Kaş Pub Quiz Night
Roger Wade, author of the website Kas Hotels Guide enlightens us about the Kaş Pub Quiz Night. As an American travelling around the world, he takes on the local British establishment and often has to ponder questions only someone from the United Kingdom should know–and handles the task very well.
“The Kaş Pub Quiz is more than just another night out!”
At 8pm every other Tuesday evening down at the Kaş Deli (AKA Kirstin’s Kitchen) you are welcome to join the pub quiz, which in some ways seems to be the backbone of the expat social scene in this small town. As with most similar events, there is a core group who rarely miss the quiz and also a revolving door of friends, part-time residents, and even the odd random tourist who turns up.
Upon arriving in Kaş last April I was thrilled to learn of the regular ‘trivia night’ (as we’d call it in the United States). It’s not just that trivia fans like myself are fond of trying to show off our skills, but more that a pub quiz is the perfect setting to meet people and make new friends without even a bit of anxiety attached. The conversation is guaranteed and varied so it’s just as easy to share a few personal stories with teammates as it is to just sit back and focus on the questions.
Everyone contributes
Among the more enjoyable parts of the pub quiz format, which seems to have originated only a few decades ago in the UK, is that even those who don’t consider themselves to be trivia junkies can often help their team far more than they’d imagine.
You’ll normally get about 60 questions on topics from from all over the map, plus a “picture round” where the team is asked to identify faces or places or whatever the devilish quiz master has dreamed up and photocopied. Chances are excellent that you’ll know at least a few key answers to help your team, but even if you don’t you can just do a lot of nodding and whispering that the answer just blurted out by your teammate was what you were thinking as well.
The most successful teams are those with members who specialize in different areas. You’ll usually need a sports person, often a literature person, a movie buff, and someone who actually paid attention during science classes, while geography often gets divided up among teammates who’ve spent time in different parts of the world.
The 5-lira per player stake is low enough so no one worries even when they find themselves on a hopeless team (or with a quiz master who asks one ludicrous question after another, depending on your point of view), while the winning team can help pay their bar bill with the earnings. The event is really about meeting friends, old and new, at regular intervals, in case you don’t see them in between. The beer and wine prices are very reasonable, as is the excellent food prepared by Kirstin for those wise enough to order in advance and come early.
Appreciate your quiz master
Even as a trivia fan who has played in regular pub quizzes in this similar format in Amsterdam and New York, the Kaş Pub Quiz was the first time I’d gotten a chance to write the questions and host the event myself. Alex Smith presents most of the time and he makes it look effortless, which he modestly chalks up to experience, but still it’s never as easy as it looks.
I’ve recently taken my third turn as host, and the fact that I’m often the only American in a group of Brits is part of my excuse for it being quite a challenge. Honestly, a quiz is most enjoyable when each person knows at least a few answers that no one else on their team knows, but achieving that balance can be tricky.
If you ask a question that nearly everyone in the room can instantly answer then there’s little point to it, aside from building a bit of confidence. On the other hand, asking a question that draws nothing but blank stares from the crowd is even worse, and I personally have seen that look too many times already. Fortunately, tradition dictates that you can keep piling on new clues until at least one team feels that they have it, so it’s even more friendly and interactive than you might otherwise expect.
Care to join us?
If you are living in or spending time in Kaş and you’d like to join the quiz you are more than welcome. Teams are limited to a maximum of 6 people, and usually it takes at least 4 to be competitive, so you can either come as a team or just as any number of strays who will find themselves joining a team without much effort.
Ask down at the <a href="https://picasaweb.google omeprazole magnesium.com/113218393886075556914/BusyBeesKas4KidsEvents” title=”Kirsten’s Kitchen-Kaş Deli” target=”_blank”>Kaş Deli (the last business on the right just before the ancient theatre), or email info@bougainville-turkey.com and they will pass it along to someone who will get back to you with the schedule.
The next quiz is set for 8pm on January 10 at the Kaş Deli. If you show up and there is a team calling themselves ‘Kaş Flow’ you’d better hope they are having an off week. There’s even talk of the quiz going weekly through March, so stay tuned.
