Lates are ace. That is a fact. So we were very excited to be invited to participate in the Museum of London Late last night as posers of a round of their pub quiz questions and dead keen quiz boffins.
The spacious foyer was jammed full of eager teams on garden chairs, cushions and picnic rugs quaffing plenty from the makeshift bar (or was that just us?) Intervals between rounds allowed time for trips through the galleries to help with the famous faces round and bone up on London knowledge.
We had scoured Londonist for quirky and interesting teasers (regular readers of Monday Miscellanea would have scored very highly) and helped the Museum get the Pearly King of Camberwell along to be guest quizmaster for our round. Seeing as half the Londonist team didn't know the answers to our own questions, it was enlightening for all! Plenty of Londonist badges were dispensed to apparent glee from recipients and the Museum's lucky dip goody bag was full of stuff raided from the gift shop for round winners.
We excelled in the music round where songs referencing the capital were played, end of the pier style, on an electronic keyboard. Our team ethic also shone through in the arts and crafts challenge where we crafted the ingenious Londonist Eye, pictured above, from straws and pipe cleaners and limited structural engineering expertise. Unfortunately, the judges went for a cheap gag in picking the winning entry for this round, selecting an Isle of Dogs model in the shape of a dog over our more strenuos efforts. Special mention to the team who made a tremendous 3D Routemaster model out of nothing but red paper and black pen. Respect.
To wrap up the evening poet and comedian, John Hegley, sang the final round of questions, accompanying himself, mock-seriously, on the ukelele. He was rather bemused when we thrust a Londonist badge in his hand before he ran out the door but here's hoping he finds us anyway. Hello John!
Big thanks to the Museum of London for a brilliantly funny and interesting night. The quiz was totally free to enter and had a truly laid back and friendly atmosphere. More of this please!
