By Tim Rich
I recently caught up with Adam Hancock of S-M-R-T I Mean S-M-A-R-T from OQLUSA. He recently achieved back to back TOTW in Weeks 2 and 3 in the league barely missing out on full houses both times. Mr. Hancock is one of Canada’s top Quizzers and has put his signature on being the best player on this team. I headed out to the Pacific Northwest one day to pick his brain on mostly trivia. We met up at a virtual Tim Hortons for lox frittatas and smoked salmon omelets.
Rich: What is your favorite food and beverage?
Hancock: For food, I’m going to have to go with the west coast classic, salmon, which I guess is more of an ingredient. Baked, barbequeued, smoked, as sushi, gravlax, or lox - it’s just so good. As for a beverage, I love beer. I’m not too particular about my pairings but usually with a salmon I’m going for something with a lighter colour, like a pilsner or an IPA.
Rich: You recently had back to back TOTW with 18(7) and 17(7). Were the questions you missed attainable or did you have no chance of getting the full house?
Hancock: Well, neither went for a one hundred percent X rate, so they were definitely gettable. For one week, I missed “Ark of Return,” which went for an X in almost every game according to the stats. That’s as close to unattainable as a question can be, so kudos to those who got it! I almost had the “Door of No Return” question on the pair (I think I said “Door to Nowhere” or something like that). The other one I missed on direct was BCBG Max Azria, which was extremely gettable. I didn’t know the brand, and ended up picking the wrong French words to translate, and came close.
Tim: How did you first get into trivia?
Hancock: I probably first got seriously into trivia about 15 years ago, when some friends of mine started going to pub quiz. Previously they had asked me to join the University of British Columbia quiz bowl team, which I declined at the time. Not sure if I regret that or not. Anyways, we played pub quiz at one place for a good many years, and then added Learned League, and started going to some of the larger pub trivia events in North America
Rich: How did you first get into OQL? What versions do you play?
Hancock: I think I read about it in a post on the Learned League forums, and signed up for a scratch team. I play the OQL US version, along with regions. I’d love to give the UK version a shot, but it runs at a time I can’t make, unfortunately. I play the ICC competitions as well, and pop solo from time to time.
Rich: Do you play live trivia in the city where you live? What is that local scene like?
Hancock: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been maintaining the Vancouver pub quiz listings for more than ten years, keeping them more or less accurate. There’s about 40 quiz nights in town, which is a lot! There’s about four or five main companies, some are better than others. It’s all very pop culture forward, usually between 30 and 50 questions, with about a third of the points coming from name that tune. Frankly, I can’t say I enjoy that part of it all that much. I tend to prefer the quizzes that are run by the weirdos who only host one or two nights, write the questions themselves, and ideally isn’t just a name that tune contest with twenty extra questions attached. I’d love to see a community-driven pub quiz, where the teams themselves write the rounds on a weekly basis, but I don’t have the capacity or connections to get that thing started.
Rich: What are the top five highlights of your Trivia/Quiz resume?
Hancock: Hmmmmmmmmm in roughly chronological order, let’s say:
Winning our first Year End Championship at the first pub quiz we went to
Coming in sixth at one of the Geek Bowls with our homegrown team of Vancouverites against the various other superteams
Winning the 2023 Mimir’s Well Carnation League
Making the Learned League Live finals at sporclecon last year
Getting invited to play on the AQL (Asian Quiz League) team I’m on - it’s an honour to be considered for a spot on a team with so many quizzing heavyweights.
Rich: How did you like SporcleCon 2022 and 2023?
Hancock: SporcleCon 2022 was miserable, since I wasn’t there. I can only assume everyone sat around despondent asking “where’s Adam?” 2023 was a lot of fun - I had a great time meeting so many people for the first time, grabbing drinks, and visiting some of the museums and monuments in the off days. I hope that Detroit is able to capture some of that magic again, but we’ll see!
Rich: What are your other interests and hobbies?
Hancock: Aside from quizzing and working, I assume? In the spring and summer (and sometimes fall) I play on a slo-pitch softball team, which is a lot of fun. Sports can be a pretty miserable environment sometimes, but we play in a relatively chill league with a very nice group of people. I read a lot, trying to work through my bookshelf, and play video games and guitar when time permits. I used to go out to shows a lot more, but post-covid I’ve been going to a lot less. Also, my wife and I go travelling as much as we are able.
Rich: How many World Heritage Sites have you visited and which are your top three?
Hancock: I’ve been to 187 (they’re mapped out here - https://www.worldheritagesite.org/community/adam+hancock). If you want to be technical, which I’m sure the audience does, I’ve been to 188, but they de-listed the Maritime Mercantile City of Liverpool a few years back (the city still hasn’t taken down the little plaques yet, either). I blame Everton, personally. Top three is usually changing, but these journeys have been particularly :
Ogasawara Islands - A small archipelago that is about 1,000 kilometres South of Tokyo, and only accessible by a 25 hour long ferry. It’s almost tropical in climate, and it feels like being in another world. Dolphins swim all around the waters, and the beaches are beautiful and empty. Weird being in Tokyo legally, but also in the middle of the ocean. The sendoff the locals give the ferry is something I’ll never forget.
Prasat Preah Vihear - A Cambodian temple that has come up a few times in quiz, mostly due to it being on a disputed border with Thailand. It was a three hour drive each way, and the army made us detour through a bunch of fields to get there. Once you get there it’s an amazing temple on an escarpment, and it is so quiet and contemplative. We got there on a daytrip from Angkor which is also spectacular, but this one was just very special.
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks - They’re just so nice! It’s a ten hour drive from here so I don’t go often, but I have never driven through Banff and not been floored. I live in a very mountain rich part of the world, but these seven parks are unparalleled in their beauty.
Honorable mentions: Grand Canyon, Tikal, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the Great Wall, Red Square, Blanaevon Industrial Landscape, The Prehistoric Pile Dwellings of the Alps (iykyk)
Rich: What kind of music do you listen to? Who are your top 5 bands of all time?
Hancock: I listen to a lot of music, but much of it doesn’t come up in quizzing too much. As anyone who has played be could probably figure out, I love heavy metal music. My tastes mostly lean towards Death/Doom/Black metal, but I’ve got a place in my heart for most things there. I like a lot of experimental musics - electronics, noise, ambient and found sounds. I’m not huge poptimist but I try to keep abreast of what’s going on and I’m a big fan of lots of newer pop as well. Honestly, in any genre there’s probably going to be something I really enjoy in it. I’ve got some much cooler friends who have more of an ear to the ground, so a big thanks to them for introducing me to some of the newer weird microgenres, like Gqom and Cumbia 420.
Anyways! Five bands, no order:
Prince - What else needs to be said? My favourite album is Dirty Mind by a long shot, but almost everything he touched was gold
The Mountain Goats - Been a fan since the early two thousands, it’s been very enjoyable to see them bounce back from a post-pitchfork fame lull with their last few albums. Partial to many albums, but especially All Hail West Texas
Bolt Thrower - I don’t think they’ve ever recorded a bad song. The rare band that got better as their career went on. I listen to Those Once Loyal probably once a week
Steely Dan - Might as well admit it. They’re great. I came to them pretty late, but I love their smarmy shit. All their albums are great but I’m a Gaucho man
Death - From their early days as a thrash band to their weird prog explorations. Chuck was a genius. Symbolic is probably my favourite here
Rich: Since you live in the Pacific Northwest, have you ever had a Bigfoot encounter? Do you believe he exists?
Hancock: I have not, though when I was a child I claimed to have seen the Ogopogo in a fit of attention seeking.
Rich: If you could play trivia and dine with any five people in history, dead or alive, who would you choose?
Hancock: Christine Sinclair - The legend. I’d love to hear here speak about being the best in the world at something, what sort of effort and commitment that took. She also just seems like a good and kind person.
Jorge Luis Borges - I don’t know how to describe it, but the way he writes just seems so alien, but also so certain and grounded in reality. Like he sees things on a completely different level and I would love to listen to that. He probably would be no help on a picture round though.
David Lynch - He seems nice! And interesting, and at home with who he is and I think would be an interesting person to have a conversation with, and who would give you his whole attention even though you are just a regular dude. Probably knows a thing or two about movies.
Nile Rodgers - I’ve watched him speak a few times before, and he’s pretty captivating. Hearing him play really changed my conception of what a guitar could sound like. Plus he most of lots of great stories
Vadym Bondar - He’s been running the best quiz league in the world out of a literally warzone for over a year now, I would love to sit around with him and shoot the shit over dinner and quiz.
Rich: Thank you for your time. I hope to be able to chat with other Canadian quizzers real soon.
Check out another interview with Adam on the Five Quiz Group on Facebook.
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