WWTBAM Bored

I was convinced I had passed the test at >=35 this year. Of course, I was convinced of that last year too, but as has been explained on this board, not all the passers get invited to an audition.

Well, this year I did get invited. Letter just came, as I sat here scanning my mail for something that's supposed to be in the box from Sunday but is not, as far as I can see. Of course, I'll have to pass a test in person even to get to an audition. And I've already failed the in-person test once, several years ago, after passing the 10Q test somewhere. Providence RI, I believe. It's all a blur.


I don't have a lot of hope at passing the test again, let alone the aud at all. Considering how BAM auds have treated me after that one fluky pass. But I will go unless a truck or something hits me.

ghostjmf wrote:I was convinced I had passed the test at >=35 this year. Of course, I was convinced of that last year too, but as has been explained on this board, not all the passers get invited to an audition.

Well, this year I did get invited. Letter just came, as I sat here scanning my mail for something that's supposed to be in the box from Sunday but is not, as far as I can see. Of course, I'll have to pass a test in person even to get to an audition. And I've already failed the in-person test once, several years ago, after passing the 10Q test somewhere. Providence RI, I believe. It's all a blur.


I don't have a lot of hope at passing the test again, let alone the aud at all. Considering how BAM auds have treated me after that one fluky pass. But I will go unless a truck or something hits me.

Congratulations.

You will get an in-person audition, no matter what happens on the in-person test. Conventional wisdom is that they use the in-person test merely to weed out potential cheaters who used a shill to take the on-line test for them. So prepare yourself based on the expectation of getting the chance to show the Jeopardy! APs your stuff. And then, a while later, appearing on the Bored as ReigningJeopardyChamp. --Bob

Thanks, Bob78164.

Since I pointedly did not get an audition at the Providence real test follow-up to the 10Q test, & they could verify that I had taken both tests in person, I just assumed that failers at real tests were shown the door.


Funny thing is, while I wasn't sure, I thought I was at least on the cusp of having passed that RI real test too, but was not called in with the audition group, so assumed I was a non-passer. A lot of other non-passers conjectured that they had raised the bar higher than 35 that day. In my case, they might have just ruled out anyone not actually from Rhode Island. Who knows? Let bygones be bygones.


Now I'm going to have to look up stuff about how to dress etc. Suit or neat but more normal clothes? I may do "casual business attire". I think I know from the J! people I've seen telling their stories during the 1st round on TV that they want stories, but not BAM-style loony-tunes stuff.


Boy, if I make the show, my aim would be to actually get to Final J!. I would take Arthur Chu's radio-interview advice about "press the button the minute Alex T. stops talking, & keep pressing it; even if the 10-sec delay times you out, you may get back in". Of course, he knew the answers when he did that. I probably won't. But I would try.

My sincerest good luck to you, ghost. I would actually haul my ass out of bed to watch if you got on....

lb13

ghostjmf wrote:Now I'm going to have to look up stuff about how to dress etc. Suit or neat but more normal clothes? I may do "casual business attire". I think I know from the J! people I've seen telling their stories during the 1st round on TV that they want stories, but not BAM-style loony-tunes stuff.

Dress as though you'll be taping your on-the-air shows that day. I went to my audition in a suit and tie. --Bob

Whoo hoo! Break a leg!

littlebeast13 wrote:My sincerest good luck to you, ghost. I would actually haul my ass out of bed to watch if you got on....

lb13

FOUND IT!!

and a wonderful it it is

Like Bob said, with the current format, everyone invited to the audition gets to the interview phase. That includes playing a few questions in a mock game in front of all the other auditioners, so be prepared for that. It's more like the original round of WWTBAM auditions from way back in 2001, rather than the current private chats with an AP.

Good luck!

Yay, Ghost!!

Knock 'em dead!!!

Awesome!

Taking the written test at the audition is much less stressful than doing it online. You'll do fine.

Comfy business casual is good.

Start watching Jeopardy! using a ballpoint pen clicker as your "signaling device." While you're practicing, you'll learn to pace yourself to the rhythm Arthur described. He's right; it's very important.

Good luck!!!!

good luck!

Great news! Good luck.

Good luck!!

Congratulations, ghost! "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

MarleysGh0st wrote:Like Bob said, with the current format, everyone invited to the audition gets to the interview phase. That includes playing a few questions in a mock game in front of all the other auditioners, so be prepared for that. It's more like the original round of WWTBAM auditions from way back in 2001, rather than the current private chats with an AP.

If I may nitpick, you mean the second round of auditions. The first round in 2000 certainly had no mock game...

lb13

littlebeast13 wrote:If I may nitpick, you mean the second round of auditions. The first round in 2000 certainly had no mock game...

You're right. I didn't go to the very first ones in January (?) of that year, but I was at the one in Philly in March. And, uhhh, at a number of auditions following that.

But for ghostjmf's benefit, it's important to note that the J! producers take the mock game more seriously the the WWTBAM APs did, who seemed rather bored with it all by 7 pm. The J! producers really want to see if you can follow the instructions about the mechanics of the game, knowing when you can buzz in, knowing to smoothly move on to asking for the next topic after answering a question, etc. To them, it's actually important.

MarleysGh0st wrote:The J! producers really want to see if you can follow the instructions about the mechanics of the game, knowing when you can buzz in, knowing to smoothly move on to asking for the next topic after answering a question, etc. To them, it's actually important.

Indeed.

There's a huge difference in the J! and BAM cultures. The BAM peeps act like they're guarding a castle filled with treasure and defy you to get past them to get to it. The J! peeps act like they're having a party at the castle and want to invite in as many guests as they can—and they'll do their best to help you succeed.

Thanks for all the congrats & well wishes. Now I guess I have to go to this, huh?! They haven't sent the confirming letter yet; their e-mail said "letter", but these days you don't know if they really mean physical letter or another e-mail. Can someone who's been through this tell me?


The letter will hold the secret location of the test. They really don't want crashers, it seems.


If I may gently, politely dispute the comment that the in-person test is less stressful than the online test; remember, I've taken one in-person, in Providence or thereabouts, & didn't get an interview/aud.


They may have a different formula for how they pick people from the follow-ups to 10Q tests, or I may simply not have passed it.


But I remember their instructions were "you can't go back to an earlier Q"; being me, I thought "oh yeah?" & if I wanted to change an answer to a Q I hadn't been sure of, I went back & changed the answer (as I recall it you have to remember the Q, as they were projected on a screen, & disaapeared after, just like the on-line test). I did not mark up the margins, as they'd told us not to, but we did take the test with pencil, not pen; if they were watching closely enough to see me going back to erase & redo an earlier Q, they may have disqualified me just for that. So I won't do that this time.


I'm trying not to get antsy about the "what to wear" stuff. I don't really want to wear my most formal suit. It actual works too well at "so she thinks she's an executive?". My next "most formal" suit is a herringbone grey, & herringbone pattern may cause shimmering on a TV image. The other "suit approxmations" are less formal, charcoal flannelish grey skirt with jacket of a different color (because my only grey jacket is for the "executive?" suit). Also, I hope they allow T-shirt tops under the jacket. I do have button-front blouses, but that will just aid to my anxiety about "being on an interview". And also my anxiety about having to run home & wash the flop sweat out of the blouse. Women usually are allowed more lattitude in business casual dress. I seem to recall seeing women on the show in suits, dresses, sweaters-as-blouse, a mix-up.


And yes, I will tie back my hair. Its my current sop, in job-land, to the potential "we don't like your hair" group. Who are apparently legion.

ghostjmf wrote:If I may gently, politely dispute the comment that the in-person test is less stressful than the online test; remember, I've taken one in-person, in Providence or thereabouts, & didn't get an interview/aud.


They may have a different formula for how they pick people from the follow-ups to 10Q tests, or I may simply not have passed it.

They have a different formula. They use the ten-question test as a basic screening tool -- when that's what they use, the 50-question follow-up is an actual qualifying test and you have to reach the qualifying mark (believed to be 35/50). But when you reach the audition by going through their 50-question on-line test, the only reason (we believe) they give the in-person test is as a deterrent to would-be cheaters.

If you haven't already, by the way, I suggest that you register at the current version of the old J! Bored. --Bob

ghostjmf wrote:If I may gently, politely dispute the comment that the in-person test is less stressful than the online test; remember, I've taken one in-person, in Providence or thereabouts, & didn't get an interview/aud.

What you're headed for next is a whole different ball game. The amount of time you'll have to answer will seem luxurious.

You'll have time to lightly pencil in a key word from the question if you don't know it. Just remember to erase it when you go back to fill in the answer or determine that you won't be answering.


For the audition, wear something that you feel comfortable and confident in. When you get on the show, you'll receive explicit instrux about clothing. And they aren't even strict about their own instrux once you get there. For rehearsal I wore a jacket for warmth that I wasn't going to wear on the show b/c I thought it might be too busy. The cameraman asked if I was going to wear it for my game. I said I thought it would be considered too busy. He said, don't worry about it, we adjust to you. I love the Jeopardy! peeps.

Congratulations!

Excellent news! Best of luck!

No pressure. No worries. Have fun, and let the chips fall where they may.

And did I mention, "have fun"?

I think I answered my own Q about clothes; I'll wear a sweater under the jacket, thus looking more "business-like" than a t-shirt, even a higher-fashion one, but more comfortable for me than a spring-time button-front shirt. Of course, then my problem will be color choice, as I have a limited # of t-shirt-like sweaters, all in colors I like but are maybe not formal enough for them. Decisions, decisions. Also, for one sweater I'd have to get open a drawer which is broken & which will probably never close again (without the help of a real carpenter) if I do manage to get it open.

That "penciling in the answer lightly", then going back if I needed to change it is exactly what I did on the Providence real (50 Q) test. Maybe I just flat-out flunked it. There were one or more historical Qs which I thought were thrown in for local color, so I answered them accordingly (all guesses, obviously) but maybe they weren't.


And I do know that even if you pass the aud they don't tell you, they just tell all the auditioners "you're in the pool". So anything to come of all this is a long way off, if ever.


I will try to have fun.


One of the smartest, & certainly the smartest in a J! way people I know died within the past year. They had tried out for J! a long time ago & believe they weren't picked because of their large size. They never tried out again.


If I do ever get on, I’ll be wishing they could see me even if I screw up. They were one of my BAM PAFs back when I was on, to no avail. (For those who don’t remember, I was on during Fastest Finger days, which exercise I passed but not fast enough. Speedy answers, a la J!, [or BAM FF!] are not my thing. Don’t tell J! that.)

Good luck and make your fellow Massholes proud!