WCCO Viewers' Choice For Best Trivia Night
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Minnesotans love the pastime of teaming up with pals, passing around a pitcher, and engaging in a battle of wits.
If you've been paying attention, you'll notice that pub-style trivia has lost its nerdy reputation, now showing up at local nightspots. So we went searching for the best of Minnesota, and your votes sent me to The Station Pub and Event Center in White Bear Lake.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Station Pub and Event Center for Monday night pub trivia!" said Ricky Budd, the host.
And yes, that's his real name.
"You were kind of made to do trivia weren't you?" I asked.
"I have an inquisitive nature," Budd said.
He's made his trivia night famous for his snappy sense of humor and audience interaction. Not only does he host, he comes up with the questions, format and even prizes.
"Usually, I just pour through a bunch of trivia stuff. Like, I could go through a full game of Trivial Pursuit and find questions that are interesting. And then I come up with ways to ask a question in a new way," Budd said.
If you've never been, pub trivia isn't just an arena for academia. There's music, teams and competition. It's almost like a sport.
"Those of us who couldn't play football, trivia is what I could say," Budd said. "It's our chance for glory."
And it's not necessarily a measure of intelligence.
"We all know stuff. We all have our own specialized knowledge. So I try to bring that out so everybody gets to shine at some point," Budd said.
"I learned that there are 60,000 miles of veins in the human body," said Henry Bona, a trivia goer.
"Even when you don't know an answer, but you knew it, it's fun to have that moment of, 'How did I not remember that!'" said Budd.
"Once you get it wrong, you'll never forget the right answer," said trivia night regular Jayna Anderson.
And then there's what Ricky calls the "Cheers" phenomenon.
"Who comes to trivia?" I asked.
"Your uncle, who always has something to say. Cliff Claven. Yeah, that's the one," said Budd.
There's nothing trivial about flexing that cerebral cortex.
"There are very few situations now where it's socially acceptable to prove that you actually are better than people around you," said another trivia contestant.
But there's no question that it's more than the questions that keep people coming back.
"Ricky is fantastic," Anderson said.
"Ricky is amazing. Like I say, kills it," said The Station Pub and Event Center owner Kate McKeague.
"I want to entertain people and make them laugh," Budd said. "When they want to yell out a comment, I love it. It's where I thrive."
There's no trivia this Monday, but it will be back the following Monday 8 to 10 p.m. Follow on Facebook for details or check their website.
Your other favorite trivia nights are with Trivia Mafia and Memory Lanes.