Pub quizzes, as the name implies, are very popular in pubs around the UK; apparently there were over 22,000 regular pub quizzes in 2009! They are maybe not as popular in Denmark, but Penny Lane pub is one that does offer one: every Thursday night at 20:15.

I turned up to my first quiz last week with a group of friends. Doors to the pub open at 20:00, and there were already quite a number of people waiting to get in. In fact, do remember to book a table (on facebook or tlf 26348644) as the tables seem to have all been booked in advance. Luckily for me my friend had sorted that out for us. So on entering we looked around till we found the table with our team name and sat down.

Before the quiz starts the quiz master came over to explain the rules and give us the sheets where we would note down the answer. In all there were 2 halves with 16 questions each. Questions 17 and 18 in each round are bonus questions and you decide whether you want to answer them or not before they are asked (both right = double points, one right = no change, both wrong = half points for the round).

Once the quiz starts the questions go at a steady pace. Each half will have 4 ‘themes’ and the questions cycle between the themes. A few hours before the quiz the themes are posted on the Penny Lane facebook page so you can prepare yourself if you so wish. The bonus questions are riddles.

It is maybe wise to note that the quiz is in Danish. However don’t despair if your Danish is not great. All the tables around us, including ours, were speaking English between them! And we all had fun! And we still managed to come 3rd (out of maybe 8-10 teams?)!

Down to the details: participating is free, though do book in advance, and you can, of course, buy drinks during the quiz. The atmosphere is very friendly and it was good fun. A good way to spend a Thursday evening doing something a bit different.