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‘A quirky look at the world of the quizmaster... excellent example questions.’
JANE HADEN, FREEQUIZZES, WWW.FREEQUIZZES.CO.UK

‘Excellent advice on the way it should be done. If only all quizmasters read this first.’
TOM ROSS,
PUB QUIZ DIRECTORY, WWW.PUBQUIZDIRECTORY.COM

‘‘The sample questions are excellent, the light-hearted
tone a joy.’
ROB LINHAM, BUZZERQUIZ, WWW.BUZZERQUIZ.COM

 


by John Dawson
Foreword by Michael Penrice
Mastermind Champion

£7.99 - Paperback - ISBN: 1901746402

About the Book

In Quiz Setting Made Easy, John Dawson explores the very essence of human existence. In his case the answer to the ancient philosophical conundrum ‘What sets humans apart from the animal kingdom?’ is straightforward. It is not the ability to form tools, communicate or feel empathy with our fellow planet dwellers but our desire to acquire (and retain) as much trivia as possible. In brief, this is his explanation for modern Britain’s obsession with the pub quiz and the consequent growth in the number of question and answer books, many of which have been published under the misapprehension that all a budding quiz setter needs to succeed is a large enough selection of questions that can be adapted according to circumstance.

Yet, as Quiz Setting Made Easy makes clear, there are many pitfalls for the budding Magnus Magnusson, not least the murmurs of complaint from contestants attempting to answer vaguelyworded and poorly researched questions. Then there are the potential disasters and the nagging doubts that bring the quiz setter out in a cold sweat in the middle of the night: Does the venue have a PA system? How do I make sure people turn up? What happens in the event of a tie? Who marks the questions, them or me?

Written in light-hearted vein, Quiz Setting Made Easy is designed to soothe the quiz setter’s brow and bring back the fun to what is, after all, a leisure-time pursuit. In addition to his expert advice on the dos and don’ts of quiz setting, John illustrates the style and expertise required of the fully fledged question-master. With 72 rounds containing over 1,100 expertly worded questions, John Dawson makes enough suggestions for alternative topics, interval rounds, tie-breakers and music rounds to keep a quiz-setter going for years. His ideas could also be adapted for use in the classroom, during wet weekends in Cleethorpes or the 90 degrees heat of an M6 traffic jam... in fact anywhere humans pursue the trivial.

About the Author

John Dawson was born and brought up in Liverpool. He taught for some years in Oxford after attending university there, though he dedicated far more time to folk music and bar billiards than to anything academic. An itchy brain took him to Kenya, Egypt, and back to Kenya, where he earns a multifarious living as an editor, writer, and photographer. He is the co-author of the wildlife book Africa Alive.

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