By Tim Rich
I recently caught up with two time TOTW honoree Allie Kallmann Wegner. It took awhile to get used to the virtual rarefied air in the Mile High City but I was able to cope.
Rich: How did you first get into trivia as a hobby?
Wegner: I was kind of a weird kid, so probably when my parents tried to keep me busy with BrainQuest flash cards. But I first got into trivia for its own sake when I worked at a retirement home in high school. Jeopardy! was on during our break, and if we all timed it right, we’d get to catch all of Double Jeopardy and Final. Then in college, pub quiz was also $3 burger night at McNellie’s in Norman, OK, so a lot of us would go weekly. In grad school, I needed a part-time gig. I was a frequent TriviaNYC sub across the city, with my favorite of course being Saturday nights at One Star – which is where I got my Learned League referral, and the rest is history!
Rich: When did you first get into OQL? Did you know your teammates?
Wegner: We (Aaron and I) watched a lot of Only Connect during the pandemic, and I learned about COQL from a Discord I was in. From there, we came to a taster event the league hosted in spring 2021, had a blast, and recruited a couple friends from college to join our team with some other scratch players. I’d say I know Aaron pretty well, along with our friends Joey and Joe (who hasn’t played with us for a sec), and it’s been a delight to get to know Mike and Jeff, and then Alex, then to add Elizabeth and Miranda after we met filming J!
Rich: What other online quiz leagues or formats do you play in?
Wegner: This number has really escalated in the last year, and now I’m in what feels like a ton, though not nearly as many as some of the folks I know! In the OQL Cinematic Universe, I play COQL (shoutout to the Honey Lambs, our team of couples who met at OU!), Pop Solos, and International Culture Challenge (once so far, we’ll see if that sticks - I am not an academic specialist!). As for asynchronous formats, I play Learned League and KFL, and every night at about 12:05 AM Eastern time I go “oh shoot, I forgot to submit BP.” I’m also in my first season on teams for QuizNations and KFL! Aaaand I think that’s it?
Rich: Which team of the week set did you realize how good you were doing? Did you also notice your teammate Miranda was also on her way to a TOTW performance?
Wegner: Miranda’s always killing it, and because I tally scores for each of our team members as we play our match, I knew she was having a great game when we got to the end of the first half and she had three or four own gets! I knew there was a decent chance she’d hit it. My game was a slightly slower start so I didn’t realize until after we ended that I’d done particularly well. We lost by one point, and I was too busy beating myself up for some errors in captaining judgment.
Rich: I beat myself up over close losses all the time and I usually blame myself if I’m playing.
Have you ever played in Geek Bowl or either of the first two SporcleCons? If so, how was the experience?
Wegner: I wasn’t into “the scene” enough when Geek Bowl was still happening, but I went to both of the first two SporcleCons! I love any excuse to go to one of my favorite cities, D.C., and what better excuse than quizzing? Both were a fun time, where I went from “do I have online trivia friends” to “hey, I have trivia friends!” I don’t think you’ll see me at this year’s SporcleCon, but if you do, it’ll be loitering in some hotel lobby.
Rich: My SporcleCon plans for 2023 fell through when I didn’t respond to a friend’s offer to stay at their Airbnb and it was soon scooped up by Dan Blim. What is the live pub trivia scene like where you live? Are there any regular bars that you play at?
Wegner: There’s a lot of pub quiz around the Denver area! Because I’m a little too into the Google Maps custom map and layer feature, I try to maintain a map that also includes info about format, what the food and drink sitch is, whether we’ve played and/or won there, and who else came with us. Nowhere in particular has turned into our regular haunt, though.
Rich: What are your hobbies and interests besides trivia?
Wegner: I read a bunch (not necessarily works of literary merit, but a lot in terms of volume), crochet, and am kind of obsessed with our dog, Wendell. I’m on the public policy committee for the Junior League of Denver, which takes up a chunk of my time during the legislative session. I’m also a Coloradan who is very scared of heights, so in the summer, I try to work on that fear through hiking (we’re getting there), then engage in my actual preferred hobby of trying new restaurants or grabbing a drink on a patio somewhere.
Rich: What is the restaurant scene like in Denver? What are your favorite places and your favorite food and beverage?
Wegner: I’m a vegetarian, and to be honest, I thought that moving back to a major city would be great for food options – Denver is not quite as incredible as I hoped in that regard, and people would probably be surprised to hear that Northwest Arkansas is just as good! That said, more people = more options, even if the density of good food is slightly lower, and some faves here are City O’ City and Fire on the Mountain for a casual dinner, Mister Oso or Safta for a nicer night out, Cuba Cuba or Linger for happy hour, and Bakery Four for a fantastic pastry and cup of coffee. Based on my answer to the pub quiz question, it will probably not be shocking that restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and places to try are all layers in the Google Map. Hit me up for this map if you’re ever in Denver, this is one of the things I’m most obsessive about.
My absolute favorite food is probably chips and salsa, though I’m very choosy about it.
Rich: What movies did you watch in 2023? Who do you want to win certain Oscars?
Wegner: Two things about me: I don’t watch many movies, and I have no taste. Once you hit play, my critical thinking skills go out the window, and I am entirely here for vibes and a good time. But two 2023 movies that I did really enjoy and are nominated for Best Animated Feature are Nimona and Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse - hard to say where my pick lies between them!
Rich: If you could play trivia and have dinner with any five guests from history (dead or alive), who would you pick?
Wegner: Am I allowed to say Big Meaty Equal Protection Clause (and then feel guilty because there are 6 other people on our current roster)? No, like everyone else who has done these interviews, I find this to be the hardest question. As far as the deceased go, let’s go with Mary Shelley (Mary Woolstonecraft is too intimidating, I’ll take her eerie daughter instead), Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Maria Montessori. Because she was so much a part of my childhood, I feel like I have to invite J.K. Rowling; because she is a TERF who has continued to double down on atrocious beliefs, I would tell her how awful she’s been to her face and have her leave before any of the fun and games started. You’re welcome for wasting your time, Joanne, you’ve wasted plenty of mine and I hope you have to fly Frontier home. And then I’ll let Emma Stone join us, since she seems fun and clearly wants to break into the quizzing scene.
Rich: Have you ever been on any game shows and are you currently trying out for any?
Wegner: I was on Jeopardy in late 2022, so I’m now past my window! That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done, so I’ve put in applications for other shows - we’ll see if they go anywhere.
Rich: What are your thoughts on the Trivia Community as a whole?
Wegner: Stumbling into the Trivia Community (™) has been one of the best accidents ever. I have been - and probably always will be - fighting a lot of impostor syndrome at the thought that I’m in it. But the experiences, and more importantly the people, have been so important to me over the last few years. I’m so grateful to be part of a group of people who are actively pursuing knowledge, trying to expand the canon, playing together, and co-creating an inclusive space in a hobby that, in its very premise, could easily be an insider experience.
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