If you have an unquenchable thirst for useless facts and figures and the desire to put your knowledge to the test, you’re not alone. From Wheel of Fortune to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, trivia is a widespread form of entertainment, pervading our television sets, computer screens, and day-to-day interactions with random trivia. It’s this kind of knowledge that trivia nights around Lawrence thrive on, and there’s no shortage of events like these in the area. So if you’re ready to assemble a team and rack your brain for obscure nuggets of information, here are some places you can go to compete.

Brainville Trivia

Scott McDaniels, host of Brainville trivia, started hosting trivia in 1999 with Tom Conroy, who owns Conroy’s Pub and still hosts trivia there on Wednesday nights. There were no trivia events in the area at the time, and when they first got together, McDaniels said they were simply looking for something fun to do.

“We just thought we’d do it one time and we’d never do it again. We never thought for a second that 12 years later every week we’d still be running a game,” McDaniels says. Brainville is set up in a laid-back pub quiz format, with teams of any size answering eight rounds of seven questions. Each round’s topic varies from current events to the latest Hollywood gossip, and the winning team goes home with $25. But it’s clear that most teams are there to enjoy the camaraderie, paired with some light competition, of course.

“It’s kind of a step up from just going out to just get wasted; you actually stop to be engaged,” says Chelsea Chaffin, Lawrence graduate student. “It’s funny, because I suck at trivia but I still really enjoy talking to my friends who are really good at it and every once in awhile trying to come up with an answer.

8p.m.every first and third Wednesday of the month at Johnny’s Tavern West, 721 Wakarusa Drive

8 p.m. every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at Johnny’s Tavern North, 410 N 2nd St

Smackdown! Trivia

The very name of this trivia event suggests intensity, and indeed, there’s a very competitive vibe among the teams at this live trivia event. Smackdown host Andy Morton, who started the event in 2000, has seen the competition evolve from 4-5 teams to 18-20 teams of all ages stepping in to outsmart their opponents.

Morton, who adds to the aggressive, interactive atmosphere with his share of jokes and jibes, says it’s a win-win for everyone involved, despite the rowdy competition.

“Bars like it because it’s good for business; players like it because not only is it social but it also allows them to vomit up some of the useless facts that they have accumulated over the years,” Morton says.

Players’ $5 cover contributes to the prize that the winners take home at the end of the night, and Morton says it’s all good clean fun in the end.

We always tell new teams to try it a few times before they give up,” Morton says. “There’s no shortage of trivia options in town. Shop around, you’ll find one.”

8 p.m. every Sunday at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.

Live Team Trivia

This trivia event is one of several in the area sponsored by Challenge Entertainment, all of which are free to play and include rounds of 3 questions, each in 3 different categories. Players continue to eat, drink and socialize as the host, Dell Johnston, asks questions and plays upbeat music while teams brainstorm. Johnston, who’s been hosting this event for a little over a year, says trivia is a valuable aspect of Lawrence nightlife.

“It’s a mental challenge. You can bring your friends, so things you might not be that knowledgeable about, your friends might be, and vice versa. It’s good entertainment; it’s engaging entertainment,” Johnston says.

Teams play for free and compete for a chance to win a $50, $20 or $10 gift certificates to Jefferson’s. The bar is often full of veteran teams as well as newcomers like Joe Zlatnik, a Rossville graduate student, who came in to grab a bite to eat with his friends and ended up staying to test their trivia knowledge. Zlatnik says he isn’t a trivia regular but could see himself becoming one.

“If you got a group of people together and asked people to do it who had different areas of knowledge, it’d probably be pretty fun,” Zlatnik says.

8 p.m. every Tuesday at Jefferson's, 743 Mass St.