Pub quizzes in Abu Dhabi

Are you a history buff? How well do you know the periodic table? Abu Dhabi’s quiz nights are filling up and you’ll need to brush up on your trivia to compete with the best.

Harbouring useless knowledge will never make you more proud than when it helps you win a pub quiz. More and more of these are popping up around the city – and the competition is heating up.

One of the capital’s most popular quizzes is held at Heroes in Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi. Every Monday night, quizmaster Mike Hargreaves hosts a fun and challenging set of 60 questions plus a music round, a picture round and his signature wipeout round – Family Fortunes-style rules, where players guess the top answers in certain categories.

An Abu Dhabi icon, Mike hosts quiz night at Heroes on Mondays, The Horse and Jockey in Al Ain on Tuesdays and The Club on Wednesdays. TOAD sits down with the legend before a quiz one night to get some insider tips on how to score big…

All of the rounds in your quizzes are themed. How do you come up with the questions and the categories?
Honestly, it’s usually just random inspiration. I’ll be looking around my studio and see, for example, the air conditioner. Then I think AC, and then maybe ‘words that begin with AC’. And I go from there. Usually, I come up with the first six or so questions really quickly. The remaining ones are usually a challenge. It can take days to come up with those final four questions. Tonight one of the categories is Famous People Called Ernie.

What’s the most challenging part of compiling the questions?
The hardest part is knowing the audience and designing a quiz that will fit that crowd. For example, some quizzes have older crowds and some crowds like a challenge. Also, I try to make sure that the questions are tailored to different nationalities. I’m English but I’ve been accused of being anti-English because I try so hard not to be biased.

What’s your advice for new teams?
Keep your team small. Usually five people is the perfect amount because then you can always have a tie-breaker. If you make your team any bigger then there are too many opinions. Also, always stick with your first answer. It’s usually the right one. You should have a very good reason to change it if you do. Finally, listen to the question. I like to confuse you and make you think I’m asking one thing but the answer might be much simpler – or even hidden in the question.

Do you go to pub quizzes? We bet you’d be an expert!
I used to love participating. I’m very competitive. I actually once organised a dream team of some of my most knowledgeable friends. We practised for a quiz that had some really great prizes. We reviewed for weeks and told people that we were sure to win. We forgot to study one thing though – what time it started. We showed up half an hour late!

A new quiz in town!

Cooper’s in the Park Rotana has launched a quiz that might just give Heroes a run for its money. It’s held every Monday at 8.30pm and is open to teams of five. Another quiz regular Chalkie White hosts the quiz. He says, ‘My goal is to make every quiz as multi-national and as fun as possible. A laugh is guaranteed plus you learn something new every time.’