In the spirit of this blog, which is “All things Quizzy’, I made my way last Monday to attend the 14th edition (yes, 14th …and here I was thinking that Quiz nights are Dead in Nairobi) of the Moniko’s Bistro Quiz Night at Valley Arcade. Truth be told: I have known that there’s a monthly quiz at Moniko’s for over half a year but it’s until last week when I decided to actually attend it.

As usual, for every quiz night I attend as a participant, I find it a no brainer to enlist the company of my pals who are also avid quizzers as well. Since I do not have a particularly large network of friends who are enthusiastic about random things like Genghis Khan and the Capital City of obscure countries like Nauru, I always end up with the usual suspects. Usual suspects here made of largely individuals who we shared moments of fame during that televised Quiz show for Universities….they used to call it Zain Africa Challenge.

So, on that evening, we met with Mr Gi, my partner in ‘quizzing crime’ and between us, have won over 15 quiz nights over the last 5 years. We were actually pleasantly surprised to find out that the entire bistro had been reserved for teams intending to attend the quiz night. “Awesome stuff,” we thought. That way, if we won, we will definitely be on the TOP of the pile…As Newbies. What a way to make an impression.

There was one slight problem though: Since we had not reserved earlier, we had to wait until all teams arrived to get a chance to join an incomplete team. Luckily, Micheal, the bistro’s manager was kind enough to let us know that that wouldn’t be a problem and swiftly swung into action and introduced us to our team mates for the evening, Isoke and Dayo. From the onset, I must say that this matchup was made in heaven. You will know the reason why in a few.

All quiz night buffs reading this will concur with me that the first part of entertainment in any quiz night are the Quiz Names adopted by the various teams. They range from the totally bland ones with no imaginative effort put to the outright ridiculous which leave you wondering what was going through their heads when coming up with such a name. Needless to say, this quiz was not any different: With teams like SAM (yes…Sam-that simple), Warogi, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lady Boys Central, Panda Genocide, Tricksters, Easy Taxi, Jovago, Lamudiness, Steadfast  and Fundamendos ( who were the defending champions) among others, the night was neatly set up for an awesome mind spurring session.

At exactly 8.30 pm, the Quiz Master, dressed in an immaculate dark green blazer with a black shirt with a corresponding green tie a la the Riddler, one of Batman’s nemesis took centre stage with witty quips, which ushered in the evening. Without mincing words, his ultimate assurance to all participating teams was “If you do not know a particular category, not to worry. Chances are you will not know the next one either.”

The Categories for the evening: Name Game, Let me tell you about myself, Road to Nowhere, Faces of The World, Land Marks, Logos, In Short and Music, clearly demonstrated the mark of a seasoned Quiz master. After executing several quiz nights, it is always refreshing to change things up occasionally and for me, Road to Nowhere was something totally out of the box. For all the drivers who fancy themselves to know the entire Nairobi, with streets and their corresponding lanes, this category is definitely for you.

By the way, our team was called “The Ice Breakers” since we reckoned that we have some Ice to break, by the name of the defending champions, who had a strangle hold of this particular quiz event.

After 8 categories and two hours later, with the best teamwork ever experienced in a while, the Icebreakers (my team) took the Moniko’s Quiz on its debut. Yes, that’s how we do. The second team was the defending Champions (I have to reiterate), The Fundamendos and taking third place was Genghis Khan.

The team that took the award for the most creative name was “Multiple Scoregasms.” Yes, they deserved it. For real!

I am already looking forward to the next quiz night at Moniko’s. Until then, am still on the prowl for the next quiz night to attend, and hopefully Conquer. The Quiz Masters Way!!!

In the spirit of this blog, which is “All things Quizzy’, I made my way last Monday to attend the 14th edition (yes, 14th …and here I was thinking that Quiz nights are Dead in Nairobi) of the Moniko’s Bistro Quiz Night at Valley Arcade. Truth be told: I have known that there’s a monthly quiz at Moniko’s for over half a year but it’s until last week when I decided to actually attend it.

As usual, for every quiz night I attend as a participant, I find it a no brainer to enlist the company of my pals who are also avid quizzers as well. Since I do not have a particularly large network of friends who are enthusiastic about random things like Genghis Khan and the Capital City of obscure countries like Nauru, I always end up with the usual suspects. Usual suspects here made of largely individuals who we shared moments of fame during that televised Quiz show for Universities….they used to call it Zain Africa Challenge.

So, on that evening, we met with Mr Gi, my partner in ‘quizzing crime’ and between us, have won over 15 quiz nights over the last 5 years. We were actually pleasantly surprised to find out that the entire bistro had been reserved for teams intending to attend the quiz night. “Awesome stuff,” we thought. That way, if we won, we will definitely be on the TOP of the pile…As Newbies. What a way to make an impression.

There was one slight problem though: Since we had not reserved earlier, we had to wait until all teams arrived to get a chance to join an incomplete team. Luckily, Micheal, the bistro’s manager was kind enough to let us know that that wouldn’t be a problem and swiftly swung into action and introduced us to our team mates for the evening, Isoke and Dayo. From the onset, I must say that this matchup was made in heaven. You will know the reason why in a few.

All quiz night buffs reading this will concur with me that the first part of entertainment in any quiz night are the Quiz Names adopted by the various teams. They range from the totally bland ones with no imaginative effort put to the outright ridiculous which leave you wondering what was going through their heads when coming up with such a name. Needless to say, this quiz was not any different: With teams like SAM (yes…Sam-that simple), Warogi, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lady Boys Central, Panda Genocide, Tricksters, Easy Taxi, Jovago, Lamudiness, Steadfast  and Fundamendos ( who were the defending champions) among others, the night was neatly set up for an awesome mind spurring session.

At exactly 8.30 pm, the Quiz Master, dressed in an immaculate dark green blazer with a black shirt with a corresponding green tie a la the Riddler, one of Batman’s nemesis took centre stage with witty quips, which ushered in the evening. Without mincing words, his ultimate assurance to all participating teams was “If you do not know a particular category, not to worry. Chances are you will not know the next one either.”

The Categories for the evening: Name Game, Let me tell you about myself, Road to Nowhere, Faces of The World, Land Marks, Logos, In Short and Music, clearly demonstrated the mark of a seasoned Quiz master. After executing several quiz nights, it is always refreshing to change things up occasionally and for me, Road to Nowhere was something totally out of the box. For all the drivers who fancy themselves to know the entire Nairobi, with streets and their corresponding lanes, this category is definitely for you.

By the way, our team was called “The Ice Breakers” since we reckoned that we have some Ice to break, by the name of the defending champions, who had a strangle hold of this particular quiz event.

After 8 categories and two hours later, with the best teamwork ever experienced in a while, the Icebreakers (my team) took the Moniko’s Quiz on its debut. Yes, that’s how we do. The second team was the defending Champions (I have to reiterate), The Fundamendos and taking third place was Genghis Khan.

The team that took the award for the most creative name was “Multiple Scoregasms.” Yes, they deserved it. For real!

I am already looking forward to the next quiz night at Moniko’s. Until then, am still on the prowl for the next quiz night to attend, and hopefully Conquer. The Quiz Masters Way!!!