My Brush with Jeopardy

I grew up watching Jeopardy! every night with my parents. I loved it. It was a bump up from Trivial Pursuit – I could answer a lot in the latter, but few in the former.

When I was about 27 years old and living without a TV, my mom called me. “Edee, they’re going to have something called a ‘Clue Crew’ on Jeopardy. You should apply!”

Always a fan of spontaneity, I looked into it. They were looking for a handful of people to travel around the world and announce clues on the show.

Oh yeah. My kind of thing.

Up to that point, I had been a movie extra in a few fleeting microseconds in a couple bombs; I had auditioned for a hair commercial beside a tall, radiant, Northern European blond; and I had sent in a few tapes for different nature-show-host auditions and was never called back. I have no TV journalism training, and microphones make me turn red and get teary-eyed. Yet somehow, I’ve found I’m drawn to do the things that scare me.

I set about the fun task of having a friend video me for a 3-minute tape. No specifications were made that I remember, so I dreamed up three separate clues to give. For the first one, I climbed into a fenced-off transformer block with a torn shirt and hair I had spiked to look electrified and spoke my clue. For the second, I dressed in a Patagonia fleece and shorts and climbed a mountain to capture a beautiful scene of the Santa Barbara coast and some hang gliders taking off right above me while I squatted behind a bush and very dignifiedly spoke my clue about something that had to do with backpacking and having to tinkle in the woods. I have no idea how it all tied together now, but it did. My third clue took place in a big library; my hair was tied up tidily, I had done my make-up very formally, and I was dressed quite properly in a knee-length skirt and heels. Or at least that’s how I remember it. I spoke my clue, which had to do with the Champs-Elysees in France, and I remember that a librarian had me practice my nonexistent French accent over and over before she would allow me to continue.

Not long after sending in my tape, I heard back from the show. I made it to the try-outs at the Jeopardy! studio in the Los Angeles area. My boyfriend’s mom was really excited and supportive, and she offered to drive there with me.

I think there were about 80 or 100 of us gathered in the lot outside of the studio. We filed in when the door opened and took our places in seats. We were each other’s audience as we each had a turn to stand and speak for 1 minute. From what I recall, there were no parameters set around what our speech should be. It was completely open, and we had been encouraged to pre-plan something.

I don’t remember now what I spoke about. What I do remember is that I was so nervous about giving my spiel that, even though I practiced it about a hundred times in my head, I only practiced it about 4 times aloud in the days leading up to the audition.

When it was my turn to go up in front of the bright lights and face the crowd of oral competitors, I breathed in, focused on keeping a nice gate, good posture, and a confident voice, and spoke what I had to say assuredly and with aplomb. Until the last word came. At that last word, I didn’t put a period in my speech. I put three…and I rambled for the last four or five seconds. That was it. I knew I had blown it.

Today, I still don’t have cable TV, but Jeopardy! is the one show I watch, every Friday night with my mom. I notice I’ve actually gotten better at answering the clues while homeschooling this year, too. And while I’d probably be better at being a Clue Crew announcer than an actual contestant, I’ve realized that one of my bucket list items is trying out for the show. No, I don’t think I can really compete with those people. But lately I’m in a bucket-list kind of mode and tomorrow’s my day to check it off my list.

The online try-outs are the next three days. You should try it too. Hey, you only live once.