Here's the answer to a night of fun
by Tyler Gray
Article © 2002 The Orlando Sentinel

(Note: The article begins with a description of the Flame and Fortune quiz show at Orlando's Parliament House...)

Earthy and fun

...It's certainly understandable, however, if you are looking for a little less Flame in your Fortune.

Curtis Earth is the Everyman of bar trivia.

The guy has turned this into a franchise. He has employees, games going on in two states. He has a toy monkey named Mr. Shifferstein, the Court of Last Resort.

"If people disagree with answers," Earth says, "challenges are handled by the monkey." It's a third-party way of telling imbibing doubters that Earth's word is bond.

A year ago, Earth, 37, left a successful trivia night in Pennsylvania to start The Curtis Earth Trivia Show here. Loaded Hog downtown gave him a break. But he also runs quiz nights and afternoons at Devaney's near Goldenrod, Liquid Cellar by the University of Central Florida, Friendly Confines near Waterford Lakes and a list of locations too numerous to detail. There are abbreviated lunchtime games tailored to the business crowd. There are games almost every night of the week. There are games hosted by Earth affiliates back in Lancaster, Pa.

Check the whole schedule at curtisearthtrivia.com

I caught the Wednesday night late show at Loaded Hog (there are games at 7 and 9 p.m.) Winning teams get $50 bar tabs. The prizes are modest on the scale of quiz-night winnings, but the questions at the Curtis Earth show are about the easiest I encountered. One was "Spell metaphor."

"I try not to alienate anybody," Earth says. "It's not quite as tough as Jeopardy! That's 10 percent of the country's intellect. I'm the other 90 percent."