I walked out of the elevator on the third floor of the Westin Park Central Hotel in Dallas. I was a half hour early for my audition, but around 10 people were already there. I looked around, surveying the crowd... then saw a familiar face. In this small audition of 22 people, in a city that was holding 11 auditions, was someone who lived in my dorm 12 years ago. He didn't remember me right off, but once I told him who I was we did a little "Oh yeah, that was a long time ago, where are you now?" chitchat. I then listened to the other conversations while waiting to get started. Seeing Chris had calmed my nerves a little, and I was ready to have fun.
A few minutes later we were called around the corner to begin signing in and filling out paperwork. Basic contact information, followed by the requisite questions to make sure we weren't affiliated with the show, didn't have any felonies, or things that could otherwise get us removed from the audition. We also had to make sure we had our anecdotes ready to tell Alex, should we ever be in his presence. We also were given our "parting gift" of the day, a Jeopardy! pen designed to be very clicky and double as a buzzer as we practiced at home. While we filled out the paperwork, a man named Tony came out to take our pictures. Tony was like a normal-heighted Danny DeVito, very fun and lighthearted, which helped break any last bit of nerves. He took our pictures with a Polaroid camera, I assume for the ease of attaching it to our paperwork but really threw me off. To top it off, our answer sheet for our test was obviously a copy of a typewriter-created document that had been around for a couple decades. Guess they save the high-tech budget for the real thing.
Right at 9am were were summoned into the audition room, your generic hotel meeting room except for the big Jeopardy! screen being projected up front. We had a seat, and were then introduced to Maggie, the contestant coordinator, and Charlie, the person running the gameboard, and reintroduced to Tony and the woman who signed us in. We got an overview of our morning from Maggie, who has more energy than anyone has a right to have (but then again, if your job is to prep game show contestants, it seems like a necessary quality). She gave out a couple Jeopardy! travel mugs to people who could answer a couple random questions about the show (I knew the first one but wasn't fast enough). At some point in her talking she asked a question that was clearly needing an enthusiastic reply in unison. And I was the only one who was loud or enthusiastic. I was then complimented on being the only person doing what was expected from future game show contestants :) It felt good to know that I was being noticed, and hoped that I would continue to get noticed.
Maggie then let Tony take over for Jeopardy! 101. We got the lecture on looking for clues, paying attention to category names, and working with special categories like Before and After and Rhyme Time. We then went through some questions, all of us getting a turn to answer something. We then got a video of tips from Alex and the Clue Crew, with a lot of emphasis on having fun. At this point Maggie came back in to go over any questions we might have about the process. Out of all of the auditions, a couple thousand, 400 are needed every year to tape between July and April. Test scores are the main way of choosing, but personality is also considered (though test scores are much more important). She pointed out that even though it says on the paperwork that just because you travel to the studio you may still not get on, that's really just a formality. Sometimes people are found to be ineligible and have to be sent back home, for legal reasons, or because they are having affairs with Alex... and at this point she starts staring at me as she talks! I play along with it, looking up at the ceiling and twiddling my fingers and she kept going on about my sordid affair. It probably helped that I was the only woman under 40 there, but I'm willing to go through some mild embarrassment if it means Maggie remembers me :)
So we finally got to take our test. It is 50 questions, little of everything, and you have 8 seconds to respond. The websites I've read all say that you have to have 35 right to get on the show, and after looking up a few things when I got home, I think I got 45. Similar to how I did on the online test.Should have been 46, but I second guessed myself. I won't say more about it, because the questions are confidential- I would hate for someone who is auditioning in the future to see this and get an edge that gives them my spot on the show :)
Part two of the process was mock play and interviewing. While Tony organized our applications, photos, and answer sheets, Maggie instructed us on the fine art of the buzzer. You are to tap the button repeatedly, and only when the lights are on. We had to pantomime it to prove we had the thumb action down. We got to play three at a time, just 12 questions or so to give us the opportunity to feel real gameplay. It was very important to Maggie that we spoke loudly and clearly, and from the beginning of the process she was getting on people's cases about it (if you know me you know that I will NEVER have that problem..). After the playtime we were going to be asked about our profession, hobbies, and what we would do with the money if we won. We were encouraged to stand out- she knows that as "Jeopardy! people" we all enjoy traveling and reading, so it is important to differentiate yourself. Point noted as gameplay began.
The first three people went, and played reasonably well, and interviewed okay (except for the national champion bridge player who got lots of kudos). Maggie then begins calling the next three by saying "Anna Lisa!" I'm looking around wondering who that... and apparently it was me, because then she looked at me and said "Lisa, come up!" I guess after all of the fun we'd been having I'd acquired a nickname. Or something. I was hoping it was good. So I played my questions.. and was pretty unhappy with myself. I didn't look like an idiot, but I kept getting hit with things I wasn't comfortable with. They aren't judging you on your answers during the mock game, just your playing style, but if you can't answer anything right it's probably noted ;) But I hung in there. Then it was interview time. I said what I do for a living (if school counts as a living) and Maggie asked me all about why I was interested in it and what my goals were. She liked my warm and fuzzy comments about my teaching background and not wanting kids to go unnoticed and fail. She thing asked about what I do for fun, and I mentioned my dog, and Tony wanted to know what kind of dog I had, and if a rat terrier is like Toto, and it kind of got off track. When we finally established what Gigi looks like, Maggie decided to ask me about one of my five anecdotes (I ended up being one of maybe three people who she did that too). "It says here you had your picture taken with the Queen of England, I'd like to hear more about that!" So I told her the story, which I thought of because my mom has used it in many Secret Santa clues over the years. (When I lived in England as a child the royal family drive past us, and my mom took a photo of the queen, which ended up having our reflections on the window, so we are in the shot with her :) ). Maggie, Tony, and everyone loved the story. Finally I got the money question, and to spice up my travels I said that I would go back to Belize, where I served in the Peace Corps, and would then travel south as far as I could go. Maggie asked if Belize was as wonderful as she'd heard, and was very interested in the fact that I'd lived there.
After my turn was over I watched 16 other people do their games and interviews. Some people were a lot more interesting than others, but all were pretty bright. One 19 year old was being very dorkishly talkative, which may have endeared him to Maggie or may have turned her off. Otherwise, everyone was nice and pleasant. I did, however, get noticed one more time. During an interview with a writer from Austin, Maggie asked if he watched crime shows, because he was writing a novel about a serial killer. He said no, because he doesn't want it to influence his writing, so he watches things like Top Chef. It turns out Tony and Maggie are big fans of the show, and ask him who got voted off last night. He had no idea, and they seemed anxious to know, so I toldthem that I saw it. Writer didn't want to know, but Maggie did, so we agreed to meet after the show so I could tell her privately. At the end of the mock games and interviews Maggie wrapped up, and she walked to the door so we could shake her hand on the way out. I, of course, whispered the Top Chef results :)
It was a great experience. I felt like I did everything I could, both academically and socially. I did well on the tests, and I will be someone Maggie remembers for being a lot of fun. Now it's time to sit by the phone and hope that sometime in the next year I get to do this for real :)
