Curtis in the Lititz Record Express
June 22, 2000

by Richard Reitz, Record Express Editor

Lititz -- The Curtis Earth Show is finally coming to town.

On Tuesday, June 27, Curtis, a Lititz resident who has been entertaining Lancaster County audiences with his trivia quiz for the past seven years, is bringing his show to the patio at the General Sutter Inn.

Although the recent "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" phenomenom has made trivia quite popular, Curtis has been attracting regular crowds -- even a cult following of sorts -- almost since the day he began.
"When I started it, nobody was doing trivia," he said. Now, several bars have electronic trivia games, but it still doesn't compare with what he calls his "organic" show.

"It's the difference between the mechanical bull, and riding the real thing," he said.

"As long as I've been doing the show," Curtis said, "I've never found a Lititz venue that was hip to the idea." His show blends a trivia game with music from his vast collection. Occasionally, the musician also brings his guitar to perform some of his personal tunes.

The game itself is simple, and anyone is welcome to play. Players form teams, and then they are given the first of three-rounds of 10 questions to answer. Each round is progressively more difficult, and the point value for each correct answer increases with each round.
There is almost no limit to the number of players each team may have. "You can have up to 99 people... after that, we have to split you up."

We?

Curtis never travels alone to his trivia nights. He always brings Mr. Shifferstein with him -- a puppet monkey who serves as mediator when someone challenges the answer to one of his questions.

"I tell the audience that I don't like to get into the middle of it, so Mr. Shifferstein steps in to rule on the answer," he said. "It gives a little levity to the situation."

But Curtis usually isn't wrong, thanks in part to some old-fashioned cramming on the Sunday night before his week of shows. Using encyclopedias, the Internet, and other sources, he comes up with 30 new questions on nearly any topic for each of his four shows. (The article then listed his summer 2000 schedule.)

"I mix the questions around. It could be a question about Blink 182, or it could be about a Neil Simon play. That's why it's good to have people with different specialities on your team."

"There are some teams that show up nearly every night, and that have been playing for the past 4-5 years," he said. "I have teams that plan vacations around trivia nights."

A lot of its success has to do with the energy from the crowd, and on any given night, Curtis' audience can average as much as 60 people a night.

"I contend that this is the best date night," he said. With its interaction and team spirit, ultimately in the pursuit of having a good time, "this is the most fun you can have."

He has become close with many of his regulars, and recently hosted a party for them. "We've become like a family," he said.

With his weekly trivial pursuits, Curtis himself has become quite knowledgeable in these matters; though he has not tried to become a contestant on "Millionaire," he has inadvertantly become the quintessential "phone-a-friend."

So how well would Regis Philbin do in his trivia game -- or even Alex Trebek from "Jeopardy"?

"I don't think Regis would have a chance," Curtis said. "I love Regis, but he's the P.T. Barnum of trivia. Alex Trebek would do a little better. He is the James Bond.

"But trivia is not about how smart someone is," he added. "It's about how good you are at collecting and retaining useless information."
Curtis said some of his Lititz teams are excited that trivia night is coming to their home turf. He is also looking forward to seeing some new faces out on the Sutter patio to give his regulars a run for their money.

Though he has held trivia night outdoors on occasional nights at Bube's Brewery, his Lititz show will be the first exclusively held under the summer sky. In the event of rain, However, the show would have to be canceled.

His gig at the Sutter is open-ended, though he will be there several Tuesdays throughout the summer.

If it proves to be another popular venue, will trivia night in Lititz extend beyond the sumer months?

That's a question Curtis hopes will be answered with a "yes."

Article © 2000 Lititz Record Express