Virtual pub quiz attracts 500,000 responses from people in lockdown
Jay Flynn said he had “tested a couple” of questions on his wife.
A former pub owner who set up a virtual quiz “for a laugh” during the coronavirus crisis has attracted almost 500,000 responses.
Jay Flynn, from Darwen, Lancashire, said users from as far as Geneva, New York and New Zealand had all expressed interest in taking part in the Facebook event.
The quiz, taking place on Thursday night, currently has some 116,000 people who have responded that they are “going” and over 370,000 registered as “interested”.
Ahead of the 8.15pm start time, the 37-year-old said he had “tested a couple” of questions on his wife – with five rounds set to include history and sports.
“But for the first ever one I’ve got to try and find a balance, really.”
Mr Flynn, a sales executive who used to run a pub in his local area, said he originally set up the quiz on Saturday for friends as a “bit of a laugh and a giggle” amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said he “made the mistake” of setting the event to public, as it quickly surpassed 10,000 responses by Monday – when the lockdown was announced.
“I was just watching it and watching, and it was snowballing all day,” he said.
“I can’t get my head round it, I really can’t.”
He said during the quiz, which will be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, he will urge players to donate to a local charity.
“I don’t want to pick a particular one, so I’m going to say in the live stream if you enjoyed it tonight, go and donate to your local charities, to people around you that need you,” Mr Flynn told PA.
“The frustrating messages have been people asking for the start time to be moved back.
As a former quizzer, Mr Flynn said not knowing the audience had been the most difficult part of planning the questions.
“I’ve run the quizzes before but the hardest thing is I’ve not got an audience, as stupid as it sounds,” he told PA.
“When I’ve done pub quizzes before I know who is going to be there every week, but I don’t know who is going to be there tonight.”
Should the quiz on Thursday be successful, the 37-year-old said further Facebook quizzes could be planned for Britons told to stay at home – who are set to take part simply with a pen and paper.
He said: “The last post I put on Facebook said if you guys enjoy this tonight, then I’ll leave it in your hands.
“If you want it to be a regular thing every week, something to look forward to in the lockdown, then I will.”
