The announcement? Arthur Chu has offered to do a Q & A with us. =-O What are your burning questions for him? Get them to me somehow.
Josh played Arthur on Monday, February 24th. Thanks, Josh!
Q: Did you stay at the studio for the rest of the day after your episode?
A: Yes. Our contestant group bonded easily with each other, starting with the shuttle ride over, and continuing throughout our stay at the hotel. We’re still friendly with each other (and each other’s guests) on Facebook. So most of us stuck around after our shows were done taping to support our new friends and watch them. Also to see if there was anyone in our group who had it in them to best Arthur Chu.
Q: If you taped on a Tuesday, did you go back the next day?
A: I did not return to the studio the next day. We’d already been to a game show taping, and we only had so much time left in beautiful Southern California before we had to go back to our lives and jobs in cold New York State. So my sister, my wife and I spent the afternoon and evening driving up and down the PCH, exploring the Hollywood Hills, and hitting Hollywood Blvd and the LaBrea Tar Pits before catching our flights at LAX.
Q: What is Arthur Chu really like? 😉 (Are more people asking you that than “What is Alex Trebek like?”)
A: To be honest, I didn’t interact with him an awful lot. Instead of the Doubletree, he was staying with family in the area, so we only saw him at the studio, not before and not after. He arrived later than those of us who took the shuttle bus over. I made it a point to greet him, shake his hand, and say “Glad you could make it.” Shortly after that it was revealed that he was the returning four-day champ. Off-camera he seemed nice and genial enough. (At the ten-second pause for the closed-caption ad during the mock show, I imitated an ad I’d seen, saying “…that’s why they deserve a brake dance.” Arthur heard me and responded with “Meineke!”) Several other contestants in our group who also talked with him report the same thing. After the day’s taping, he even allowed himself to be photographed with my sister.
Q: Is there anything else you want to say?
A: I was thrilled to have gotten on JEOPARDY on my first try. I took the online test in January, got invited to audition in May, got the call from Robert in October, and my taping was on a Tuesday in November. Both my wife and my younger sister (who’d put me up in her Brooklyn apartment for the NYC audition) were in the audience that day.
In the green room before the day’s taping, my name was literally the first one drawn. (Sofi’s of course was next) Game-wise, I feel that put us at something of a disadvantage. Bear in mind there was no media blitz at the time, no blathering on about “villainy” and “game theory”. In fact, none of us had even heard of Arthur Chu before this point, let alone seen him in action. And the rapid-fire rotation practice round revealed nothing telling about anyone’s playing style. So Sofi and I were basically going in blind, uncertain of what to expect from the four-day champion who already had amassed winnings in the six figures. Not my preferred position. I don’t know if watching a game or two first would have helped me to better formulate a “counter strategy” or just scared the hell out of me. I’ll always wonder about that.
Most contestants and audience members, if they are loyal viewers of JEOPARDY, experience three geek moments upon seeing the stars of the show. The first is when you walk on the set (the set being the first star) and realize “THIS is where the magic happens!”. The next when we first see Johnny Gilbert addressing the audience. And the last of course is when Johnny announces “the host of JEOPARDY, Alex Trebek!” and he emerges from backstage. I got to experience that last geek moment not from the audience, but from behind Podium #3. If you’re ever up first, try not to let that affect your game.
I don’t like the term “losing”, I regard it as rather ugly. But I took getting bested kind of hard. Possibly harder than any of my fellow contestants. I was very disgusted with myself, because I certainly hadn’t crossed the country and played as I did to finish in third. (Had I only left myself ONE dollar, it would have made all the difference. But I was in the weakest wagering position. That, and my confidence in my knowledge of “19th Century People”, a VERY broad category, influenced my decision to go all in.) I let it bother me so much, I developed a headache. I took Advil for it. Is that considered “biting the hand”? (Considering who provides the consolation prizes)
During the break, Sofi was at a nearby Subway, telling someone she really wanted to see Arthur taken down. A woman in the restaurant turned and said “I know how you feel. I’m his wife.” I love that story!
I’ve seen the numerous articles about Arthur Chu’s use of strategy and game theory to win. I personally believe that aspect of his game is vastly overrated and blown out of proportion by the media, more hype than anything. I’ve come out on Facebook and Twitter as saying so. A reporter from Yahoo! Finance noticed and contacted me about it. The following is an excerpt from her article.
“Josh McIlvain, the Syracuse, N.Y. home health aide who [was bested by] Chu in his fifth game this week, says the contestant’s strategies are nothing special. “People who get on the show don’t get there because they know strategy. It’s because they know a lot of facts,” McIlvain said. “I don’t buy so much into the strategy aspect of it. I don’t think [Chu] cracked some kind of code. He’s really smart and really good at buzzing in and I respect that.” “
Articles claim that according to Chu, the game is more about intimidation and unbalancing one’s opponents, rather than knowledge. Well, I played against the man, and I can definitely say I felt neither intimidated nor unbalanced. If anything, I felt beaten to the buzzer (and to the Daily Doubles, which appeared to be the key to the game that day). I also note with amusement that strangers on the Internet described me as “nervous”, while friends who watched me said I didn’t look nervous at all. People who know me may notice that “nervous” is my natural state. Strangers don’t always understand this.
I did something not many contestants do: I went on Twitter during and after my episode aired. Tweeters can be an unmerciful bunch, but I also found support there too. I thanked my supporters, and jabbed playfully at my detractors (some of whom sweetened up once they realized I was reading their Tweets). I had fun doing it. One Tweeter remarked that thought I had “lost on Jeopardy”, I’d “won at Twitter”. 🙂