Hi All!

Well, after my fourth successful contestant tryout this past July, I just got the call from the Jeopardy! contestant coordinators to come down and be on the show! I'm so excited I'm barely able to contain my glee!

Does anyone have any tips for a first-time-ever contestant?

Lance

Thanks in advance!

All I can offer is my congratulations!

Thank you so much!

I'm so stoked!

Drink heavily the night before taping. The stress, bright lights and noise will help your game enormously.


Just kidding. Best of luck. Review your world & state capitals. Skim the Complete Idiot's Guides to Opera and Ballet. Get a short summary of any Shakespeare or classic lit you're unfamiliar with. And know your 19th century French Impressionists. You won't get all those categories, but chances are you'll get one.

Congratulations!

In addition to going over the basic lists, which will help you feel like you're doing something if nothing else, my standard advice is pay close attention to the news from here on out. Not just headlines, either. Read the stories, pay attention to interesting facts. With the primaries going on, see if anything gets mentioned about candidate's home states, for example.

I know that doing so (out of habit, not preparation) is the only way I got my Final Jeopardy! correct. Figure that the writers write a lot of questions, so they have to get inspiration somehow.

Good luck!

Don't only read material, but write your own clues - this is a really good way to reinforce information.

Good to hear they're still able to dole out calls, and that the writers' strike hasn't shut down production yet.

OTOH, if the strike is still going when you tape, any advice now about paying attention to current events in the interim may be misplaced.


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Any content preparation you choose to do is fine and can't hurt, but it will pale in importance next to process preparation. Watch the show as much as possible and practice buzzing in with something. Try to match the timing of whoever's getting in first consistently that day. Make adjustments. Internalize that timing so you know you'll be able to do it without even thinking about it, any time you have a buzzer and Alex's voice. Even on a soundstage surrounded by lights and cameras.

Thank you all so much!

I'm really concerned about the signaling device, as well as the pressure in the studio, so I've enlisted my nine-year-old to bang pots and pans while I play along with the show.

For those of you who made the show, how many successful auditions did you have before you got "The Call"?

Lance

Lancecd wrote:

I'm really concerned about the signaling device, as well as the pressure in the studio, so I've enlisted my nine-year-old to bang pots and pans while I play along with the show.

I can see it now..."I got so used to playing with pots and pans banging around me that the relative silence of the studio completely threw me!"
Congratulations and good luck.

I see what you mean.....maybe I should play on a sensory deprivation tank...

I auditioned for the first time back in June and haven't yet gotten "The Call." Sigh. Perhaps it is not to be, or at least not this time around.

Any thoughts on whether there might be some sort of bias against younger folk appearing on the regular (non-college) show? I'm thinking especially of the college student Andrew Rostan, who won (fairly) big money last season but also had his fair share of strange quirks. It might be true that younger people have less life experience -- in terms of travel, marriage, things seen and done -- with which to populate post-commercial-break banter, but I felt like I brought the personality at my audition (in addition to doing well on the test, or so I think).

Congrats to you, though, Lance! Go get 'em.

Lancecd wrote:

For those of you who made the show, how many successful auditions did you have before you got "The Call"?

Three -- and then I couldn't go, so I had to try out twice more before getting The Call again.

Ken's advice is best -- practice your timing until it is automatic.

As far as content, there is really only so much you can effectively cram in a limited period of time, and I personally think it's better to completely master a few categories than to try to develop a passing acquaintance with many. There's no reason you can't memorize your state and world capitals and all the U.S. presidents (order and years served, at least, and preferably party and home state as well) over the next month or so. If you still have time and mental space, pick something you already have a decent-but-not-thorough familiarity with (say, Academy award winners or rivers of the world or Civil War generals or whatever is appealing to you) and fill in your gaps -- you'll remember a lot more than if you started from scratch on a topic.

Also, I second jaclyn's advice -- pay attention to current events, because the writers do.

Unless it's going to completely stress you out, I think it's also worth spending some time on your stories for after the first commercial break. First of all, being brutally realistic, chances are you're only going to be on one episode, so you might as well tell a memorable, entertaining story to make the most of your appearance. Second of all, you will probably find several potential competitors fretting about what to say as they go through the whole pre-show process; having come up with a couple good stories will give you an edge in both feeling relaxed and seeming relaxed to other people (which can be intimidating). Third of all, it can be a great psychological boost when you need it most. In my first show, I was pretty much bombing against the returning champ up through the first commercial break. During the commercial I told myself just to stop worrying about the score and have fun, and then I got to tell my carefully-prepared story, which went over well and made me feel like, hey, this really isfun! And I relaxed and played well from then on.

But I still wouldn't work on your stories until you've got the presidents down cold.

Congratulations!

Rex

If you can find out the airdate of the shows being taped for your session, then you might study facts about any major holidays that are occurring on those weeks. For example, if they are taping shows that will air the week of March 17, the writers might have a St. Patrick's Day category.

Tim H.

If you've never watched the show live as an audience member, I recommend doing that if possible, before your tape date. That will make you more comfortable and focused in the studio and give you a better idea of what to expect.

Congratulations. I have little to add that hasn't been said already, except that if you cram on a weak subject, go for breadth rather than depth. It is more useful to memorize major character names in Shakespeare plays, for example, than understand the plays. You are more likely to get "King Lear's Daughter" clue in a "Crossword Puzzle Clue R" category than you are to get a question about a plot point about the play "King Lear" Be alert for the extra information in a clue, and never give up on any subject because that extra information in a clue may be something that you know that is unrelated to the category.

One thing that happened to me is that in the Green Room, we decided what my best story was going to be for the interview section. Alex threw me a curve and asked me about my backup story (I guess he liked that one better).

a) Congratulations, and don't forget to take it all in on the day. Don't be afraid to come across like a tourist. If nothing else (assuming you tape in Culver City), you're "on the lot" -- TV shows and even movies being made all around you. It's the dream factory! Minus all the dream-related industrial accidents, the bitter labor disputes between the dream weavers and the dream-writers, etc.

b) Ask yourself WWKJD? And then remember that he's already told you -- prepare for the process. I agree (duh!) - to the extent of watching the shows on your feet, practicing calling out categories after a correct response, and making intelligent wagers on DDs and FJ. Do it all out loud. You'll sound silly to your family, but it really is a big step from thinking "I'd do X," and being able to snap out the words on cue. As the army says, you train like you fight.

c) The show staff are all incredibly nice, so be nice to them, But don't try to make small talk with the camera operators. Teamsters are men of few words.

Two other things that no one has said:
1. Study wagering, if you don't feel like an expert right now. Mike Dupee's How to Get on Jeopardy! and Win and the Sony message boards for Jeopardy are your best resources.
2. Go in to your taping determined to have fun. It is overwhelmingly probable that you will lose on your first and only taping day, and be done with Jeopardy forever (you may or may not win a game or two first). For most people, the experience is over before they even feel like it's begun. So enjoy every second instead of sweating outcomes. Being more relaxed will probably help you play better too.

Ken Jennings wrote:

1. Study wagering, if you don't feel like an expert right now.

Yes, yes, one million times yes!!

They also have a decent set of wagering scenarios over here:

http://www.j-archive.com/help.php#glossary

(not all of them are wagering definitions, but the whoel glossary is a fairly interesting read, regardless).

Ken Jennings wrote:

Two other things that no one has said:
1. Study wagering, if you don't feel like an expert right now. Mike Dupee's How to Get on Jeopardy! and Win and the Sony message boards for Jeopardy are your best resources.

Dupee's book is out of print and a little hard to find. He used to have the whole book on his website at mindfun.com , but he doesn't anymore.

Fortunately, archive.org remembers:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010814104231/www.mindfun.com/jepbook/

Unfortunately, the page on betting, looks like it came straight from the OCR software. Yikes!

Some of the other links don't quite work either. Better than nothing, perhaps?

-M

Game Prep:

-- Crossword puzzles. Do one a day every day from now until Johnny Gilbert calls your name. Do one that day, too, if you can. Wordplay categories involving short words are usually harder than their ump-teen-letter-word counterparts.

-- Write clues, categories, even whole boards. Learning to think like a Jeopardy writer will go a long way in helping you figure out what they're talking about.

Process Prep:

-- Enjoy the ride. This is one roller coaster they don't let you get back on after it ends. Savor every moment, but be emotionally prepared to get off the ride when it's over.

-- Make lots of friends. The other folks in the green room might be competitors, but in many ways they are also kindred spirits. If you make a point of reaching out to and connecting with your fellow contestants, you'll come away richer than you ever dreamed, no matter how many numbers (or in Ken's case, commas) are on the check.

-- Read Prisoner of Trebekistan. Just because.


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Move along.

Reading the newspapers is a good idea, but the clues for your games have already been written by now. This is probably true under normal circumstances but is even more likely to true now with the ongoing writer's strike.

One more thing, Lance – very important: do everything you can to make sure you arrive at the studio on tape day in good physical form. If traveling tires you, arrive a day early. If you exercise regularly, don’t break your routine – and if you don’t exercise regularly, consider starting some gentle regular exercise (e.g., walking) just to increase your stamina. (It’s also a good idea to practice playing with the televised show standing up for the same reason.) Taping days are long affairs, especially if you have the good fortune of winning a game or two.

Pay attention to what you eat and how it affects you – if, say, you’re used to having a cup of coffee at lunch to help perk you up in the afternoon, don’t skip it on tape day unless you’ve already tried it and are sure it won’t leave you drowsy. (And don’t eat much for lunch anyway – big lunches make you sleepy.) If you suffer from any occasional physical ailment, like migraines or allergies or a trick knee or the like, make sure you bring all possible treatment options with you, and be aware of how each affect your concentration and reflexes.

Most important of all, make sure you get a full, sound night’s sleep the night before – bearing in mind you’ll probably be in a strange hotel room, unless you already live in L.A., and you may be very excited about the show.

Physical factors play a huge part, and unlike trying to memorize 160 world capitals, it really only takes a little bit of extra attention and planning to maximize your chances of being fit for the show. It is so worth it.

Rex

Wow! So much great advice!

I've dreamed of being on the show since the Art Fleming days, so I will most assuredly savor every moment. We're going to go down a day early to get the lay of the land, and to be rested up.

Keep the tips coming, I'm lovin' them all!

Lance

DadofTwins wrote:

-- Read Prisoner of Trebekistan. Just because.

Which reminds me: Don't look at the scores unless if you are making a bet.


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