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By Matthew Perlman
Brooklyn Daily
Get quizzed by a pro.
NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan is coming to the Bell House in Gowanus for an epic food trivia night on July 29. And the Canadian–born Williamsburg resident said the event will be even more fun than his broadcast shows.
“A live audience gives you energy in a way a television audience just doesn’t,” Kiernan said. “You get more back from 300 people at the Bell House than you do from all the people who watch NY1.”
Questions for the quiz will revolve around food, but they are not aimed at epicureans, Kiernan said. Each query is connected to the world of music, movies, and popular culture — all areas of expertise for the host.
“You’re more likely to be asked what flavor was the pie in the pie eating contest in ‘Stand by Me’ than you are to be asked which ingredient makes a cake rise,” said Kiernan, who previously hosted VH1 game show “The World Series of Pop Culture.” “It’s not to be confused with a hardcore Food Network program.”
Kiernan works with David Jacobson of organizer TrivWorks to develop the questions and categories for the game. Jacobson has been running shows like this one for the past seven years, and has been working with Kiernan for the last three. He expects the Bell House event to be better than the average trivia night.
“It’s a high-energy, raucous trivia night,” he said. “It’s not your typical boring bar trivia.”
The audience will break up into teams and go through four rounds of questions posed by Kiernan. The top two teams will face off on stage in the final round. And between rounds, two audience members will be selected for a head-to-head showdown.
Prizes at the event all involve local food producers and area restaurants.
Kiernan has been an anchor on NY1 since 1997, and is best known for his morning weekday segment “In the Papers,” which summarizes the big stories from each of the daily newspapers. Jacobson has noticed that most of the folks that turn out for the Kiernan trivia nights already feel a connection to the hosts.
“They feel like they’ve known Pat since they’ve moved to New York,” he said. “They just go crazy.”
And Kiernan said he likes putting in some face-time with his devoted following.
“It’s fun for me to get out from behind my bubble at NY1,” he said. “It gives me the chance to say hi, and it’s nice to be able to see my audience.”
“Pat Kiernan’s Trivia Food Fight” at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus, (718) 643–6510, www.thebellhouseny.com]. July 29 at 7 pm. $26.