Reviving Tommy’s Place Trivia

By: Talia Walters ‘20

If you’re anything like me, you haven’t been to Tommy’s Place at all since your orientation when they hosted a party the one night you were there. In all honesty, with the introduction of the Village and the sheer fact that we’re in LA with hundreds if not thousands of different clubs and restaurants, Tommy’s Place isn’t usually anyone’s go-to on campus despite its easy access. And I always saw that chalkboard right outside RTCC with all the events at Tommy’s Place for the week and wondered what they were really like since I know no one who chose to go to them.

However, this little experiment that was supposed to take me three days has now taken me three weeks, and even at the time of writing this article, it’s still an ongoing challenge. And I need your help. Thus, this is the story of me attempting to Revive Tommy’s Place Trivia.

The First Time

The first time that I went to Tommy’s Place for trivia was the 12th of February. The idea was generally that I was going to visit trivia, karaoke, and then visit on Friday so that I could write a comprehensive explanation of what nights at Tommy’s Place were actually like. I had realized that I knew very little about the events that Tommy’s Place puts on in general. They happen every week, yet I couldn’t explain what happened at any of them.

I saw that they were doing a Valentine’s Day Themed Trivia night, and it felt like a good place to start!

So, I gathered a team (it was just one of my friends that I coerced into going with me because she was the only one who was free) and we showed up at Tommy’s Place at 7pm to play some trivia. It was…interesting to say the least.

I cannot commend the people who run trivia enough for how well they decorated the space. The lights were red and pink and dim, and every single table had balloons and an assortment of candies on them. It was a great set up for Valentine’s Day.

The problem was that it was pretty much dead. There were only two other teams there, which meant that we were going to be three teams playing trivia against each other. That wasn’t necessarily bad, but it definitely felt intimate and a little anti-climactic.

After 5 rounds of questions about Valentine’s Day ranging from “How many billion conversation hearts are made every single year” and “name the song from this 5-second clip of music,” they tallied up the points. We had been in the lead for a little bit but ended up losing to another team by just a point or two. First, second, and third place (so every team, if you’re keeping track) ended up getting one or two drink coupons for Traditions as prizes.

The coupons were only good for that day, so my friend and I went over to the bar to claim our one (1) free drink for coming in second place, and it turns out that it can either be a soft drink or a pint of Coors. My friend doesn’t drink beer, so I got to reap the benefits of our win! The bartender mentioned while helping us that he didn’t even realize it was trivia night because it used to be the biggest night they had every single week.

I couldn’t even believe that! There were so few people, so how did it get so dead? Like I mentioned before, it was definitely the introduction of other bars and pubs close by that also do trivia nights *cough cough* Rockin’ Reilly’s *cough cough*. So when I heard this, I decided to spring into action and change my plan from just experience Tommy’s Place activities to trying to help Tommy’s Place go back to how it once was.

The Second Time

My friend and I had to skip a week because I was visiting Boston and left the same night as Trivia usually happens, so we were back to it on the 26th of February. The theme was Books, which my friend and I notoriously have not touched a book in many, many years (do as I say, not as I do, kids!), so we weren’t the most optimistic about this one. However, I had made a commitment, and the topic wasn’t going to scare me off.

I had invited by word of mouth most of my friends and people that I had come into contact with within the day or two preceding trivia. My first goal was to get most of the people I knew involved and then spread out to the people they know and people I know less well.

If only it were that easy.

Most people were busy or didn’t respond to me, which I guess is a fair response to me just randomly asking you to do boring trivia about books. So it was just my friend and me again.

When we showed up, it was a little less decorated, but I understand because it wasn’t a holiday and people aren’t really showing up in crowds anyway, so I don’t blame them. This time there were four whole teams, all three of them different than the other two we had met in the previous week. Two of them hadn’t been there ever and decided to come on their own this one night and the other team had been when we weren’t there while I was in Boston, but they returned, which is good!

However, adding a single team with no recidivism from the Valentine’s Day night was not really my goal. So I just had to do better next time.

After another 5 rounds of questions ranging from “Who wrote Winnie the Pooh” to “What book has sold the most copies,” it was a close round. One team left early, which left us with just three teams again, and my friend and I with a one-point lead came in first this time! Now we both got to get drinks from Traditions – it was a refreshing victory, to say the least.

The Third Time

So I knew that after this third night, which was supposed to be on March 4th, I wanted to post the article to show off my progress and encourage anyone who reads this article to also come to trivia night so that I could fully and truly revive trivia night to its former glory.

I really gave it my all this time, guys!

So I enlisted the help of my friend who came with me the other two times and we got to work. I posted on Social Media (which again is really rich considering my last post – I’ve got to stop doing this!) telling people they should come to trivia night and invite their friends. I texted in all of my group chats, and I even mentioned it in work meetings and to my teammates. No stone was going to be left unturned.

I didn’t know the theme of the night, but I didn’t care because I was selling it to anyone who would listen to me as a fun night of trivia with free drinks on the line (even if it was only soft drinks or beer). My friend had even enlisted some of her friends from her major and coerced them into coming. My roommate begrudgingly agreed, and my other friends were finally free and able to come.

It was going to be spectacular.

The Failure

The time was about 3:48pm on Wednesday, March 4th, 2020. It was a terrible moment of realization.

My friend asked me if I had known what the theme was for the night, but I told her that I don’t get the newsletter to check, and I hadn’t been by the chalkboard outside of RTCC yet to see it. She pulled up the newsletter, and her face immediately dropped. I knew it wasn’t good.

She told me that it didn’t have Tommy’s Place Trivia even listed as an event that was happening this week, and instead, in the Wednesday slot, Tommy’s Place was hosting the Undergraduate Pop Showcase at 8pm.

At first, we tried to rationalize it. Maybe in the newsletter, they only like to put one event on each day as to not overwhelm people? Maybe trivia will be able to happen before since trivia starts at 7pm and ends at 8pm, just in time for the showcase to take over? But we knew the truth. There was no way they would be able to host trivia and set up for the showcase at the same time.

Trivia was canceled.

This is obviously no shade to the Undergraduate Pop Showcase. In fact, this showcase is definitely more important than my need to force people to go to trivia against their will, and it’s probably significantly more exciting. They should keep on keepin’ on. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t deeply upset at having to cancel my plan.

Invitation

So, that brings me to this article. I was hoping, again, to have a success story to share with all of you in order to encourage you to come to trivia on your own time with your own friends. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen, which honestly makes this article more important than it was going to be.

If you’re reading this, it means that Wednesday is right around the corner. It might even be today. And if that’s the case, you should come to trivia night at Tommy’s Place to see the revival of an on-campus hub. On March 11th, I will be there and so will my team. And I will attempt to bring as many people as I can.

You should too.

It’s only five rounds of trivia with only 8 or 9 questions in each round. The games move fast, and you’re out of there by 8pm if you have places to be. Like I mentioned, it could be a fun way to pre-game for other parties you may be going to or senior night at the 901. It’s a fun way to start the evening off right, and you might even win a free drink or two. Bring your friends and have some friendly competition! I really can’t recommend it enough.

I hope to see you there!

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