This week I’ve had the great pleasure of auditioning for the Jeopardy!, the esteemed game show now in its 30th season. For as long as I can remember (since I was six, I guess!), I have been aware of the show, and longed to be a contestant. Now, having completed an in-person audition for my second time, I can say it was an amazing experience, and I’ll have good memories regardless of what happens next.
The Online Test
I’ve been on the mailing list for prospective players for many years, even completing an in-person audition in Philadelphia several years ago. As such, each January I take an online test as a first round audition. This test includes 50 questions in a Flash-style browser game format. I’m assigned a specific date and time, based on my time zone. Somehow I’ve managed to be available at the correct time every year. This year, I was scheduled to have a Church Council meeting at 7:30 that night and took the test in my church office from 7:00-7:15 immediately beforehand as people gathered and wondered why I was so focused in the corner with my laptop. My wife quietly whispered to them that I was trying to get on Jeopardy! which made for some funny responses.
The test uses a format just like the answer screen on the show. There is a category and an answer. I believe it allows 15 seconds to read and respond. The responses are free-text and do not require the signature question format of the show. There is no penalty for an incorrect response and proper spelling is not mandatory.
If I do my math correctly, this means the maximum length of the test would be about 12 minutes, but if you submit questions before the time limit expires, you could be done much sooner. And then you wait.
This year, I forgot all about the test after January. It’s essential, really, since you are never told how well you did and refreshing the inbox like it were a TicketMaster window at 9:59 a.m. could get quite taxing over the ensuing months.
Getting the Good Word
And so in April one evening I was walking from my church office, ironically, as that was the location I’d first took the exam, to choir practice. Checking email as I walked I got the email: “Jeopardy! Contestant Auditions in Boston on May 10th at 9 am” beginning with the word “Congratulations”. It was as if I’d just gotten accepted into college. I couldn’t wait to report the news to anyone who’d listen. There was just one problem, a pretty big one. I was planning to be on vacation that morning. I debated my options and responded to the email. I explained the situation, since transparency is always best, including another truth, that I would not want to jeopardize (pun intended) my chances and if there were no other time options I would gladly come home from vacation early in order to attend the audition. The coordinator was extremely gracious and offered me an alternate time. I confirmed the new audition time and I was all set.
The morning of my audition I realized I’d gotten pretty nervous. I’d prepared myself for the fun of the event. Sure, everyone knows that it’s possible to win lots of money on the show, but I was several steps away from that and I needed to focus much more of my energy on enjoying the process for what it was: a chance to meet some fellow game show geeks and have a blast.
The Big Day
I was to visit the Sheraton on Dalton Street, a mile or two from my office, so I took advantage of parking in my building and taking the train to the hotel. My wife attended with me for support. Working in heavily-conferenced offices for years, we knew that your typical conference space holds many events everyday and that I shouldn’t walk in the front door expecting to see Jeopardy! banners and balloons. That being said, we were a bit surprised by the complete lack of directional information. We searched for digital signage and found none in the lobby. I double-checked my email as well. As a last resort I approached the concierge and inquired. She immediately reported a conference room and floor to me, quickly correcting herself and phrasing in the form of a question. I said “you’re too good!” and was on my way up the elevator. This’ll be great, now I’ll see those balloons and banners! Instead I found a near empty hotel floor. No one in sight. Again we searched for digital signage and came up short. We approached the named room and still didn’t see a soul. We reasoned that there may be a previous session running, we were 20 minutes early, after all. I explored a bit farther to see if there were any places to sit and found a couch with a man reading a book. Seemed like a good place to sit. Over time, I learned that I’d been told a completely wrong room and that there were some others gathered a bit down the hall. Printed application in hand I smooched my girl, and began the march down the hall. The man with the book caught my eye and said “Smile! It’s a personality test, you know.” I thanked him, had a chuckle, and continued my walk. His words actually helped me quite a bit. I entered the room with more energy and went outside my comfort zone to talk to the strangers in my group.
The Holding Pen
It was an interesting mix of people. There were 15-20 people gathering throughout the next twenty minutes. Most were from eastern Massachusetts, but I met two from Canada, many from New York, in addition to Texas and Pennsylvania. I really pushed myself to talk with them, learn what they’d done to prepare, and recognize their faces (some of them will be on the show next year!). It seemed that each of us had been told a different room to head to, and we all shared a laugh that perhaps that was part of the test. But eventually we realized we were in fact in the right room.
A few minutes before our appointment time, someone entered the room and took “polaroid” pictures of us (Fujiilm, actually). I asked him how difficult it is to get the film for the camera and he joked that it’s become more popular recently, but there was a period during which they had to spend a fortune for it. It made me wonder how quickly a digital printer can spit out photos direct from a digital camera. Bah, who cares. As Robert was taking our photos, a young fellow came bounding in, exclaimed that he was going to shoot one picture, and that he had to run. He was dressed casually, with a baseball cap pulled down low. It wasn’t until Robert said, “Hey, everyone, it’s Jimmy from the Clue Crew!” that I realized I was really at my Jeopardy! audition. I like to hope that he was running off in order to shoot some future clues around Boston’s landmarks. It was the perfect day for a shoot, bright, clear, and nearing 80 degrees!
The Testing Room
Application materials
When the time came to enter the main room, we headed next door and found a Jeopardy! game screen projected and three people sitting at the front. We had already met Robert. Glen did the officiating of the day from that point on. I swear I recognize both of them, very likely from my Philadelphia audition years ago. Glen told us that he has worked on various television shows for a few decades, and it sounds like he is on set for every Jeopardy! taping since its second or third season. I can’t imagine the stories he must be able to tell. He did a great job of firing us up, and prepped us with a sample game that would show us the different styles of clues we’d be encountering. The clues in this game would end up showing us the play on words and hints that many clues feature, and some basics about the manner in which the producers would prefer we keep the game moving. For this game we raised our hands and he’d call on various people until we’d cleared about half the board.
Next, it was time for the much anticipated test. It is paper-based, with clues on the screen, pre-recorded by a member of the Clue Crew. After she was finished, we had just eight seconds to write down a response. There were no penalties issued, so anything we wrote could only help us. Eight seconds is not a lot of time to formulate answer and write it down. By the end of the 50 clues, I was exhausted, and a bit frustrated that I couldn’t think of a few that I knew should be at the tip of my tongue. At the show’s request I won’t divulge any samples here, but suffice it to say, I was thinking of the responses throughout the day afterward. I have no idea how well I did on the test, but wasn’t too concerned, given that I was there for a fun time (check!), and there was still a lot more to do that day.
After a very small break, we got right into the mock game. Three of us at a time were called to the front of the room, where we were each given an official Jeopardy! buzzer to hold. I guess there is a lot of discussion in the world about what the buzzer is like. For me, it’s responsiveness and size were comparable to the old Claw Drop games you see at family restaurants and WalMarts. I chose to hold mine so that my thumb did the clicking. I see on the show, some use their index finger. The board was set up with three clues for each of the six categories. When one category was exhausted, another magically appeared in its place. The focus did not appear to be on who buzzed in first, or who got the most responses correct. I felt terrible that when it was her turn, the woman beside me got a few wrong, and was kicking herself the rest of the afternoon. But, I think it was much more important that we have fun, look spirited, and keep the game moving along. There were even instances where Glen would say “Hmmm, let’s go with … Larry” [or whomever]. Clearly, we weren’t being evaluated on our speed.
After each of the trio had gotten to jump on a few responses, and they’d collectively cleared about 10 clues, the contestants were told to put down their buzzers, and they engaged in a brief conversation with Glen based on their information sheet (much like the interview portion with Alex Trebek midway in the first round of play).
I was called into probably the fifth game, so I had a bit of an edge, knowing which things would get me “reprimanded” and had thought a bit about my interview. Through a series of triple stumpers when I was in control of the board, I got to make more requests that many of the people in the room, so I just had fun with it. I chose some Recent Movies, some Quotes, etc., knowing that we wouldn’t clear all the material anyway, so I might as well choose categories that I thought would show off my interests.
My interview focused on the fact that I conduct a church choir and work in IT but aspire to rip tickets at the movie theater when I’m retired, since the theater was one of my most enjoyable jobs ever.
About two and a half hours after starting, I was done and now I wait in the hopes that they might call me for more fun in the studio. It was an amazingly fun experience for me.
Parting Words
A few weeks back my boss sent out a departmental email wishing me luck and saying it was “cool” (complete with quotation marks, suggesting the opposite). That day one of my staff came by to ask me more about it and said, “I hang out with a lot of pretty nerdy people, and I think it’s actually cool, without being in quotes!” So did I, and so do I. Thanks for a great time, Jeopardy!, even if I never hear from you again. But, please don’t let that happen, I want in!
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