Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bars, breweries and random questions: Inside Williamsburg’s trivia scene

Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)
Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)

Green Leafe Cafe & Pub was nearly full Monday night as Matt Chambers sat in a nook near the front door, clicking through several screens on his computer and holding a microphone in his hand.

Flanked by two speakers and a glowing television screen, Chambers steadily read questions into the microphone, each question punctuated by an ensuing hum of discussion from the tables.

“In what organ of the human body would you find parietal cells?” Chambers asked.

The answer — the stomach — came 10 seconds later, followed by groans from several tables and high fives at others.

A 32-year-old Virginia Army National Guard veteran, Chambers is part of a growing trend at Williamsburg-area breweries, bars and community events: Trivia night.

By day Chambers, who served three combat tours in Iraq, is an armed security guard in Richmond. By night he is a DJ and trivia host operating his own company, Squared Away Entertainment.

“Trivia is already pretty big in Williamsburg, but I wanted to do something different,” Chambers said.

Introducing a new way to play trivia

Chambers is changing the trivia culture in Williamsburg — just a little.

Instead of pencils-and-paper trivia, he hosts smartphone trivia, a fast-paced form of the game. Chambers was inspired to start hosting smartphone trivia after seeing other teams cheat during trivia nights.

Chambers’ guests play trivia via a free app called SpeedQuizzing. Chambers will ask participants a question, and they have 10 seconds to answer the question on their phone. The team that answers the question the fastest will gain an additional point on their total score.

Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)
Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)

“I was playing and I realized people were cheating,” he said. “They were on their phones and looking up answers. With the smartphone app, it’s a little bit harder. The pressure’s on you, and you don’t have time to look it up.”

Trivia can also mean rewards for those who know their random facts: The venues that book Chambers for trivia also often give away prizes, such as gift certificates.

A trivia league

Since Chambers began hosting smartphone trivia at local bars and breweries about nine months ago, his event attendance has skyrocketed.

“I’ve seen a lot of it grow from my end. When I first started [hosting], I had maybe eight or nine teams,” Chambers said. Now he sees up to 22 teams at trivia events.

Because he’s found success locally, and hosts trivia in multiple locations on the Peninsula, Chambers is bringing more trivia to Williamsburg this summer.

Starting July 5, Chambers is teaming up with the Virginia Beer Co., 401 2nd St., to host a 13-week trivia league complete with prizes.

“SpeedQuizzing felt more modern and more interesting,” said Luci Legaspi, Virginia Beer Co.’s taproom manager and business developer. “We did a couple one-off events with Matt to test it out.… We always loved the idea of hosting trivia.”

Legaspi said the brewery had to evaluate how to use both its indoor and outdoor spaces to make trivia nights happen.

The trivia league will be outside under a tent in the beer garden every Thursday, which gives space in the taproom for patrons who do not want to play, Legaspi said.

Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)
Matt Chambers reads off a trivia question Monday night at Green Leafe Cafe & Pub in Williamsburg. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)

Chambers hopes to partner with more area businesses to contribute prizes for trivia and a special side game he is planning. The side game involves paying $1 to open a virtual safe using a keypad to win the prize inside. If no one opens the safe that week, the prizes roll over to the next week.

A place for trivia buffs

Legaspi said  trivia has found a happy home in Williamsburg.

“People come to a brewery and want to spend time with each other,” Legaspi added. “Lots of breweries don’t have TVs, and people are more focused on the experience they have together while they’re here.”

Besides Virginia Beer Co. and Green Leafe, other breweries and restaurants also host trivia, including Alewerks Brewing Co. and the Triangle.

“The room is really alive when people are answering back and forth, or people are arguing with their teammates over an answer — it makes them more lively,” Chambers said.

Trivia also brings people of all types together, he said.

“It’s something usually associated with bars, but I tell you, I do private events, charity events, trivia with school kids — it’s for everyone,” Chambers said. “I tell everyone, ‘You’re going to try it, and you’re going to love it.’”

Sarah Fearing
Sarah Fearing
Sarah Fearing is the Assistant Editor at WYDaily. Sarah was born in the state of Maine, grew up along the coast, and attended college at the University of Maine at Orono. Sarah left Maine in October 2015 when she was offered a job at a newspaper in West Point, Va. Courts, crime, public safety and civil rights are among Sarah’s favorite topics to cover. She currently covers those topics in Williamsburg, James City County and York County. Sarah has been recognized by other news organizations, state agencies and civic groups for her coverage of a failing fire-rescue system, an aging agriculture industry and lack of oversight in horse rescue groups. In her free time, Sarah enjoys lazing around with her two cats, Salazar and Ruth, drinking copious amounts of coffee and driving places in her white truck.

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