Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
By Jonathan Rich
Between dropping dope beats during “Yacht Rock Sunday” at the Southern and throwing some of the sweatiest annual dance fests including the “Ugly X-mas Sweater Party” and “Summer ’93 Myrtle Beach Dance Party” at Broadway’s, Kipper Schauer has clearly made a name for himself.
Away from the turntables, however, he has also amassed a following as one of the preeminent trivia masters in town.
Kipper’s Totally Rad Trivia is not like a game of “Jeopardy” or the usual pub trivia contest held at many Asheville bars. Instead of questions about presidents or geography, for the past five years Schauer has quizzed contestants on the finer facts of the Insane Clown Posse and postulated his puzzles to include death metal versions of TV theme songs.
“Our trivia night focuses on the things that are important to us like the name of Superman’s dog, rather than the year that the Battle of Hastings occurred,” Schauer explained.
To celebrate five years of anything but trivial pursuits, Asheville’s “King Arthur of Pop Culture Trivia” is inviting the smartest of asses to test their might in a very special edition of his popular contest Monday, Oct. 6 at Lexington Avenue Brewery.
“Rather than doing our standard rounds of categories devoted to one subject, it will be more of a review of questions from our favorite rounds over the last few years,” he said. “Awful cosplay, mashed-up movies, celebrity tattoos, bad fan art, slash fiction, dubstep Christmas songs, and so on and so forth.”
For this special night the buy-in is $5 for KTRT veterans and $2 for players who have only been once or twice, but whatever the cost Kipper promises to make it worth the extra cash.
“We have a tremendous amount of prizes acquired by me and also sponsored by The LAB,” he said. “We don’t play for ‘bar bucks’ as the grand prize, but second and third place teams should be getting some sweet LAB gift certificates. Dressing up will be as encouraged as always, and what better way to appreciate your team and commemorate the occasion than by having your team’s picture taken in a photo booth provided by Rose Hecht?”
Even on the five-year anniversary (which is supposed to be celebrated with gifts of wood or silverware and falls in line with KTRT’s recent relocation to Lexington Avenue Brewery), the usual rules of conduct will still apply and players will be asked to take a pledge of allegiance to make sure they know what to expect.
“Our teams compete with up to six players, which keeps things fair in my eyes. Trivia nights that don’t limit team sizes are missing the finesse of a highly skilled team. Should I ask a question that I think is answerable and not have a single team get it correct, then there’s shame for me as well. Recently it has been 10 push-ups right there on the spot, but before it was body shots off of one of our male bartenders. Our trivia night is loud, and raucous. There’s heckling between myself and the teams, and the teams themselves. It’s a two way street of fun.”
No one at Kipper’s Trivia leaves the field of battle empty handed. Consolation prizes awarded to each team have ranged from vintage “Simpsons” bubble gum cards (with 20 year-old gum included) to VHS copies of forgotten films and many, many T-shirts from beer promotions which have long since been retired.
Schauer says putting in about eight hours a week writing and researching his own questions rather than pulling them off trivia websites is worth the effort.
“I guess it’s an artisan trivia night. It may take longer to do it, but if anything is worth doing it’s worth doing to the utmost best of your ability,” he said. “The people that play at our trivia night are what make it the most special. It’s the most eclectic mix of wonderful people you will ever meet.”
Game on. Monday, Oct. 6 @ 8 p.m. Lexington Avenue Brewery, 39 North Lexington Ave.
