Jeopardy online test -- January 2009

[slam]

This would probably be a better question for the J! Bored, but someone here may know. The question is does J! not offer any go to LA tryouts anymore? Or is everything mostly based on the online test now?

As far as I know (and I'm more focused on this process than most), everything is based on the online test now, even the LA auditions. My impression is that they have LA auditions more than once a year, but invitations are still based on online testing.

The only "go to" auditions remaining are Brain Bus auditions and those are now held less frequently than they used to be.

My feeling is that one should only wait around for a Brain Bus audition if one is prepared to travel a LONG distance. Let's say if Kazoo was willing to travel (yeah, yeah, I know) as far away as Colorado or Mississippi to the first Brain Bus audition she saw, then going the BB route would make sense. Otherwise, I believe that taking the online test is the choice that maximizes the chance of an appearance on the show.

[slam]

Take and pass the test, THEN worry about getting chosen for wherever the audition is, THEN worry about how to get there.

Passing the test (step 1) is the hard part.

Well, that depends on who you are. Passing the test does have the advantage of being the stage of the process over which you have the most control. If you are someone who is borderline to pass the test, there are things you can do to measurably improve your passing chances (watch the show everyday, study specific topics and lists, pay closer attention to your daily reading of the newspaper, etc...)

Getting into an audition after having passed the test seems more or less random.

Getting onto the show after an audition probably has something to do with your personality and your behavior that day but also probably has a large random component too. And your gender is VERY significant in terms of getting on the show. Women who get to the audition have a much better chance of getting on the show than men who get to an audition. I won't try to ascribe reasons for that (i.e. I'm not Lawrence Summers), but it is clearly empirically true. Other aspects of your demographics are also very significant. If you're a middle-aged male lawyer from NYC you have less of a chance of getting on than an African-American female truck driver from Nebraska. After all, J! is, though to a lesser extent than WWTBAM, casting a television show.

[MarleysGh0st]

So do I skip the test and hope the bus comes here, or do I take the test and hope I get an audition slot? I didn't get one last year.

Take the online test and go to Chicago when you get the invitation.

And resolve to travel to wherever SyndieBAM goes for a road trip audition, this year.

DO NOT wait for either of them to come to you!

[AlphaDummy]

Do you think 43-man squamish has a lingerie league?

This has just put the Mother of All Disturbing Mental Images in my mind...thanks a lot.

(love your avatar!)

Thanks! That is actually a long-lost picture of me facing off with Sprots at a charity game some years back. (I will leave it to you to figure out who is who...)

[gsabc]

Do you think 43-man squamish has a lingerie league?

This has just put the Mother of All Disturbing Mental Images in my mind...thanks a lot.

(love your avatar!)

Thanks! That is actually a long-lost picture of me facing off with Sprots at a charity game some years back. (I will leave it to you to figure out who is who...)

The coin just dropped about your avatar and thousandaire's initial statement, AD. I agree with her comment.

But I'm old. Not only did I remember the reference, I think I may still OWN the issue it came from, which I would have bought myself from the newsstand!