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Rael Surloff, events emcee, The Answer Is...Productions
Job: Events emcee, The Answer Is...Productions, Atlanta
What I do: Do you know what country Finland declared its independence from in 1917? Or the name of Paul McCartney's backup band in the '70s? Rael (pronounced "rail") Surloff does. He wrote the questions.
Rael, 40, who uses only his first name professionally, is one of many emcees who host Team Trivia tournaments around Atlanta for The Answer Is . . . Productions. He also writes the questions that all of the emcees use each night in bars, restaurants and pizzerias from Little Five Points to Dawsonville. The company also holds league trivia and poker tournaments.
"I keep everyone entertained," he said. "I play cool music while they go over their answers, and I make sure the bar management is happy with giveaways and announcements."
That's the point. The establishments hire the trivia company as entertainment to increase their business. There are prizes, too. The nightly contests usually award bar cash or free food, but the championship tournaments pay cash prizes. And they're all free for the participants.
Rael says he tries to spice up his shows with musical theme nights or tunes that relate to the just-asked questions. "People enjoy my show -- it's the DJ in me," he said. He exudes a friendly manner to the regulars and welcomes newcomers.
Rael also is a freelance disc jockey for weddings and parties.
What got me interested in this: When he was working at a radio station in Atlanta, a fellow employee asked if he'd like to play bar trivia. "We did pretty well," he said.
As a way to make some extra money, he approached the company and asked for a job hosting the game. After starting with just one show, he now does five a week.
Rael has been with the company since 1994. "I'm one of the senior people there," he said. "It's what I do for a living now."
Best part of my job: "Meeting a lot of new people. And having everyone who plays think I'm the smartest guy on the planet."
Most challenging part: "Having to deal with people who are giving me a hard time -- hecklers, drunks or people who swear your answer is wrong." Rael is careful not to be wrong. He researches his questions carefully, consulting reference books and the Internet.
What people don't know about my job: "How much time goes into preparing the show," he said. In addition to writing the questions, Rael also programs and downloads the night's music into an MP3 player, which he brings with his own sound system to the bar or restaurant.
What keeps me going: "I like to do it. I like trivia. I like learning, especially useless information. All that watching TV -- I never thought that it would pay off."
Rael's tried to get on TV game shows, such as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?," and has passed the tests, but he's yet to be called.
Preparation needed for this job: "You need to have patience," Rael said. "You're representing the company and the bar. It's not just your reputation on the line. . . . You have to have a good voice, and you can't be shy." An emcee should have an interest in trivia but doesn't have to be an expert.
Having your own sound system helps, too. Many locations don't have an adequate system for trivia.
Rael brings a radio background to the job. He grew up in Florida, where he worked at radio stations and in music stores, and has a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Miami.
"I'm one of those people who always absorb everything around them," he said. "For some reason, the more trivial it is, the more likely I am to remember it."
- By Karl Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.
