On a Wednesday evening 21 years ago, the man they call Razzle (the Tawny’s very own resident trivia Dazzler whose quizzing capacities are unrivalled on the Northern Beaches and beyond) was but a wee, wide-eyed 18 year old lad with a thirst to quench and doggies to punt on, alone and swilling at Dee Why Hotel. Grasping an ice-cold schooner poised to pass his lips, and with his eyes locked on the screens where the greyhound likes of Coco, Son of Coco and Santa’s Little Helper routinely seek to break the sound barrier while hurtling full pelt after mechanical hares, Razz received a tap on the shoulder, “You here for trivia mate?”
Unperturbed at the prospect of competing solo, he quickly formed a team of one, and as part of the fun and games that night, the host asked each team to tell a joke in order to win some beers between rounds. Unfortunately, owing to the robustly PC culture we now enjoy in 2021, we’re unable to print the hilarity of 18 year old Razzle’s knee slapper, but rest assured the joke was indeed so side-splitting that the trivia host – who owned the company which ran trivia nights for 30 venues – asked the confident young comedic crowd pleaser if he wanted a job. The Razzle Dazzle Trivia Dynasty was born.
In those early years, the owner of the business would mail Razzle the questions. Yes, that’s right, mail them. Opening his letterbox, he’d then take his questions, along with speakers, microphone and his world-renowned criminal fashion sense along to the Dee Why Hotel and Newport Upper Limbs, turning on the charm and revelling in the midweek bright lights to gift pubgoers a truly entertaining trivial pursuit. You see, Razzle’s father was a stage hypnotist, a man who was still doing live shows at 89 years of age! Razz grew up watching his father perform in the very same sort of pub and club environments he’s now tasked with both informing and amusing, and if you’ve ever been lucky enough to watch Razzle commandeer a room, it’s easy to see the showmanship gene runs strong in his veins, total comfort in front of the crowd, but also dedication to ensuring everyone enjoys themselves too. His father taught him supremely, no doubt about it.
In charge of his own business these days, Razzle takes huge pride in coming up with 50 fresh questions for every single quiz. No picnic when he’s running 2-3 per week! This means his antennae are always up, alert to any quirky piece of valuable intel that can form the basis of gripping trivia. He always ensures a healthy proportion of questions are Northern Beaches centric too. Greatest place on earth, rude not to. And whether it be the sight of paper planes flying through the air, teams cheering home random greyhounds at some exotic location like Dapto or Mandurah to win a jug of beer, or an arm wrestle to break the tie of the two top teams at the end of the night, Razzle Dazzle Trivia isn’t just about answering questions, it’s all about having fun.
In the age of Google and the ease with which people can almost instantaneously click their way to expert knowledge in any field whatsoever, you’d be forgiven for thinking attracting people to sit down for a couple of hours on a weeknight and indulge in the age-old art of trivia would be mission nigh on impossible. But you throw in some Razzle Dazzle and ensure handy, swift access to alcoholic refreshments, trivia’s never been more popular. The pubs will be reopening soon so be sure to get along for one of Razzle’s trivia nights once you’ve had your second jab. You never know, he might even answer the question so few people know the answer to… What’s his real name?
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I’m almost certain his name is Peter Sudgeist. I’ve definitely heard him refer to himself as “Suddy” in the past.