AUSTIN Rogers, who was a twelve-time Jeopardy! champion, shared the grueling behind-the-scenes filming schedule and his tips to get through the show successfully.
In an exclusive interview with The Celeb Report, the bartender and New York native said the Jeopardy! production crew films a full week, or five episodes, over the course of just one day.
While they suggest that contestants bring three changes of clothes, Austin came prepared to go the distance and brought eleven outfits in total for his historic run on the iconic answer and question show.
Austin said once you win in your first taping, you get whisked off the stage before the other contestants, and “in essence, you undergo a NASCAR style tire change” as they prep you for the immediate next taping.
As the champion: “You are taken off the stage as quickly as possible, shoved backstage, you change your clothes, go to the bathroom, a cup of coffee, have a sip of water, sit down, get re mic’d up and get your makeup redone and get back on the stage,” he said of the intense back-to-back tapings.”
He explained you’re brought back on stage with the other contestants and they introduce you and say something like: “‘This young man had an absolutely amazing day yesterday,’ but in reality, yesterday was 15 minutes ago.”
Jeopardy!
Meanwhile, the new challenger has a different experience than the returning champion from one day of taping to the next, Austin revealed.
“If you’re a new contestant, you meet in the meet in the lobby of one one of the hotels they recommend you stay and the contest coordinators are there and you get on a shuttle bus with garment bags with 16 or so other contestants for the day.”
Austin said by the time you’re at the Jeopardy! studios you would have already filled out those contestant tidbit questionnaires for when you come out of commercial breaks “like where did you go to college, what’s your career, any jobs you’ve had, do you want to mention your significant other.”
“You’ll still have to fill out the financial paperwork with info like your social security or however you are to get any winnings you may be lucky enough to acquire,” he said.
The former contestant continued to explain: “Then they start going over the rules and how the game is played and then it’s about 10:30 or so says quite like at 8:30 am and then everyone goes out and sits in the empty studio.
“Audiences outside lined up an empty studio, and someone from the clue crew comes out. Or another producer comes out and runs a mock game.
“And all 16 of you get to cycled through, including the previous days returning champion gets to cycle through and much like any audition. They’re not really really paying attention to who’s buzzing in giving everyone a chance to answer their question to get a feel of the buzzer.
“Then the first two challengers for the returning champion are selected, the audience is brought in and then the contestants and you hear ‘This is Jeopardy!’ and that is the first time the challengers meet the host,” which was Alex Trebek at the time of Austin’s wins.
Austin, whose acclaimed, bestselling trivia book The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar, was released earlier this year, also opened up about what it took to finally land a spot on Jeopardy!.
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Austin delved into what it took to finally land a spot on America’s favorite answer and question show after nearly a decade of trying and how the testing process has changed.
“Back when I applied, they only held the online test three times a year all in one week,” he said adding now it’s much easier.
Year after year, Austin said that he would set his calendar and would carve out time to concentrate and take the test, but they’ve changed the way the tests are done and he believes it’s for the better.
“They’ve changed it to what’s called the ‘Anytime Test’ and when the anytime test goes live, you can take it any time which is really cool because it allows you the chance to study and get prepared.”
The change in the testing he said “probably opened up the quantity and quality of talent by getting more people to take the tests in giving them more time to prep for it, and hopefully, it gets more people in on auditions.”
The way the actual online test goes, he said, is that “Fifty questions come up and they have a 12 or 15-second timer on them and you try as best you can not to make spelling mistakes, but they say they’re lenient on those, and boom that’s it, it disappears into a black box.”
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After the test, he explained either nothing happens or you get a phone call from a number the Jeopardy! studios in California and you are invited to an audition.
Austin was invited to audition twice and finally landed a spot on the show after nine consecutive years of taking the online Jeopardy! test and one failed audition.
