Timing of Audition Invite Emails

[dhkendall]

The way I've always seen it is that the written test is to prove you've got the brain chops, and the audition is to prove you've got the television chops, both are needed for a televised quiz show. Looking at a lot of the people who have been on lately, the CCs are, imho, doing a bang up job in finding people who are both. I just recommend getting more on from Canada. Specifically Winnipeg.

[StevenH]

Can't imagine that is right, since I've gotten 4 in-person invites off the on-line test in the past 12 years (including Portland this week), and have never gotten the call. If they wanted to weed me out based on the on-line test, they would have done it 10 years ago (or perhaps 30, as I auditioned in person in LA in '85 and didn't get the call then either).

Has the online test been going on for 12 years? I know that you could register online to put your name into the lottery to try to be picked for an audition before the online test was introduced, but I thought that the online test itself has only been around for 8 or 9 years now. I know what when I auditioned for the college tournament in 2005 I didn't take an online test before the audition.

[MiloTheMayor]

I attended the Los Angeles audition on June 16th after receiving an eInvite from the show on May 20th. Totally made my day, I'd almost resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get called.

[The Surreal...]

Has the online test been going on for 12 years? I know that you could register online to put your name into the lottery to try to be picked for an audition before the online test was introduced, but I thought that the online test itself has only been around for 8 or 9 years now. I know what when I auditioned for the college tournament in 2005 I didn't take an online test before the audition.

I may be a bit off on the dates. I moved to PDX in 1999, and did my second audition there, followed by two in Seattle (in 2009 and 2012, I think), followed by Portland this week. I can't remember if on the first one I took an on-line test or got an invite some other way (e-mail and random invite, perhaps).

[John Boy]

Can't imagine that is right, since I've gotten 4 in-person invites off the on-line test in the past 12 years (including Portland this week), and have never gotten the call. If they wanted to weed me out based on the on-line test, they would have done it 10 years ago (or perhaps 30, as I auditioned in person in LA in '85 and didn't get the call then either).

Has the online test been going on for 12 years? I know that you could register online to put your name into the lottery to try to be picked for an audition before the online test was introduced, but I thought that the online test itself has only been around for 8 or 9 years now. I know what when I auditioned for the college tournament in 2005 I didn't take an online test before the audition.

Your suspicion is correct. The first online contestant quiz was conducted in 2006. The one held in January 2014 was the 9th.

I wonder how this guy has gotten four invitations (although this makes me suspect the selection from among all passers is random). I got an invitation in 2006, but since then have not gotten another despite passing four more times. Oh well....

[Tigershark]

For me the timing was this:

Online test: January of 2013 (this was my third or fourth attempt)
Audition Email: April 10, 2013
Audition: May 9, 2013 (Los Angeles)
The Call: February 7, 2014
Tape Date: March 11, 2014
Air Dates: June 24-27, 2014

When I first got the audition invite, I seriously considered asking to reschedule. I was still in law school and it was smack dab in the middle of finals week. It's a two hour drive to the audition if I didn't hit any hellish LA traffic, which was typical at that time of day. I had one final scheduled on the 10th and one on the 11th. I debated for about a day, and just recognized the fact that I had enough time to prepare beforehand, and I was just going to have to be super, super disciplined. If the audition was for the 10th, I would have had to reschedule- there's is no way I could have gotten out of a final for the audition. Unfunny story, I ended getting a flat tire on the way home from the audition.

In the end it all worked out, though.

[The Surreal...]

I wonder how this guy has gotten four invitations (although this makes me suspect the selection from among all passers is random). I got an invitation in 2006, but since then have not gotten another despite passing four more times. Oh well....

I don't think it is shear luck, and I also don't think that they'd bias the invite because I've "passed" the on-line several times before (since in the latter case, they'd essentially be re-inviting someone they previously decided not to put on the show -- why do that?).

Two things are probably at work here: 1) I do my auditions in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle & Portland), which are in a somewhat sparsely populated area compared to the East Coast locations and the contestant pool comes from several places where you need to fly in or drive a long way just to make the audition -- hence the pool which I'm competing against is potentially not as intensely competitive as, say, New York, DC or Chicago; 2) (this is just a guess I've always had) There is "passing" the on-line test (whatever the number allegedly is -- 40?) and there is "passing with flying colors" (say, 45 and up), and I suspect the latter category is less randomly selected from than the former. On the second point, I have no data to back me up, just a suspicion based on the significant number of people I see at auditions who have said they've auditioned 2, 3, 4 or more times before. That does not shout out "once you get a certain number right, we just pick everyone out of a hat" to me.

I would be curious to hear from other people on their frequency of getting to the audition and whether the numbers are lower for people living in more densely-populated audition areas and/or higher for those who have scored really high on the on-line test.

FWIW, I think I scored a relatively low 39 or 40 on the on-line test this year, although the West Coast one this year was I think considered to unusually hard this year, at least based on the commentary on this board.

[immaf]

You know, I honestly don't think TPTB lie about the selection process. We have been told that, for any given city where auditions are held, a random selection of people who "passed" the online test and chose that city for their audition are offered in-person auditions. Is there any reason (other than soothing our egos) to imagine that there are elaborate schemes or weighting based on our exact score on the online test, or how well we did the last time we had an in-person interview?

I have been extraordinarily lucky. I was randomly selected twice in the postcard era, and both times I passed the 50-question test. (On one of those occasions we were definitely told that "passing" was 35 or better out of 50, although we were not told our exact scores.) In the online era, I have scored 35 or better (I think the best I've ever done is 40) three times -- and every time I have been offered an in-person audition. Like I said -- lucky.

However, I have yet to be called to be a contestant. Maybe I'm not telegenic enough. Maybe it's my (lack of) personality. Maybe it's the fact that I am TERRIBLE at improv and thus don't do well in the interview. I don't know. We've been told that out of approximately 2500 people who get in-person auditions, only about 400 get THE CALL each year. So even if you get an in-person audition, the numbers are not in your favor. All you can do is try to impress, and hope for the best.

But clearly, there isn't any "black balling" going on. Because otherwise, why would I have gotten so many in-person auditions?

And to the point about which audition city you choose? I doubt it makes a huge difference. If there is a bigger pool of people who passed and chose (say) New York, they can just spend more days in New York doing in-person auditions. I'll bet they try to keep the percentage of people who get in-person auditions roughly the same for each city. For the record, of my three in-person auditions in the online era, one was in Boston, one I switched from Boston to New York, and one was in New York because Boston wasn't an option.

[zakharov]

For what's it's worth, I live in NYC, and I've been invited after 3 of 4 online tests taken. The one when I wasn't invited I knew I hadn't gotten 35, so it wasn't exactly a huge surprise. I don't think there's blackballing going on here.

[Austin Powers]

You know, I honestly don't think TPTB lie about the selection process. We have been told that, for any given city where auditions are held, a random selection of people who "passed" the online test and chose that city for their audition are offered in-person auditions. Is there any reason (other than soothing our egos) to imagine that there are elaborate schemes or weighting based on our exact score on the online test, or how well we did the last time we had an in-person interview?

I have been extraordinarily lucky. I was randomly selected twice in the postcard era, and both times I passed the 50-question test. (On one of those occasions we were definitely told that "passing" was 35 or better out of 50, although we were not told our exact scores.) In the online era, I have scored 35 or better (I think the best I've ever done is 40) three times -- and every time I have been offered an in-person audition. Like I said -- lucky.

However, I have yet to be called to be a contestant. Maybe I'm not telegenic enough. Maybe it's my (lack of) personality. Maybe it's the fact that I am TERRIBLE at improv and thus don't do well in the interview. I don't know. We've been told that out of approximately 2500 people who get in-person auditions, only about 400 get THE CALL each year. So even if you get an in-person audition, the numbers are not in your favor. All you can do is try to impress, and hope for the best.

But clearly, there isn't any "black balling" going on. Because otherwise, why would I have gotten so many in-person auditions?

And to the point about which audition city you choose? I doubt it makes a huge difference. If there is a bigger pool of people who passed and chose (say) New York, they can just spend more days in New York doing in-person auditions. I'll bet they try to keep the percentage of people who get in-person auditions roughly the same for each city. For the record, of my three in-person auditions in the online era, one was in Boston, one I switched from Boston to New York, and one was in New York because Boston wasn't an option.

There is no conspiracy against folks who have tried out before. That's way too much work when otherwise you could be enjoying the LA weather and the show runners are misguided, not viscious. There's just a ton of people who try out now via the Internet. In the past, those who tried out were much more motivated, since they had to drive or even fly just to see if they were good enough. Now, you can do that in the comfort of your home. And when the show emails you after you pulled off that 38 while playing in your underwear? Well golly you must be good enough!

Nor do I think the show weeds out high scorers. I just don't think there are many such people. This board is a self selected group and additionally a person or two probably inflates his scores. There's such an overwhelming horde of average players that the show doesn't need to selectively weed out high scorers.

The result is a general regression to the mean, a bunch of folks trying out who think they're good enough but probably aren't. The result is an overall lower quality of gameplay; we have a twenty-game champion who plausibly could bomb out in the TOC's quarterfinal round.

None of this will change. It's easier for the show to run an online test, it generates more audience interest, and it allows them to manage their self-imposed demographic concerns more easily. Expect more stand-and-stares when three supposedly educated contestants are asked about Wounded Knee.

[koozbane]

I was 5 for 5 in the postcard era (five applications, five in-person interviews). I'm roughly 0 for 8 in the online test era (I've lost track). Haven't made it to an in-person since they began that practice. I've scored 40 or above on every test I've taken, with a high of 48 (estimates, of course). I think this primarily shows how the online test has drawn hundreds of thousands more people into the process.

[shk87]

Got my confirmation for Memphis last week for July 22.

[khiddy]

This board is a self selected group and additionally a person or two probably inflates his scores. There's such an overwhelming horde of average players that the show doesn't need to selectively weed out high scorers.

The result is a general regression to the mean, a bunch of folks trying out who think they're good enough but probably aren't.

While I agree that some score inflation certainly happens, I have videotaped my last two online tryouts and verified my scores afterwards. I'm left with being somewhat terrified that my non-invitation is attributable to Alex and TPTB hating on me!

[NoName84]

Was I the only one to pick Savannah, and has anyone heard from them?

[Golf]

Was I the only one to pick Savannah, and has anyone heard from them?

I've been wondering the same thing about Vegas.

[StevenH]

Was I the only one to pick Savannah, and has anyone heard from them?

I don't even remember Savannah being an option (my only audition for the adult show was in Savannah, in 2008). I picked Raleigh, but that dream has already been dashed.

[tjconn728]

I haven't seen any mention of Philadelphia either, has anyone heard about auditions there? Is it normal for auditions to extend so far into the summer? The only time I've had one (also Philly) was in March just after the online test, so I guess I was falsely under the impression that auditions happened earlier in the year.

[econgator]

Was I the only one to pick Savannah, and has anyone heard from them?

I don't even remember Savannah being an option (my only audition for the adult show was in Savannah, in 2008). I picked Raleigh, but that dream has already been dashed.

Savannah was an option, as I was considering choosing it. I have always wanted to visit there and this would give me an excuse to drive there.

[goongas]

I haven't seen any mention of Philadelphia either, has anyone heard about auditions there? Is it normal for auditions to extend so far into the summer? The only time I've had one (also Philly) was in March just after the online test, so I guess I was falsely under the impression that auditions happened earlier in the year.

I haven't heard anything about Philly. My guess is they are busy right now with the Sports J! auditions that are happening in July, then they have to tape some sports episodes in August, so they may happen later than normal.

[dharrisf]

I haven't seen any mention of Philadelphia either, has anyone heard about auditions there? Is it normal for auditions to extend so far into the summer?

I don't know about "normal," but the first time I took the online test, in January 2007, I received an email in November inviting me to audition in Pittsburgh in December. Maybe they just like Pennsylvania at Christmastime.