In September 2021, I appeared on Jeopardy! (with then-interim host Mayim Bialik). I did well (or at least well enough where I could go home with pride), dancing into and then immediately out of the US and Canada's hearts and coming in second place to superchamp Matt Amodio (at that point on his way to busting past James Holzhauer for second on the all-time win streaks in the show's history), and staying in contention until the final Daily Double of the game. Apparently, per The Jeopardy! Fan, I was one of just thirteen contestants to have a Coryat score (that is, score up until Double Jeopardy!, counting only the actual dollar value of any Daily Doubles as opposed to wagers) of $15,000 or greater while still losing in a runaway since the clue values were doubled in 2001. (My performance got plaudits on Twitter from seven-game champion Josh Hill and even got used by Matt himself to debunk the "Matt has no competition" myth, which was cool. )
So with all that being said, I've put together this short FAQ and guide to describe my experience getting on and preparing for the show below. A general note that I am referring throughout to some jargon specific to the show (like Coryat score, above); you can refer to this glossary to understand just what it is I'm talking about.
How does someone even get on Jeopardy!?
Well, first, there's a fifty-question test (with clues from fifty different categories). It used to be that they only offered it once or twice per year (over different nights for different time zones), but now you can take it any time you want (with the caveat that you can only take it once per year). You can even take it on your phone (I did from the 53rd Street subway station in Brooklyn), though the folks at the show don't recommend it. There are tests for Adults (which covers both regular-season play and the annual Teachers Tournament) and college undergraduates, and likely whenever the show can run another Teen Tournament they'll set up a test for teenagers as well.
Typically there's a passing threshold to move on to the next round of consideration (it's generally believed to be thirty-five out of fifty, but the show's been kind of mum about it). Once those below this threshold are weeded out, the process gets a bit murky. There's a random selection process to determine who is then called back for an audition.
Since spring 2020, auditions have been held on Zoom. I auditioned way back in November 2019 in Philadelphia, when auditions were still held in-person. (It used to be the case that upon taking the test, you would choose a preferred audition site; with the advent of the Anytime Test, I don't believe that's the case any longer and that if they ever do in-person auditions again, you'll be invited wherever you're invited.) The audition begins with another fifty-question test (I guess to make sure you didn't have a buddy, or a family member, or your super-smart cat take it), and is followed by mock games. In a nutshell, contestant producers are looking for three things at auditions:
- Persistent presentation of intellect. Obviously, you want to do well on the second test (though at that point it's a bit more of a formality), and you want to have a decent batting average on clues in your mock game.
- Personality and good humor. Jeopardy! thrives not only on smart people, but on fun, smart people. I liken my experience at my audition to a job interview. I wanted to present the best possible version of myself: engaging, enthusiastic, and ebullient. Don't be afraid to show your personality, and don't be afraid to share a somewhat idiosyncratic way you'd use the money won on the show! (Eighty-five percent of people at my audition said they wanted to use the money to travel. Hell, I'll probably use a chunk of the money I won to travel. But my audition answer of "open a bakery specializing in biscuits and scones" was a fun one and probably raised a few eyebrows.)
- Keen understanding of the game. I said this over on Reddit but showing you know what you're doing in your mock game is critical. You don't have to get every response right, but you do need to show willingness to ring in, ability to enunciate your responses clearly and (relatively) confidently, and when you are correct, an ability to keep the game moving (cutting out the "I'll have"s, "I'll take"s, "please"s, etc. that players might be prone to do either out of habit or politeness).
If you're lucky enough to audition, congratulations! You've already beaten significant odds (with just a few hundred auditioners per season versus tens of thousands taking the test). Now it's a waiting game to see if you get The Call. After auditioning, you're in the contestant pool for 18 months (sometimes a bit longer — for example, if there's a worldwide pandemic and the beloved longtime host dies), and the production team at the show might call at any time during that window. (If you get a random call from a 213 or 323 area code number, it might be a Jeopardy! producer!) If you don't get The Call, though, fear not; many contestants have been through the audition process a few times before getting invited to be on the show. You can take the Anytime Test again and start the process over again.
Okay, so you got The Call. What happens next?
First, celebrate this awesome achievement! Have a beer, have some ice cream, or in some other way applaud yourself for a job well done and for joining an elite group. You are invited for a specific tape date, at which you might tape one (or hopefully more) of the five shows taped that day (I actually got The Call, or at least A Call, twice beforehand in September 2020 and January 2021 and asked to be put back in the pool until I got vaccinated for Covid, and then got what became The Call in early August 2021 for a late August tape date.) There will be some forms to fill out (including the "five fun stories" the host might use in the mundane interview part of the show and an even longer questionnaire about hobbies, influences, and the like), along with some information on what clothes to bring (you're supposed to take three to four wardrobe changes in case you win). Pre-pandemic (and hopefully post-pandemic) you're also typically allowed to have up to ten guests present at your tape date. (Due to Covid, the studio was closed completely to guests for my taping; the audience was just my fellow contestants that tape-day.) You'll also need to book your travel; at present, contestants are responsible for covering their own travel and accommodations to Culver City, CA, for their first tape day. (Exceptions to that rule are made for returning champions and tournaments such as the Tournament of Champions and the Teachers Tournament.)
How did you study for Jeopardy!?
I did some intermittent training throughout my twenty-two months in the contestant pool (including the time when the pool was frozen due to Covid production shutdowns and the show, like basically everything else on TV at the time, briefly going into reruns), and really kicked things into high gear in the four weeks between The Call and my tape date. I can categorize my training under two umbrellas:
- Game experience. Getting as many reps in as possible with actual Jeopardy! clues is key. The J! Archive is an invaluable resource for this (as is the J! Trivia app, where I would pull up random games or even random clues in my spare time). This augmented my daily watching of the show. When watching, I tried to mimic the in-game experience as possible, standing with shoes on and with buzzer-pen in hand, ringing in after the host completed reading the clue. (At the in-person auditions, you get a pen that is shaped as a kind of scale model of the signaling devices used on the show. I beat the crap out of that thing.) I also watched on my phone to have the smallest view of the clue possible, in an attempt to mirror the relative distance between podia and the board. (This may not be possible for you, especially since Locast is no longer operational. If you use YouTube TV, Sling, or Hulu + Live TV, your local Jeopardy! affiliate is a CBS station and you have Paramount+, or if you're willing to use Stanford University's Puffer program to watch Bay Area stations, this can work for you). As a supplement, I also used the podcasts PodQuiz and Quiz Quiz Bang Bang to get more questions in front of me.
I also tracked my daily Coryat score and correct/incorrect response ratio as I watched. There are many ways to do this, including special apps and sites, but I just created a spreadsheet to tally up responses/clue values and then entered daily to get averages. I think it helped me when it came to my confidence, but it's really up to you how deep you want to get on this. - Filling gaps in my knowledge. Preparing for the show is in some respects a lifelong process (since the show covers, uh, the entirety of the Western canon and a decent amount of everything else). I felt pretty good on categories in my wheelhouse (US history, popular culture, sports, television pre-2010, science and technology, and wordplay categories like Rhyme Time and Crossword Clues). But there were a few categories where I was worried I'd get eaten alive and wanted to cover those bases:
- Geography. I used Seterra to cover countries, world capitals, geological features like rivers and mountain ranges, and national parks.
- British History. I read through most of Seán Lang's British History for Dummies up to the modern era of Elizabeth II.
- Shakespeare. I used the Shakespeare Fandex and Peter Ackroyd's A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare (without the Boring Bits), both of which provide basic summaries of all of the Shakespearean plays plus the Sonnets.
- Classical Music. I kind of stumbled upon the NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Classical Music by Timothy K. Smith (thanks in part to the now-dearly-departed Avoid the Day Bookstore in Rockaway Beach!), and read through the chapters on classical music history, terminology, composers, and compositions. As a last minute addition to my study, I also listened to episodes of WQXR and the Metropolitan Opera's Aria Code podcast to get a better feel for plots and characters in operas that may be featured on the show.
- The Bible. I used the Stories from the Old Testament Fandex and Jeffrey Geoghegan and Michael Homan's The Bible for Dummies (the latter of which I used primarily to cover the New Testament).
Did you make a playlist to get you psyched up for being on the show?
Hell yeah I did.
How did you determine a buzzer technique?
I had a certain plan all sketched out and then I threw it out at my tape date and developed a new plan on the fly. Here are both in case either might work for you (and know that these are mere footnotes to Fritz Holznagel's Secrets of the Buzzer):
- Original Plan: I had initially gone with a cross-armed approach when it came to holding the signaling device (inspired by 5-time champ Doug Hicton) to provide a rest for my buzzing hand and to lessen unnecessary movement. (I also thought it looked kinda badass.) In my training, of course, I was going entirely by vocal cadence to buzz in and tried that out to beat the lights surrounding the board.
- Ultimate Plan: In my buzzer practice game on my tape day, my original plan led me to be too early in buzzing in (and therefore locked out), so I switched to holding the signaling device with both hands in front of me (left over right, in my case). Instead of staring at the clue on the board, I gave it a few reads as it was read through and then focused exclusively on the lights around the board and rang in with the lights starting to flash.
Any wagering tips?
My Daily Double strategy was moot since I didn't land on any (I used this heat map to guide my clue selection, but it's certainly not a foolproof strategy) For Daily Doubles in the Jeopardy! round, unless you completely lack confidence in your abilities for that category, bet everything. There will be plenty of time to get more money if you're wrong, and you set yourself up towards a runaway if you're right. In Double Jeopardy!, the same strategy more or less applies for the first five or so clues in the round. After that, judge based on the game scenarios and where you are (if ahead, play for a runaway, and if you are behind, bet as much as you're comfortable with to catch up while keeping some walking-around money). For Final, read The Jeopardy! Fan's Wagering Strategy 101 guide, which covers basically every scenario. (Since I had a lock game for all three positions and was stuck in second unless I did something stupid, I wagered a high bet that still covered for third place in the event my fellow contestant Adriana got it right and doubled up. My wager also kind of served as a shout-out to my partner and my parents.)
