Within the clannish, highly loyal and fiercely competitive world of Durango’s trivia contests, it’s the local equivalent of David Letterman retiring: John Hise is retiring from his hosting gig at Irish Embassy’s pub quiz on Wednesdays.
The news broke on the Embassy Pub’s Facebook page, where staff announced the establishment is looking for a new trivia-master to run its Wednesday pub quiz.
The Embassy’s manager, Phil Brennan, confirmed Hise’s retirement in a phone call on Tuesday.
“As far as I know, he wants to take a break for a while. He did a great job. I hope at some stage he comes back and does it again,” Brennan said.
There are only a few trivia nights in Durango, and each has its own exuberant following, with hardcore trivia-enthusiasts attending either Wednesday’s quiz at the Embassy, Tuesday’s quiz at Ska Brewing (ably run by Ted Holteen), and Thursday’s and Friday’s at the Durango Discovery Museum. While tragic for Embassy patrons, Hise’s retirement marks an exciting opportunity for aspiring knowledge-masters: As in TV’s late night, regular hosting gigs are rare to come by.
Brennan said Hise, who volunteered to run a trivia night at the Pub two years ago, had been so successful because he had an acute sense of fun.
“He just has good energy.”
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
