I am on a lifelong quest to be a JEOPARDY! Champion one day. This is a brief documentation of my efforts toward that goal.
- In 2002, I was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Play it! at Disney’s California Adventure. I earned the “hot seat” spot by correctly answering “Fastest Finger” questions the quickest out of everyone in the audience.
- Hot Seat contestants had 15 seconds to answer the first five questions, 30 seconds to answer the next five, 45 seconds to answer the next four, and 55 seconds for the million-point question.
- I made it to the 64,000-point question, which I answered incorrectly after not trusting the guess from a “Phone a Complete Stranger” lifeline. (Seven successive popes lived in Avignon, not Nice) So, I walked away with the 32,000-point level of prizes: unique items worth approximately a couple hundred dollars:
- A “Play It!” lanyard
- 100-32,000 point lapel pins
- 1,000 point baseball cap
- 32,000 point embroidered shirt
- A “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” CD-ROM game
- I’ve been taking the official JEOPARDY! online test since 2016.
- In October 2020, I made it into the JEOPARDY! Contestant Pool but was not invited to compete on the show.
- In April 2024, I completed the 2nd of 3 audition steps. I am currently waiting to hear if I advance to the 3rd and final round, which would mean I’m in the contestant pool again.
- For reference: approximately 100,000+ people take the online test each year and only about 2,000 make it into the Contestant Pool each season. Of those approximately 2,000, they only choose 300-400 people.
- In June 2023, I competed on Game Show Network’s “Master Minds.” Season 4, Episode 56: “Trivia, Smarts and Nope.” Air date: November 6, 2023.
- Result: I was the winning contestant, winning $1,000! Master Mind Jonathan Corbblah beat me in the final round of 4 questions: 2 correct answers to 1.
- Full episode recap from FikkleFame.com
- Watch the episode on YouTube TV
- Watch the episode on Hulu
- In August 2023, I attended the second annual “Game Show Boot Camp” in Las Vegas. This is a combination of seminars and a trivia competition, with the large majority of attendees hoping to compete on JEOPARDY!
- Result: I placed in the top 16 out of 45 participants, some of whom have already competed on JEOPARDY! or compete in trivia professionally.
- In October 2024, I joined King Trivia as a Quizmaster. I host two-hour-long trivia games at local bars/restaurants. Pay me to learn some new trivia, act like I’m the smartest person in the room, and I get some free food & drinks?! Sold.
Jon Barilone 