This member of the 乐播传媒 history faculty combined luck and brains to appear on the iconic quiz show Jeopardy!
Who is: Ian Shin?
The 乐播传媒 lecturer in history can鈥檛 yet tell us much about his appearance, which airs December 12, because of 闯别辞辫补谤诲测!鈥檚 nondisclosure rules. But he can tell us that Jeopardy!, the three-contestant buzzer game where questions become answers, hosted by Alex Trebek, has been part of his life for years.
Lecturer in History Ian Shin talks about his upcoming courses during Convocation, the week after he went on Jeopardy! (Jay Burns/乐播传媒 College)
He watched buzzers, bets, and daily doubles with his grandmother after his family moved to California from Hong Kong. He learned some American cultural factoids that way. 鈥淎nd then obviously,鈥� he adds, 鈥渇or a certain set of really nerdy people, Jeopardy! is like nerd Olympics. There is a certain kind of prestige to being smart enough to be on Jeopardy!鈥�
So when a few acquaintances competed on the show, Shin decided to go for it. Acing an online test last year got him an audition in New York, which involved another written test and a practice game.
A couple months later, he got a call from Burbank, Calif. A producer told him to show up for a taping 鈥� luckily, during the one week he wasn鈥檛 teaching or researching. Since several episodes are taped each day, Shin was told to bring extra sets of clothes, in case he won.
At the end of August, Shin flew out West. He hadn鈥檛 had time to study intensively, so he spent two days 鈥渏ust sort of cramming鈥� 鈥� reading Wikipedia articles, relearning the periodic table, and studying up on sports history (the Pittsburgh Steelers, he can now tell you, have won the most Super Bowls). He also went through a database of every single Jeopardy! question ever written and every single incorrect answer.
The morning after Shin arrived, a van took him and the other contestants to the studio.
He says the atmosphere was friendly, but 鈥渢he previous day鈥檚 champion was riding with us, so we were all like, 鈥極h, he is the real deal.鈥欌��
Ian Shin poses with Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. Trebek, he said, “was very nice and was very charming with the audience.” (Photo courtesy of Ian Shin)
After a legal briefing and a rehearsal round, it was time to go. Turns out there鈥檚 a lot more that goes into the 鈥渘erd Olympics鈥� than knowing a lot of stuff.
Multitasking, he says, is key: If you buzz in before Trebek finishes reading the question, you鈥檙e subject to a short delay, an eternity in the world of fast-paced, quiz-bowl-style games. Jeopardy! players have to juggle hearing the question, figuring out the answer, and hitting the buzzer at just the right moment.
There鈥檚 also a surprising amount of endurance involved. 鈥淵ou are standing up there for a half an hour, the lights are bearing down on you, you have to have a trigger finger,鈥� Shin says. 鈥淭here is a physical aspect of it that I didn鈥檛 expect.鈥�
So Shin devised a system. 鈥淲hen Alex starts reading the clue, I am going to read the end of the clue to see what the last word is. So I keep that in my mind, and when I hear him say the last word, I will know when to buzz.鈥�
Until his episode airs, we won鈥檛 know how that worked for him. But he says he made sure to name-drop 乐播传媒 during the round. And whether Shin was a one-and-done contestant or became a returning winner, he is grateful for his firsthand look at an invaluable part of American pop culture that鈥檚 been on TV nearly continuously since 1964.
鈥淚n an era of fake news and alternative facts,聽Jeopardy!聽celebrates being informed and celebrates knowledge,” he says.聽 鈥淚t says, 鈥榊ou know something; come on the show,鈥� and rewards that. That’s something that I really appreciate.鈥澛�
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