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WEDNESDAY NIGHT TRIVIA, Bigfoot Lodge, Los Angeles, Every Wednesday.
Every time I visit the East Coast, I’m subjected to rumors of some strange new insect sweeping the area. First, I heard buzz about a mosquito that could make you allergic to meat; then I caught wind of a flying yellow spider the size of a fist. During my most recent trip to the Big Apple, I had my own encounter with a curious creepy-crawly—I was bitten by the trivia bug.
My travels brought me to the Alligator Lounge in Williamsburg, the pizza-scented dive popularized by an episode of The Rehearsal (2022) in which Nathan Fielder acquaints himself with a trivia fanatic. Wondering whether we might run into one of the bar regulars featured in the series, my friends and I stopped by—and found ourselves fiending for first place in a heated battle of wits. We put up a good fight in early rounds but crashed and burned due to our failure to recognize a James Blunt song. I was determined to redeem myself, so as soon as I returned to the City of Angels, I made plans to attend a trivia night.
My bar of choice was Bigfoot Lodge, nestled just north of the L.A. River in Atwater Village.
As the name suggests, the space was delightfully kitsch, boasting a “Sasquatch country” road sign and a cartoonish animatronic squirrel with a pickax. Arriving fashionably late at 9:03 p.m., I struggled to secure a seat. The room was packed with drinking geeks—fitting, given that trivia was being administered by “Geeks Who Drink.”
Geeks ourselves, my partner and I dubbed our team “Nutkin and Skullcrusher,” after the chipmunkesque Final Fantasy characters. On the trivia web page (at the Bigfoot Lodge, patrons scan a QR code and input answers on their phones), we scrolled through the list of team names to see whom we were up against; highlights included “We are smart then everyone else” and “RIP Hollywood Arby’s” (good night, sweet prince).
I’ve attended enough trivia nights to know that striking the right balance between silly and serious questions is crucial. Trivia is like pickup soccer or club Frisbee for people who lack coordination—you have to be just a little bit goofy to join the fun, but if you can’t get competitive, what’s the point? Bigfoot Lodge delivered on this front. The first round of questions was Juneteenth-themed, in honor of the national holiday. (After typing in our answers, we curiously pressed the “Joker” button and our score doubled—a pleasant surprise.) The second round revolved around time-related song lyrics for National Watch Day, which was apparently also on the calendar. Round three, all about snapping, had us identify the artist behind 2007 hit “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and identify the scientific phenomenon behind the snapping sound. (Trying to gather data, we frantically snapped our fingers next to our ears—and looked around to see the entirety of the bar doing the same.)
It was around this point that my partner and I pulled into first—and claimed a free shot for winning a bonus round. Could it be that we were even smarter than “We are smart then everyone else”—and everyone else?
Alas, our supremacy was short-lived. Turns out we didn’t know enough about Lord of the Rings or Central American capitals to keep our spot. As my phone battery dwindled, we slipped further and further from the throne—yet we only grew more engrossed in the game. When other teams scored shots, we cheered for them. When we aced a question about Star Trek: The New Generation (one of our shows), we looked around to see who else was celebrating and felt an instant pang of camaraderie. Initially, I had feared that the phone-based engine would make for a less involved atmosphere, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect: because we were using our phones for trivia, we couldn’t scroll or text, so every moment of concentration was made all the more intense.
At the end of the night, we walked away in 11th place—out of 20, not that it makes much of a difference. My shoulders slumped—but only for a second. What was a trophy compared to the pride I felt when my love demonstrated his knowledge of Chinese mountain ranges? The thrill that surged through my veins when I identified an episode of Black Mirror? The joy I sensed in the room when every single team got an answer correct? Perhaps the real prize was the revelation that nothing was trivial—that in bars around the world, every single night, total strangers gather to celebrate learning for learning’s sake.
… Just kidding. Bigfoot Lodge, I will see you next Wednesday—and this time I’ll triumph, mark my words.
Photo by contributor.
LARB Short Takes live event reviews are published in partnership with the nonprofit Online Journalism Project and the Independent Review Crew.
Every time I visit the East Coast, I’m subjected to rumors of some strange new insect sweeping the area. First, I heard buzz about a mosquito that could make you allergic to meat; then I caught wind of a flying yellow spider the size of a fist. During my most recent trip to the Big Apple, I had my own encounter with a curious creepy-crawly—I was bitten by the trivia bug.
My travels brought me to the Alligator Lounge in Williamsburg, the pizza-scented dive popularized by an episode of The Rehearsal (2022) in which Nathan Fielder acquaints himself with a trivia fanatic. Wondering whether we might run into one of the bar regulars featured in the series, my friends and I stopped by—and found ourselves fiending for first place in a heated battle of wits. We put up a good fight in early rounds but crashed and burned due to our failure to recognize a James Blunt song. I was determined to redeem myself, so as soon as I returned to the City of Angels, I made plans to attend a trivia night.
My bar of choice was Bigfoot Lodge, nestled just north of the L.A. River in Atwater Village.
As the name suggests, the space was delightfully kitsch, boasting a “Sasquatch country” road sign and a cartoonish animatronic squirrel with a pickax. Arriving fashionably late at 9:03 p.m., I struggled to secure a seat. The room was packed with drinking geeks—fitting, given that trivia was being administered by “Geeks Who Drink.”
Geeks ourselves, my partner and I dubbed our team “Nutkin and Skullcrusher,” after the chipmunkesque Final Fantasy characters. On the trivia web page (at the Bigfoot Lodge, patrons scan a QR code and input answers on their phones), we scrolled through the list of team names to see whom we were up against; highlights included “We are smart then everyone else” and “RIP Hollywood Arby’s” (good night, sweet prince).
I’ve attended enough trivia nights to know that striking the right balance between silly and serious questions is crucial. Trivia is like pickup soccer or club Frisbee for people who lack coordination—you have to be just a little bit goofy to join the fun, but if you can’t get competitive, what’s the point? Bigfoot Lodge delivered on this front. The first round of questions was Juneteenth-themed, in honor of the national holiday. (After typing in our answers, we curiously pressed the “Joker” button and our score doubled—a pleasant surprise.) The second round revolved around time-related song lyrics for National Watch Day, which was apparently also on the calendar. Round three, all about snapping, had us identify the artist behind 2007 hit “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and identify the scientific phenomenon behind the snapping sound. (Trying to gather data, we frantically snapped our fingers next to our ears—and looked around to see the entirety of the bar doing the same.)
It was around this point that my partner and I pulled into first—and claimed a free shot for winning a bonus round. Could it be that we were even smarter than “We are smart then everyone else”—and everyone else?
Alas, our supremacy was short-lived. Turns out we didn’t know enough about Lord of the Rings or Central American capitals to keep our spot. As my phone battery dwindled, we slipped further and further from the throne—yet we only grew more engrossed in the game. When other teams scored shots, we cheered for them. When we aced a question about Star Trek: The New Generation (one of our shows), we looked around to see who else was celebrating and felt an instant pang of camaraderie. Initially, I had feared that the phone-based engine would make for a less involved atmosphere, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect: because we were using our phones for trivia, we couldn’t scroll or text, so every moment of concentration was made all the more intense.
At the end of the night, we walked away in 11th place—out of 20, not that it makes much of a difference. My shoulders slumped—but only for a second. What was a trophy compared to the pride I felt when my love demonstrated his knowledge of Chinese mountain ranges? The thrill that surged through my veins when I identified an episode of Black Mirror? The joy I sensed in the room when every single team got an answer correct? Perhaps the real prize was the revelation that nothing was trivial—that in bars around the world, every single night, total strangers gather to celebrate learning for learning’s sake.
… Just kidding. Bigfoot Lodge, I will see you next Wednesday—and this time I’ll triumph, mark my words.
¤
Photo by contributor.
LARB Short Takes live event reviews are published in partnership with the nonprofit Online Journalism Project and the Independent Review Crew.
LARB Contributor
Brittany Menjivar was born and raised in the DMV; she now works and plays in the City of Angels. With her partner in crime Erin Satterthwaite, she runs Car Crash Collective, hosting late-night literary readings at Footsies Bar in Los Angeles. Her poetry and fiction have been featured in HAD, Dream Boy Book Club, Spectra, and Dirt Child, among other publications. Additionally, she was named a 2023 Best of the Net Award Finalist. You can stream her short film Fragile.com on YouTube’s ALTER Channel, where it has nearly two million views. You can also find her on Substack: she posts cultural criticism via BRITTPOP, and keeps track of the most exciting events happening in L.A. each week via The Angel Almanac.
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