Down the pub.

[Roger Kettle]

These days, I go to the pub once a week. Every Thursday, around 5.30, I meet up with some friends for about an hour and a half to share a couple of beers, a few games of pool and an extremely competitive quiz. The numbers involved can range from six to twelve and the ages of those in the group go from the early fifties to the early eighties. It's a hoot. One member of the group, in particular, has some wonderful tales to tell. He will casually mention how he was thrown out of a Stevie Winwood concert for attempting to join the singer on stage. ("It was my favourite song of his and I thought he'd appreciate my vocal backing".) The same guy talked of "slicing a ball off the tee on an Australian golf course and hitting a kangaroo on the arse". This is just a snippet of the surreal conversations that take place. We also sort out all the world's problems which, I think, is commendable given the brief time we get together.
Modestly, I'd like to suggest that I'm still the best pool player in the group. (Actually, I am).
I'm very old now. These nights are great!

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

I get the feeling I should know the Winwood stage-crashing 'roo arse smacker, Roger, but the clues don't quite match to the suspects that first spring to mind.

Lat time I was a regular in a pub I was single and in my early 30s. I trust all's well with Lady Kettle?

[Roger Kettle]

No, you don't know the character in question, Tarqs. He is, shall we say, a "colourful" chap. Another of his tales involves dining out in the famous Langan's Brasserie in London. Along with a friend, an order was placed for half-melon starters. After finishing and enjoying the course, the empty half-melons were then used as hats for the rest of the meal. This was applauded by several fellow diners, including Terry Gilliam and Robert de Niro. The former even dashed off a cartoon for my friend. Yes, a colourful chap.
Lady Kettle is fine, thank you, and delighted to be rid of me for a couple of hours every week.

[Mince]

Every Thursday, around 5.30, I meet up with some friends for about an hour and a half to share a couple of beers

You dirty stop-out!

[Roger Kettle]

I know, I know!

[ZestyWhite]

That's a lot to cram into 90 minutes - and a very early start for a pub quiz.

Before having children*, my wife and I and another couple used to participate in a quiz in our local every Thursday and I would often lament the slow pace of proceedings, which were presumably designed to bore the teams into buying another few rounds. We'd never have been out of there in an hour and half.
We finished runner up more times than Jimmy White, losing whatever lead we had built up in the music round, on account of our subject knowledge being narrow and niche. Occasionally, the winners would take pity on us and pass us the two bottles of rosé paint stripper that served as a prize - which was nice. It wasn't a cartoon by a Python or a Kettle - but it was a nice gesture.

*The last time we attended that particular quiz, I won the £200 jackpot. I was surprised when my wife was non-committal about my luck/trivia prowess, but as we learned a few hours later, she was in labour with our daughter at the time, so I'll let her off.

[Roger Kettle]

Zesty, the quiz we do isn't one of those "official" types. One of our group asks us about 25 questions from a book of his and it's just a matter of who shouts out the answer first. Generally, any other customers in the pub join in. The whole thing takes less than ten minutes. (Last night, I gave my age away when I quickly answered "120" to the question "How many farthings were there in a half-crown?") The quiz is not taken particularly seriously. I would estimate that half the answers offered are along the lines of "Who gives a ****?"

[Mince]

Last night, I gave my age away when I quickly answered "120" to the question "How many farthings were there in a half-crown?"

Did he point to you before you answered, and was the question in fact "How many of you old farts are as deaf as this daft clown?"

[Roger Kettle]

You were there!

[Mince]

You were there!

Yeah, but even with me there I'm baffled as to how you arrived at 120.

[Roger Kettle]

Really? What can I say? It's the right answer.

[Diane CBPFC]

I have never been to a pub quiz but think they look like such cozy nights out especially after watching the Detectorists.

My other son puts Youtube quizzes on the TV when he visits and we are supposed to shout out the answers - I think its his way of checking to see if his parents should be in "Shady Meadows" so there is pressure on us to try our best.