Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Earth.
Hi Curtis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 1990 I got married and moved from Long Island, NY, where I had been living and playing in a band. I moved to Pennsylvania (Lancaster) and started a DJ company. One of my regular weekly DJ gigs took place at a Holiday Inn lounge, where in 1993, I began the only trivia night in Lancaster county, probably all of PA. It became wildly popular and I amassed a loyal and large following. After nearly a decade of weeknight performances/games, I moved to Orlando (2002) and started my empire. When I got here there were no trivia game nights and it was very hard to sell bar owners on the concept of people crowding thier establishment to play a quiz game. I perservered and eventually started working 5 nights a week. When I was asked by Real Radio 104.1 FM to do a weekly trivia segment on the Shannon Burke Show (and later on SBK LIVE), I agreed. That decision opened up a floodgate of offers and soon I was hosting quiz nights everywhere from St. Cloud to Lake Mary. I eventually had to hire on and meticulously train associate Earth Trivia quiz hosts. Some of them stayed with me (till this day) and some started their own quiz companies.
I’ve hosted game nights at The Orlando Museum of Art, Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, multiple country clubs and colleges, high schools etc. Celebrities who have played my game have been comedians Carrot Top (2003), Mitch Hedberg and Lisa Lampanelli. Singer Denice Williams and drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chad Smith (at the Ace Cafe) and Buddy Dyer at the Grafitti Junktion in Thornton Park.
I have been hosting quiz night special events at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal for the past 2 years and have an upcoming Horror Night Quiz on Tuesday Oct. 22nd
I am totally dedicated to quiz-mastery and love it as much now as I did 31 years ago. I never want to do anything else.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Trying to build a brand in Orlando was challenging in the early years because bar owners mostly used print advertising and website promotion. I would work so hard to get my name out there, doing radio shows and appearing on local news shows like the Daily Buzz etc, and the bar owners would simply promote; Quiz night on Tuesday. .. no “Curtis Earth, as heard on Real Radio” or “Curtis Earth, voted Best Trivia Host in Orlando” this Thursday… etc.
The other problem was hack quiz hosts that would find out where I was performing and send a letter or email to the owner of that bar and say, now that Curtis has built you an audience, hire US and we will do the job of hosting for half of what you’re paying him. One guy, who was a local DJ, and who I’ve helped find DJ work for at some of the bars where I hosted trivia, had the balls to copy my concept and pilfer my show from under me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I believe that I write the best quiz questions on the planet. I recently hosted trivia for an event that Tom and Dan were holding, and I had people telling me that they never played my game before today, but they loved the questions and will seek me out for another trivia night. You have to have a strong understanding of people. I have a formula that works with all ages. I always ask what the demographic is before I do a private party or fundraiser. It helps me to tune in the appropriate question writing process. It takes me up to two hours to write one complete game of trivia.
What’s next?
While I would like to continue hosting at local restaurants and colleges, I really think the next step for me is corporate events. I’ve hosted a handful of them each year since 2009 and they are both lucrative and fun. I hosted this year at MEGACON and had a great time. People thought I was the character Kingpin because of my bald head and white suit jacket and I just went with it, lol. So, yes, more corporate and MEGACON like events and maybe just 2 restaurant/pub shows per week to keep me sharp and close to my people and of course, local fundraising events.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.earthtrivia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curtisearthtrivia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CurtisEarth/
