Jeff Tobias does not like trivia.

“I never really cared about trivia at all, and I still don’t really, except for ours,” says Tobias.

That’s why Trivia Night at Ciné looks different than any you may have ever played before.

“We like to keep it loose and irrelevant,” Tobias said, when asked about the content of the questions.

Given the venue, all questions are about movies – but they may be completely obscure or completely obvious.

Tobias determines how many points each question is worth on the spot to keep things interesting. It may sound like ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ in that manner, but the points actually do matter.

Players can even lose points depending on Tobias’ mood that night. “I detract points when people try to give me too much information on a subject,” says Tobias.

In short, he doesn’t give an edge to nerds. Instead, Tobias will offer physical challenges to achieve bonus points. Last week it was an arm-wrestling contest, where every contestant won except for local musician Sam Grindstaff. That may sound like a piece of cake, but leave it to Tobias to set up a grueling task for next week.

The game consists of four half-hour rounds with four to five questions per round, again according to Tobias’ whim. There is no last question where teams are required to wager. “I don’t like to do that because I’m trying to put as little effort into it as possible,” says Tobias.

His ‘token’ last question is always a challenging one. He will ask teams to name all of the cast members in a less-than-blockbuster film.

This is not a trivia game for those who take themselves too seriously. If anyone has a dispute with one of the answers, Tobias welcomes contestants over to his house to watch the movie, but no discussion is allowed during the game. This creates an atmosphere of fun “with a healthy disregard for competitive seriousness,” Tobias said.

Tobias started Tuesday Trivia Night at Ciné to spread the word about the downtown movie theatre and it has become a hit. The staff has had to turn people away on several occasions because they reached capacity.

Ciné will hold their Trivia Night Tuesday, August 18 and 25. If there is a popular demand, Tobias may be convinced to continue.

Ciné is located on West Hancock Ave. between Pulaski and Hull Street.