I’m going to try out for “Jeopardy!”. I got accepted to their try-outs that they’re having in DC later this month.
Anyone else done this? Any tips?
Answer the questions correctly! 
Good luck!
Zev Steinhardt
I have no first-hand, personal experience, but from chief’s topic in GQ a while back ( http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=14617 ), someone posted a link to a 5-time Jeopardy! winner’s site. I read the site a while ago and it was pretty hilarious. Check it out… http://www.bobharris.com/jeopardy.htm
And GOOD LUCK!!
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Answer the questions correctly!
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No, no, no, NO, NO!!!
Question the answers correctly!!!
Actually, pluto, he got it half right.
I tried out for Jeopardy once. Didn’t make it. It begins with a fifty-“answer” test, in which they show you the answer on the screen, and you’re suppposed to write down the proper response on paper. You are not required to write it in the form of a question, though.
So to put it properly: Respond to the answers correctly.
AWB: Otherwise, I don’t have any tips as I said, I didn’t make it…you need tips from someone who did. Good luck!
Don’t wait for Alex to ask if it’s your final answer.
They have try-outs every year in Atlantic City. These are a little different than the usual try-outs I think, as anyone and everyone can go try. I’ve done it 3 times so far. The way those worked were simple, a herd of people at once take a quick 10 question test, you have 3 minutes and you must answer 8 out of 10 correctly to be called back(they announced names over the PA system in the casino, Merv Griffin’s Resorts, of course) for a second test. the second is probably the more intricate 50 question test. I’m not sure as I’ve not made it(yet :)), but my understanding is there ae at least 2 or 3 more ‘tests’ to pass to make it, one usually involving a simulated ‘game’, more of a personality test than anything else. there are at least a couple of books on the subject, I have two of them, they may help you.
The Jeopardy! Book, by Alex Trebek, has practice rounds, history, good general info.
Secrets of the Jeopardy! Champions, by Chuck Forrest and Mark Lowenthal, 2 of the all time high scorers on the game.
This is the one to get, it has detailed info on the tests and what to do once you get past that point.
Good Luck!!
HEY! I’m trying out for Jeopardy too! Only in Chicago, on a different date, I assume. I’ve never had this chance before so I’m nervous, excited, and trying to memorize all the presidents and their dates of service (one of the weak points in my storehouse of useless trivia). Someone said (in one of the books mentioned above, which I got from the library) that you can’t cram for Jeopardy; you either have sufficient general knowlege or you don’t. That’s true, but it would certainly behoove you to brush up on common Jeopardy topics that cover relatively small bodies of information - like presidents, world capitals, etc.
I feel I can tell you this secret strategy since I won’t be competing directly against you.
I don’t have any more specific advice or information, but I sure hope someone else does. Support your Jeopardy Dopers! Surely others of this bright bunch have tried out before. And another thing, Chicago dopers, how can I get from the Midway airport to N Michigan Ave? I know to take the CTA somehow, but I’ll be darned if I can figure out the itsy-bitsy map on their website. I don’t want to get lost in Chicago and miss the audition (well, I don’t want to get lost in Chicago alone under any circumstances, actually). I’m taking a flight that gets in several hours early so I won’t have to panic if the flight is late or whatever, but I don’t want to get there and then have to figure out what to do next.
By the way, no one IRL knows about my tryout except for SO Cygnus. (Since we aren’t married and never intend to be, I don’t know if he can properly and officially be considered Mr. Cygnus.) I figured I’d wait till it was over and I knew how it came out. That way, if I do well, I can come back and make an excited announcement that I got to try out for Jeopardy and guess what, I have a chance to get on. If I bomb disasterously, I can just say, “I tried out for Jeopardy but I didn’t make the cut,” instead of having everyone get excited for me weeks in advance and then say, “How’d you do, how’d you do???” only to have to tell them that I failed miserably.
::: adding a few extra cotton balls to the padding around the vulnerable ego :::
Well, yes. I was on Teen Jeopardy 5 years ago. The same thing, with a few procedural differences. Some things might be different for the non-tournaments, and some things might have changed since then, but I came in 3rd overall, so listen to me (joke, somewhat.)
As everyone has said, brush up on your general knowledge. Presidents, mythology, Shakespeare, current events & movies, state/world capitals, history (especially US History,) authors, and basic science all appear frequently. I do think that History/English people have a slightly easier time than Math/Science people, but who knows?
The Jeopardy books mentioned earlier are good to have. I’d also suggest rereading all the SD books - they cover a lot of varied knowledge. Any book with random facts is good; you never know what they’ll use. You also never know what you might be good in - for whatever reason I ran the ‘Gems & Jewels’ category on my 2nd show.
Dress well, and act polished. If (when!) you get past the prelim test (I only had 1, the 50 question test,) they’ll talk to you, have you fill out an information sheet about yourself, and test you on the buzzer system to see if you can handle them and ring in. Write something interesting (unique, if possible) on the sheet - it gives Alex stuff to ask you about in the show. I wrote about my interest in ASL and Gilbert & Sullivan (somewhat esoteric for the 17 1/2 year old that I was,) and I was asked about both.
Don’t take it too personally if they don’t take you the first time, even if you do get to the personality portions. I suspect they try to get a gender/geographic/etc balance on the show. Try again. If nothing else, you might get a T-shirt from the TV station (I did, in Philly, which has been a wonderful town to me. Jeopardy & college were both there.)
You’re a Washingtonian, aren’t you AWB? (I’m from No. Va.) Did you grow up here, and were you ever on It’s Academic?
Please let us know how it goes (Cygnus, you too.) I’d love to blather about buzzer techniques and pronunciation skills!
Oh yes: Shayna, Bricker, Arnold W., Singledad, and everyone else who haunts the various challenges - have you been on the show? If not, why not? So audition already! (I think y’all would do very well, and I promise I’d watch and cheer.)
I tried out about a year ago. They quickly whittled a roomful of 80 people down to 6. I was one of the other 74. My tryout was pretty much the way cmkeller describes it. 50 questions, all different topics, and you have 10 seconds inbetween questions, and none are repeated. You either know it, or you don’t and you move on. I did get a nifty Jeopardy pen(read: Bic Disposable with “Jeopardy” printed on it) out of the whole deal. Woo-Hoo!
What I wanna know, AWB, is are you coming to the June Balto/DC doperfest? Your answer does not have to be in the form of a question
Good luck!
I live in Chicago. I’ve never taken this particular route, but this is what it looks like from the various maps (CTA vintage 1998). I’m being rather long-winded to try to get all the details, but it should be pretty straightforward.
I’ll assume the tryout place is someplace around the Water Tower.
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From the Midway Terminal Building, there should be a pedestrian bridge to cross Cicero Avenue to get to parking and the ORANGE LINE CTA Rapid Transit station. There should be signs to direct you.
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Buy a CTA transit card from one of the machines. Fare to and from your destination is $1.50 each way, so purchase a card with a $3.00 value. (You should be carrying a few $1 bills and $1 in change, because I think the change machines won’t give you change for a dollar. The change is in case you make a mistake and have to buy a transfer fare for 30 cents or another full fare at some point.)
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Put your transit card into the turnstile to get to the platform. Get the card back and save for use on your return trip. Board the next train. My guess it should take about 1/2 hour to get to the Loop. Notice when you get to the Clark & Lake Street stop. You want the next stop after this, State & Lake. Exit the train at State & Lake.
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Then, as it says on my CTA map: “Obtain free ‘train-to-train’ transfer before exiting through turnstile, from specially-marked machines nearby.”
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Exit the station. Walk (less than 1 block) south on State Street until you see the entrance to the RED LINE subway. Descend the stairs. Use the special transfer. Descend more stairs to get to the platform.
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Notice which side of the platform says “TO HOWARD STREET” or just “TO HOWARD”. That’s the direction you want to go. Board the next train.
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The next stop is Grand Avenue. You want the one after that, Chicago Avenue. Exit the train at Chicago Avenue. Exit the station.
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Walk 3 short blocks east to Michigan Avenue. The Water Tower is on the northwest corner of Chicago and Michigan. Get your bearings from there.
For the way back, follow in reverse. The Red Line direction you want is toward “Dan Ryan/95th Street” (instead of “Howard”). When you get off the Red Line at the Lake station, 2 things:
A. Make sure you get the special transfer again.
B. On the platform, walk north (opposite the way the train was moving) to get to the exit nearest to the State/Lake Orange Line station.
If your destination is not as far north as Chicago Avenue, get off at Grand and walk east to get to Michigan Avenue. If it’s not even that far north, don’t bother with the Red Line at all, just walk east from the State & Lake Orange line station to get to Michigan Avenue.
Knowing the address you’re going to would be helpful. A nearby street intersection would also help. You could just call the studio and ask them how to get there from the Red Line, Grand or Chicago stations. A Web mapping site might be useful, too.
There are better CTA maps here:
http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html .
If you’re unfamiliar with Chicago, you might want to buy a street map. Also, the CTA will send you maps and information for free. And finally, you might want to phone the CTA and verify everything I’ve said, especially the transfers at State/Lake.
Apparently there’s some construction going on at Midway. Some info is in today’s Chicago Tribune in the article titled GRIPES ABOUT MIDWAY WEIGHING ON TRAVELERS by Jon Hilkevitch.
If you don’t read the article today, the link may not work and you will have to register at the Trib (for free) and search for it. And it may be gone entirely anyway.
zgystardst - Thank you! I knew there was someone out there who would know the answer. I’ll travel a lot easier knowing I have a plan of action upon arrival.
It’s cool the way people help each other out around here.
Lolanthe, thanks for the input. It’s just hard to imagine what to expect; hearing from others makes it a bit less intimidating. I will make a post to let everyone know how it goes - I go next week! :eek: At least I can think I might get a nice pen out of the deal.
Time to return to my study of US Presidents…Why was I never required to memorize these in school like everyone else?