Virtual Pub Quiz Dynasty

Pubs might have closed across the UK, but if you're missing the quiz night at your local, there's a way you can get your pub trivia fix at home. Virtual pub quiz has started popping up online, and thousands are joining in. Here's how to find one and keep your brain exercised during the evenings ahead.

The host sets the tone, so it’s crucial to get into the spirit. I, for example, like to channel my inner Lily Savage and dress for the occasion. A good background is key, whether that is an uploaded image from Who Wants to be a Millionaire or a little vignette you create yourself (this can also double up as a ‘lockdown project’). For example, I’ve put up silver foil curtains in my room; they can stay up until this is over, and there’s something quite comforting about seeing them rustle in the breeze.

If you were ever in any doubt, the lockdown has categorically proved that Londoners are blissfully, hopelessly enamoured with the pub quiz. It has become one of the most important aspects of virtual socialising. Why? Two words: organised fun. People have to stare at a screen to interact. It’s unavoidable. But not everyone can hold concentration on a Zoom call. We all look like we’re trapped in the opening credits of ‘The Brady Bunch’. It’s exhausting. You need something to distract from the strangeness, something that will start the conversations you’re failing to initiate because you keep forgetting to turn your mic on. And that’s where the quiz comes in.

Pub quiz hosts were the early adopters to the lockdown times. Within a week of the official with life, breweries and bars had all taken to their Instagrams for wholesome trivia sessions. Since March 29, ‘lockdown quiz questions’ has become a Breakout search term on Google, which means huge amounts of people are frantically typing it into the search engine.

But if you are tired of taking photographs of random objects in your house for another ‘picture round’, and just can’t face another set of ‘who said it?’ questions, let someone else do it for you. There is, quite literally, a virtual quiz to live-stream in London every single day of the week, and we can help you navigate them. All you have to do is come up with your team name (‘Let’s Get Quizzical’ is taken, though. It’s ALWAYS taken)

Anyone can Google ‘good quiz questions’, but half the fun of hosting a quiz is the writing. We typically do six or seven rounds of ten questions; this takes two hours with time for a cocktail making break. Within these rounds you include your favoured subjects: film, geography, music etc, adding in a few niche rounds that you can make as dry or draft as you wish. A personal favourite inspired by ITV’s Quiz is ‘Guess The Cough’ in which we play sound clips of celebrities coughing. A round on ‘The Titanic’ is always a good idea.

Tailor your quiz to your audience. I almost always omit sports and probably have a little too much pop culture on the menu. General knowledge is a good place to start; we’ve probably all learned a few interesting facts during lockdown, so throw those in, and take a look at the books on your shelf for further inspiration. Any old school books are full of entertaining facts–just make sure you check them.

With a mix of generations and different interests, a good way to keep things varied is by splitting the rounds into two parts: serious questions, followed by five that take a less typical form. These can be five anagrams, pictures, sound clips or even an idea from a gameshow–let your quizmaster mind wander. 

How to host virtual pub quiz ?

The nation is quizzing more than ever these days, and everyone knows the history round is a staple of the classic pub quiz. So start thinking old-school next time you’re on House Party, Google Hangouts, Zoom or Messenger – do your friends know their Kings and Queens? History Quiz Questions

I might just be friends with nerds, but since the lockdown everyone's gone absolutely mad for pub quizzes. The coronavirus has sadly led to the lockdown of one of the cornerstone of modern civilization: the pubs.

You’d think that the complete lack of the ‘pub’ in virtual pub quiz would take away much of the appeal. However, a sense of community and of belonging is very real and is much needed, especially at the minute. Online pub quiz provides just as much – and is now attracting a global audience.

The complete lack of the 'pub' bit of the pub quiz would, you'd think, take away much of the appeal, but linking up with mates via trivia does make a lot of sense. Pub quizzes are an essential pillar of Britain's national character, but they're also a very handy way of getting otherwise flaky mates to coalesce around an activity. We all need a bit of direction at the minute, and a pub quiz sits right in the sweet spot of normality and novelty.

The deluge of quizzes we've been doing for the last few months isn't slowing down, but now we've burned through about as many straight trivia rounds as it's possible for a human mind to cope with. The yearning for quizzing abides, but now's the time to get creative.

People everywhere have begun to bring their favourite pub activity to the internet. As more of us are working remotely through Zoom, some have utilised the video conferencing platform to host online pub quiz. A search on Instagram would fill you with images of gangs of mates staring at their phones for hours on end for a trivia game.

But that doesn’t mean we cannot stay sane and keep in touch with our mates. Spending hours on end sticking our eyes to the screen for trivia nights is no longer a dream, now that we can host online quiz with conferencing platform and interactive presentation software.

Have you gone completely mad for pub quizzes since the lockdown? Let’s get down and make one for you and your mates. You might even make a few friends over the internet easily this way. For the real prize is the friends we made along the way. There’s no way you’re picking any prizes for the next three months anyway.

AhaSlides Virtual Pub Quiz

It’s more than  months since we went into lockdown now, but with the reopening of pubs still not in sight the popularity of the AhaSlides pub quiz should continue for a good while yet.

With that in mind, AhaSlides is continuing to provide makeshift quizmasters up and down the country with a long list of questions – touching on all sorts of different topics and themes.

Here are some q&a for you to host a brand new virtual pub quiz

  1. The tallest building in the world is located in which city?
  2. Which year was the original Toy Story film released in the US?
  3. Name the current UK Home Secretary.
  4. In 2017 the Best Picture Oscar winner was erroneously announced as La La Land. But which film actually won the award?
  5. Name the longest river in the UK.
  6. What is the capital city of Ukraine?
  7. Which Shakespeare play included the famous stage direction Exit Pursued By A Bear?
  8. Which iconic English rock band are responsible for the 1967 hit song Waterloo Sunset?
  9. In which year was the popular video game Fortnite first released?
  10. We’re all missing a cool IPA in the pub – what does the acronym stand for?

All you need now is heading to AhaSlides and host your virtual pub quiz