Alisa Stewart   Queen of Quizzery
Quiz Writer & Creator of Pub Quiz USA

When Alisa isn't screwing around in Maui, she is a musician by night and highly qualified personal injury paralegal by day. She graduated toward the top of her class at Oregon State and moved to Chicago to pursue a theater career. After attending Columbia College in pursuit of a Masters degree, she found that drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and being broke was a lot more fun than taking classes. For seven years she worked in professional theater before moving back to the Pacific Northwest, where she started a band and released her first album, Little Things Unseen, in 2000. She toured the west coast and hopped the pond to the UK, where she had her first glimpse of pub quizzes in between gigs. Upon moving to Seattle in 2002, she started attending pub quizzes every Thursday with an English bloke by the name of Paul. Although they did pretty well, Alisa got tres' frustrated when the same team would win every week.

Paul eventually moved back to England and Alisa eventually moved back to Oregon. Upon her arrival, she couldn't find a pub quiz to save her life. Most people would look at her funny when she asked, "Do you know where a pub quiz is?" (most responses were "What's a pub quiz?"), so she decided to start one, in her own style, making sure to put mechanisms in so that the same team really couldn't win every week.

Alisa passed all the Mensa tests & could be a member of the elite group, but she'd much rather write quizzes, hang out in pubs, drink beer and give money & pitchers of beer away. Besides, Mensa meetings have got to be boring.

Wendy Holmes   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

21st Avenue Bar & Grill, Biddy's Irish Pub

How did my legend begin? My earliest recollection of my parents was one filled with ominous green light, screams and a scary, hooded being who took my parents' lives; leaving me to be the only one to survive the Killing Curse. Wait...that was Harry Potter's beginning.

I lived most of my life in the Sacramento Valley of California in a little, rural community called Yuba City. I was one of those awkward teenagers who just wanted to be accepted. I met a young man who liked me and we started dating. I married my high school sweetheart and had 2 children with him. Shortly after we separated, I shed my California tan for a Portland umbrella, and my kids & I share our pad with my new beau, his Rottweiler, and our 2 cats. I love dancing, shooting excellent tequila, camp, hot tubbing, more dancing, movies, and did I mention dancing? My daughter and I like to be couch potatoes on Sundays, catching up on all of the reality TV shows we DVR. My boyfriend and I hit up the karaoke every week. It's one of my moments to be famous. LOL. And here we are!

Jeremy Henrickson   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

Schmizza Pub & Grub, Thirsty Lion Pub

When I'm not Quiz Mastering at the Horse and Hound in Hood River (Shout out to my peeps!) I practice my art of underwater basket weaving. I graduated from Portland State after a stint at the University of Oregon. I have a degree in Literature with a minor in writing, so you know my word Kung Fu is strong! I'm all WHAM! and CRACK! I could go on all day with the Batman sound effects.

I previously worked in the hustle and bustle of a newspaper called The Argus. Now, I am living happily in Beaverton with my cat, who demands most of my free time. When I do get a moment, I am always up to things of a notorious nature with my buddies over in Portland. It never ceases to provide new and interesting ways to get into trouble. The good kind of trouble - not the Big Trouble you'd sometimes find in Little China. With Kurt Russell.

John Patrick Pullen   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

Shanahans Irish Pub, The Belmont Inn, The Space Room

A dual Irish/American citizen, John Patrick Pullen was born on St. Patrick's Day in Boston. He spent a stretch living in Ireland, and an even longer stretch residing in South Boston. He drinks Guinness and Baileys and like most people, enjoys U2 when Bono isn't being too preachy. Still, despite all these cliches, he's a pretty run-of-the-mill fellah, unassuming and even average looking. Basically, he's the kind of guy you'd ask for directions on the street, and many people have, in fact.

However, since he spends his days working as a freelance writer, people mostly ask him to write and edit various things. Once upon a time, he edited the third best inflight magazine in the country. He has also worked on the world's most colorful direct marketing industry trade publication, a women's website where he - using an assumed name - gave brides-to-be advice based on his very limited experience of being (and staying) married just once, as well as several travel magazines for places he's scarcely been. David Sedaris has called him "very nice," and Ira Glass once left him a voicemail message. And yet while none of these things qualify him to be a Quizmaster, his adroit manner with the English language, comfort with public speaking in general, years of experience as a pub trivia player, and crackerjack ability to recite lyrics of 1980s sit-com theme songs somehow make him perfect for the job. Oh yeah, and he was a Resident Advisor in college, so he knows how to handle pain-in-the-ass drunks.

Dave Lake   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

Dave was born in Hollywood, California and has been slowly migrating up the west coast ever since, having spent a decade in the Bay Area before landing in rain-soaked Seattle. He's had a lot of adventures during said migration. For nearly a decade, he toured the world's smelliest bars with his punk rock band, playing shows with bands as varied as The Offspring and the Sugarhill Gang, from the sunny coast of Australia to the icy plains of Nova Scotia. He eventually got a real job working at a startup dotcom that got swallowed up by a major corporation shortly after his employ began.

Here's more Dave trivia: He's been on TV twice, once as a youthful contestant on a lip-synching game show (performing "And We Danced" by the Hooters), and once as the singer of the band opening for Puss in an episode of "Freaks and Geeks." He's interviewed a variety of celebs from Johnny Depp to Slayer and once had dinner with Lucy Lawless without even knowing it. In between his real job, his real wife and his real identical twins, he runs YuppiePunk.org, a rinky-dink website devoted to some of his favorite things: punk rock, mustaches and ugly sweaters. He can be seen live and in-person every Wednesday night at the Big Time Brewing Company in Seattle, where the beer is delicious and so is the trivia.

Marcus Fridley   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

Horse & Hound

Marcus first competed in the glorious bloodsport of pub quizzing at the Horse & Hound in Hood River- the theme of the night was Pirates vs. Vampires, and knowing the importance of bonus points Marcus wore an eyepatch [pictured]. His team 'At least we're not in last place' was defeated in the final round by a sinister question regarding books penned by Bram Stoker. Besides Dracula, which Marcus has directed a one-act play of, he couldn't remember anything else by the author. But sometimes the loss is just as important as the win.

'At least we're not in last place' found victory July 13th when the theme concerned food and drink, and finally Marcus's encyclopedic knowledge of cocktails came of some use.

With at least one win under his belt, Marcus could be considered a 'Quiz Master'; and will soon be acting as thus on his home turf, deliberating quizzes with justice and impunity, leaving his short-lived days of competing with a fond farewell.

When he's not quizzing himself or others, Marcus takes film classes, watches movies, and plays video games.

Ryan Wilson   Quizmaster Extraordinaire

The Heritage Pub

Like so many kingfishers, and even an occasional river otter, Ryan Wilson was raised on the banks of the Clackamas River. As a native, he believes the three pillars of Oregon culture are The Trailblazers, The Goonies, and some third thing that couldn't possibly be nearly as important.

Having spent a few years in Southeast Asia, Ryan fears no bathroom. Spiders, however, are another story entirely. He likes being outdoors, his dog, and being outdoors with his dog. Lately, his go to karaoke song is 'Flagpole Sitta' by one-hit-wonder Harvey Danger.

Having not been granted the starting goalkeeper position for the Timbers because he hasn't played soccer since he was 15, was never very good, never played goalie anyway--and it's all politics; Ryan's second career aspiration was to be a quizmaster.

Mark Cuen   Quizmaster Apprentice

The Britannia Arms (The Brit)

I am to the microphone what trivia is to a bar- The Perfect Fit. All right, that is just the youngest child syndrome speaking again, but I am pumped to provide the great bar tradition of trivia night to my hometown of San Jose, CA. Having been born and raised in San Jose it is not only my honor, but my duty to provide the ultimate trivia time to the great bar patrons that reside here. I am excited to be bringing my entertainment value to what soon will become San Jose's number one pasttime, right there with cheering on the Sharks, in pub trivia.

Having graduated from San Jose State with a degree in English, I have done my best Hemingway impersonation by frequenting the numerous downtown bar scene. When I am not at the local watering holes, I am writing various pieces on my blog and playing basketball. I also enjoy going to the movies and hitting the library to find something interesting to read. I am a pop culture connoisseur, which is my trivia strength whenever I play. Let the games begin!

Tyler G Hall   Quizmaster Apprentice

Brooklyn Stable

Being born a small, white boy in Arizona in 1980s was hard in some ways and easy in many, many other ways. But still my family packed up and moved east a few years later for fear of having our papers checked. It just wasn't that hip to be a WASP anymore and our tans weren't fooling anyone. From the sand farms of Tempe, AZ to the tobacco farms of Winston-Salem, NC we went, and I was effectively raised the perfect Southern debutant. After graduating from high school, I slept for a summer and then went to the Harvard of New England, Harvard, for sociology or as my parents call it "fun and games." Then I graduated!

Now all my friends are part of the 1% and I fall somewhere in the 63-4%, depending on what ConEdison thinks they deserve this month. To pay them off, I've take a variety of unpaid jobs working at Comedy Central, The Onion, and The Colbert Report. I also SAT tutor on the side, which pays strangely well. Oh, my hobbies! My hobbies consist of reading, collecting street trash, cleaning my apartment, and writing novels Random House has called "scattered" and "unsolicited." I love politics, Breaking Bad, and long walks on short piers. Now put down that computer where you found it and come to trivia night, Monday's at Brooklyn Stable!

Jimmy Knodel   Quizmaster Apprentice

Billy's Bar

Jimmy cruised into town on I-84, along the Columbia River, in May, fulfilling his long-held desire to become a Portlander. Born and rasied in Upstate New York, he completed a cross country trek, with a four year stop off in Illinois, with his new wife for a new life in the Pacific Northwest. Drawn in by the laid back atmosphere, cool climate and delciciously hoppy beers, Jimmy is even more proud to now call himself a Quizmaster.

A communications pro by school and trade, Jimmy's true calling lies in the obscure random facts that no sain person should really know. Whether he's reciting lines from Ferris Bueller's Day Off or firing off the starting lineup from the 1996 Yankees, trivia is always on his mind. And to think his wife used to question his knack for the random factoids; that is until he found a way to make money with it. A firm believer that bald is beautiful, Jimmy loves to bring fun and knowledge to Billy's Bar every week.