I will try to wrap up last night’s Lip Sync Battle + Music Quiz ordeal briefly so I can go to bed. Every moment since the ordeal ended has been precious and I really consider how I am spending my time, now.
An old friend rang early in the afternoon yesterday and invited me and the family to a quiz night. Yeah, we love quiz nights, count us in. But also; this evening also included a lip sync battle - a kind of mime talent show. Of which one of the 3 judges was Miranda. So off we went. The friend that rang was Miranda's dad Simon; so our team was Simon, Mary, Marcus, Michael, Elf and I.
Elf was not aware it was a music quiz or that there would be performing when she signed up for it, so she was quietly furious. I am not going to mention the details of the battle or the venue because I don't want to upset the organisers if they were googling themselves and came across this. But here are some points of difficulty and exasperation.
- There were not enough chairs, so Marcus had to sit on a high stool and felt extremely exposed.
- The questions were very long and convoluted. They were often preceded by some editorial background that did not form part of the question but was just stuff the host wanted to get off her chest
- A friend of the host was trying to check people’s tickets which had QR codes etc; it was all very complicated and didn't work. She had had a few drinks. As the night wore on she continued to help but also to yell comments and occasional quiz answers. We appreciated very much the work of the host's other friends who managed to distract her and limit the damage.
- Simon had snaffled a "good table" which meant we were about 6 feet from the stage; and Michael and I were the ones who ended up on the stage side of it. This meant ladies and men dressed as ladies were miming at us from about a pool cue's length from our faces. We are both socially anxious and spent a lot of time looking at the ceiling and the very interesting curtains etc.
- The host was at times making effort to move things along, but at other times would go into a bit of a reverie. We started late so it soon became clear this was a marathon not a sprint. One of the host's team of friends and supporters did excellent work telling her to snap out of it, when she would drift into self doubt and start thinking aloud about what would have been a better way to do things.
- At the end, the merciful end, they collected all the answer sheets but could not add up the points. Drunk lady asked Marcus for help, while also clarifying unasked that she was "not retarded". He could not help because of the amount of numbers just written everywhere that no-one could explain to him.
- Quiz results were announced anyway. The team that was awarded first were gobsmacked and quite certain that they had not come anywhere near first. Host said "OK, I think this is right", as she handed out inexpensive prizes sourced from the Tip Shop, "but check our Facebook tomorrow for the final results and if you need to you can all meet for coffee and swap prizes or something".
- The lip sync 3rd prize winner was called to the stage and given the first prize, which was then removed again but she was very brave about it.
- This 3rd rate shemozzle ended with the host announcing that this was her first go organising an event but keep your eyes peeled for her new event management business called ___ (bad pun on her name). She was serious.
I will continue to support local events like this but I will insist on having a seat near an exit in future.
