By Nora Allen

Mondays are grueling. When you’ve just finished your not-long-enough weekend and you haven’t had enough time to cope with the start of the week, you don’t think you can muster the courage to get through to next weekend without something to keep you going.

Then Trivia Mafia comes to your rescue. Every Tuesday.

Trivia Tuesdays at Insight are just what you need to take a break from your already difficult week. Come take a break, grab a drink, and test your random knowledge.

Atmosphere

Before even entering the brewery, you’ll encounter one of the many food trucks that spend time in front of Insight Brewing on Tuesdays. Potter’s Pasties Food Truck, Hot Indian and Anchor Fish and Chips are some favorites, but realistically, Minneapolis is the home to great food, so odds are you’ll be armed with some delicious brain food for your trivia endeavors.

In your first steps into the brewery, you’ll notice people already pushing tables together and laying claim to spare chairs lined up on the back wall. People get very serious about trivia, so make a mental note to arrive at 7:30 p.m. at least to secure your workspace.

Beer selection

You’ll then, of course, require refreshments. Luckily, Insight has great options for every beer drinker. Troll Way and Hell Chicken are great for the pale ale lovers, while Devil’s Companion might be the pick for friends looking for a rich, malty porter. For your trivia assistants who want to take it easy, the Lambton Dragon is a classic session beer, and Insight even crafts their own delicious sodas for those who don’t drink beer. After obtaining refreshments, don’t forget to stop at the end of the bar to grab your trivia worksheet and a pencil.

Once you have a beverage in one hand and your working materials in the other, the real fun begins. Hopefully one of you went to Trivia Mafia’s website beforehand to find the “Internet Only Question” to start your pursuit off on the right foot. Then you and your clan can work on the Image Round side of the sheet. There, you’ll identify memes, fill in the scientific name of the parts of a flower, or note the last names of ten famous people with the first name “Mary.” No topic is off limits, so make sure you have a wide range of expertise in your friend group.

Photo courtesy of Trivia Mafia

Let the games begin!

Once trivia starts a little after 8 p.m., you’ll feel everyone in the room slowly putting on their game faces. Neighboring tables will start yell-whispering to their less serious friends to put their phones away so as not to get disqualified. You’ll hear shushing punctuate the questions each round as the teams try to hear the announcer over the whispers and side conversations of their teammates. With the announcing of each round’s category, you’ll hear scoffs and cheers as groups appoint the Spanish speaker on their team to lead the round called “Spanish Cuisine.”

After the third round, you’ll switch your sheet with another team for some mid-game scoring. Not only will your dignity be on the line, but also the chance to win a free flight of beer for your table. As the announcer reads off the answers, you’ll fist bump when you hear correct answers, and sigh loudly or exclaim in disbelief when you hear your wrong ones, secretly hoping that the other table isn’t laughing at your last-ditch effort answers. You’ll walk the other team’s sheet up to the announcer, trying to catch a glimpse of other team’s scores to see where you’re ranking.

Then, the announcer will state the winner, the runner up and the scores of the first round. The winning team at the half mark will cheer for their free flight of beer. Hopefully, it’s your team! YEAH FREE BEER. Most likely, it isn’t, and that’s okay, because there’s still a chance to pull ahead in the second half. Maybe there’s a round on famous people with the initials “OW,” or kangaroos, both of which you have extensive knowledge on. Anything can happen!

With that attitude in mind, you’ll press on. You’ll power through the matching round at the bottom of the page, because practically everyone in your group knows the occupations of each character of “Friends.” You’ll hear the witty announcer, Rachel, mispronounce names like “Solange Knowles,” but everyone will forgive her. You’ll listen closely as she whizzes through the questions for Round 5 (the lightning round) and do your best to answer them quickly. Don’t forget to fill out your Mega Round section, where you’ll rank your best round’s answers on a scale of 1-5 to gain more points.

Trivia night will end in one last round of general knowledge to keep your spirits up. You’ll switch with another group one last time, and the results will be tallied. You’ll cross your fingers for the gift card, and hopefully you win. Even if you don’t, you still had a blast trying to recall your seventh grade science class where you learned the parts of a cell.