Trivial Pursuits

Safari Sam’s, a favorite among the hip set and the winner of LA Weekly’s coveted “Best Converted Strip Club” award, is now home to the monthly showdown, “Hollywood Trivia,” brought to you by the combined efforts of Cabaret Voltaire and The Couch.

“Hollywood Trivia” is an awesomely low-tech, 60-question nerdfest for the pop-culturally inclined. The questions are delivered in three rounds via a human person on a stage with a microphone. Each team or individual writes his, her or their answer on a piece of paper, and at the end of round three the sheets are collected and graded immediately by a crack team of monkeys. There are no buzzers or beepers or plungers or touch-screens. There is no Scantron. This is old school, people. The way the Amish do it.

Some of the questions are clearly skewed for the persnickety uber-snob, but if you watch TV, go to the movies, and love your Hollywood factoids, you can hold your own in this battle of the brain. You can also win a boatload of cash because it’s $9 to get in and the winner takes home half the door money. Also important to know, there is a zero-tolerance/death-by-stoning policy for cell phone, Treo, or Blackberry type cheaters. Don’t fake the flavor.

Last month’s smackdown brought a stunning display of cooperative team efforts, brave solo missions, fierce competitors, giggling funsters, a couple of trash talkers and some no-joke trivia. The white-hot, nerd-on-nerd action culminated in an astonishing, sudden death round where both finalists (“Wiedergott” and “Clown Eyes and Corn Nuts”) ate it on the bonus question and were forced to split the bountiful loot. Very exciting.