the catheter videos I posted earlier this week. I really think you’re going to enjoy them.
• As for next week, the best place to get a win is definitely O’Neals. Been really quiet there the past few weeks. Hanging out there right now, watching some NCAA hoops with Koob (Steak Em Up) and Todd, Steve, and Greg (The Savage Ear.), and Hunter (Todd and Lil). Life is good. Enjoy the weather and have a great weekend everybody!

Now if there is one topic I am expert at, it is dance. Therefore it is only natural that I am hosting a fundraiser for Alchemy Dance Studio this Saturday night at Oh Shea’s at 19th and Sansom. $10 a player, with all of the money raised going toward the non-profit dance company. Quiz starts at 8 p.m., and winners get a VISA $100 gift card. Expect questions on everything from the origins of the waltz to Dancin’ Queen to Dances with Wolves. Gonna be a fun quiz. Hope you can make it.

We’re pulling a quizzo-comedy doubleheader on Monday night. Hope you can join us. We’re kicking it off at Koob and Kristy’s first POP quiz at the Khyber at 7 p.m. They did their first one this past week at the Raven and apparently it was a big hit. Great drink specials and a chance to check out the all new Khyber setup.

Then we move across the street to the Plough and the Stars, where we’re gonna be putting on a great comedy show at 8:30. I’ll be hosting and inviting people up to play face-off, Chip Chantry and Steve Gerben will be featuring, and Dennis Horan will be the headliner. You all saw Chip’s dance moves on Saturday night, and saw him perform character Bing Supernova at halftime. Can he tell jokes as well as he can dance? Find out Monday night. Steve was named Philly’s Phunniest comedian by Helium Comedy Club in 2007, and his short New Age Medic video is a viral hit on youtube. Our headliner is Dennis Horan, a local comedy legend. He’s been performing for over 20 years, and he may be the funniest computer programmer you’ll ever see. This is gonna be a fun night (we’ll be celebrating Kristy’s birthday) and I’ve gotten three of the funniest comedians in Philadelphia on the show for a mere $5. Hope you can make it!

They were packed to the rafters at the City Tap House on Sunday, and when the dust settled, we had ourselves an upset victory that sent shockwaves through the local nerd community. The game seemed all but over when the villainous Steak Em Up crew took the lead after 3 rounds. Going into the 4th with a lead is usually Mariano Rivera time for the Steak, who almost never lose a lead late. It looked like the winners of the Summer Invite were going to take the Autumn Invite as well and burnish their legend.

But the Exhausted Nihilists had other ideas. The Nihilists, who had finished 9th in the Final JGTAI standings, got 9 out of 10 right in the final round to come from behind and edge the Steak 103-102. It was a startling upset, though perhaps it shouldn’t have been…the Nihilist had knocked off Steak Em Up this past Tuesday at O’Neals. Nonetheless, it was a memorable final round, as they were the only team to answer both the white running back question and the Ebert question correctly (I’ll post 4th round questions later today.) In fact, the one they missed was one a lot of teams got right, the “Slam Dunk” question. Nonetheless, they got the other 9 right, Steak missed the Running back and Ebert question, and we had ourselves a shocker.

They were far from the only winners on this afternoon however. Look Up Look Down won a free Happy Hour for 10 friends at the City Tap House for earning the most physical challenge points. Insert Topical Team Name Here won a $150 gift certificate for winning the drawing. The Inglorious Barristers won a $75 gift certificate for knowing how tall K2 was. But the finest prize went to the last place team, who earned one of the hottest VHS tapes on the market today…It Takes Two, starring the Olsen Twins, Steve Guttenberg, and Kirstie Alley. You want to talk about some wacky misadventures! You don’t even know the half of it!

And of course, it goes without saying that Anthony Riley was a total hit. Philadelphia’s best known busker proved that he has as fine a voice as anyone in the city. And he was happy to do a vocal round, even though I didn’t even hit him up with the idea until Sunday morning. A splendid performance. It’s always awesome to work with someone that talented and gracious.

Finally, I just want to thank everybody for coming out. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and the fact that you guys came out to play a little quizzo and listen to a few tunes was really awesome. One of my favorite things about doing this for a living is that we have a really cool community, and it’s always really fun when everybody from all 6 bars are together at one place. Thanks again. Scores are after the jump.

Continue reading “Exhausted Nihilist Pull Off Shocker at Johnny Goodtimes Autumn Invitational” →

After a wild 8 weeks, here are our final standings. Several things to note. First of all, we are gonna be able to fit 25 teams into this thing (and perhaps one or two more if there are several 4 person or less teams.)

If you are in light blue, you are in and in the top 10, so are therefore eligible for the extra $100. Teams that are in forest green either aren’t playing or are teaming up with another team to make one team. Teams in yellow, congrats, you made the cut and have indicated that they are playing. Teams that are in grey, I do not know yet whether they are playing or not. I will contact them all this evening and see. Therefore, teams that are in olive green (7-10 points), do not give up hope yet.  There is an excellent shot you could get in. I should know for sure by tomorrow morning, so check back then. Also, teams that are going to be 4 people or smaller, please let me know. I might team you up with another team or let another team into the event. We want to maximize our space, but we also want teams to be there who made an honest effort to earn an invite. The latest details on the event are right here. Maximum team size is 8. If you’ve got any questions please feel free to drop me a line or post below in comments.

TIME: 3 p.m. Sunday, November 14th.

PLACE: City Tap House. 3925 Walnut. Really cool bar, really good food.

PRIZES: $300 for the winner. $150 for 2nd place. $100 bonus drawing between the Top 10 teams. And plenty of other goofy stuff.

COST: $10 a head.

ENTERTAINMENT: Anthony Riley performing Motown hits between rounds. Comedian Doogie Horner hosting the 50/50 round.  And, needless to say, yours truly dressed in his Sunday finest.

SPECIALS: Yes, and good ones too. Gonna be $3 and $4 craft beers on draft, $3 Sly Fox cans, and app and pizza specials.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EAGLES?: They don’t play until Monday.

WILL IT BE FUN? Yes, guaranteed.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I QUALIFIED? I will post final standings tomorrow. If you are in the Top 25 and don’t have an invitation yet, contact me here (johnny@johnnygoodtimes.com) or on facebook.

I am very excited to announce that local comedian, author, and flowchart aficionado Doogie Horner is going to be hosting our 50/50 Round on Sunday. Doogie has just released a book, Everything Explained Through Flowcharts, which I bought last weekend and which I cannot say enough good things about. This is pretty much the ultimate resource for nerds like you. Do yourself a favor and buy this book (The link above will send you to the Amazong page.). Who knows? It might even come in handy on Sunday. Anyways, I thought it would be fun if Doogie’s unique view of the world was part of the festivities on Sunday. A Motown One Man Band and a star from America’s Got Talent. Sunday’s show is starting to shape up to be very interesting.

RELATED: Here’s a hilarious flowchart Doogie did for Fast Company which explains your facebook status portrait.

Here ya have it, the scores through week 5. The teams in blue are teams that are in the top 10, and thus eligible for the $100 bonus drawing. Teams in yellow would be guaranteed a spot in the invitational if the invites were sent out today. Teams in the Green are “Bubble Teams”. They would have to wait to see exactly how much space we have available and if any teams in the Top 20 can’t make it. Teams in orange have some serious work to do over the next three weeks. But do not give up. Look at the Tubular Two. At the time of last week’s rankings, they were buried near the bottom of the list. But this week they finished 2nd twice, submitted an avatar, and scored a few physical challenge points. Now they are in the running for the Bonus Bucks, tied for 10th. One good week can get your team in the mix! Is this the week? You get your first chance tonight at the Westbury with Mike Minion. This week’s wild card round is “Disney films”. Action starts at 10:30 p.m. Meanwhile, I kick off the Spooktacular tommorrow night. Details to follow. Three weeks to go! Time to make your move! And I’m gonna give you until tomorow at 10 a.m. to give me photos of you eating a pretzel. (If you can’t post them to facebook, send them to me via johnny@johnnygoodtimes.com.) Also, all avatars submitted from now on will still get you one bonus point.

RELATED: Details on the Autumn Invitational.