NEW York City bartender, Austin Rogers, went on a stunning 12-game winning streak on Jeopardy! and raked in a total of $411,000 after trying for nearly a decade to get on the iconic show.
In an exclusive interview with The Celeb Report, The New York native delved into what it took to finally land a spot on America’s favorite answer and question show, and how he even surprised himself with his amazing run.
Austin, whose acclaimed, bestselling trivia book The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar, was released earlier this year, said that the Jeopardy! testing process has evolved recently.
“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.”
Jeopardy!
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.”
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.
Fortunately for the New Yorker, the regional auditions were mere blocks away from his Manhattan apartment, while other contestant hopefuls had traveled from places like Minneapolis, Toronto and Boston to audition.
“People want to be on Jeopardy! so badly that they’ve booked bus tickets and hotels and redeye flights or driven dozens and dozens of hours and spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars to stay in New York to try to be on the show,” Austin added.
Once he actually got on the show in 2017, he surprised himself by his winning streak.
“When I won the first one I was like that was easy, wait, did I get a bad round? I must have gotten a bad round. Then the second one was easy too, so I thought maybe I got two bad rounds in a row. On the third one I go- wait I’m actually good at this.”
“It takes a while; you don’t expect to be good at it. Then you’re like oh I’m good at this, and I started sort of not caring because I already had $90,000 in winnings, so I was like alright, let’s wager $9,000 that sounds like a dumb number.”
While his winning streak puts him in the top ten winners of all time, Austin soon found out during the Tournament of Champions the same year, that contestants can get tripped up on what would normally be an easy question if you overthink.
During Final Jeopardy! contestants are given a topic that the last question will be based on before they go into the commercial break.
Austin was faced with state capitals as the clue.
“I came in third because I didn’t remember what the capital of Vermont is.”
“I literally said if the category is state capitals it’s going to be either Dover, Delaware or Montpelier, Vermont and then I started going in my head coast to coast naming all the state capitals and by the time that clue came up I was mentally in the West Coast.
“When you get the category for Final Jeopardy, you actually have time to think about it which sucks. If you are peppered with these questions in the regular round, you just go vomit it out because you don’t have time to react. Thinking actually messes you up.”
ICONIC HOST, ALEX TREBEK
During his time on the show, Austin was able to get the late iconic host, Alex Trebek to warm up to him despite some of his colorful language.
“They told me to stop swearing,” Rogers reportedly said. “In my first couple of appearances, I was extensively bleeped.”
Alex passed away in November of 2020 after a long and brave battle with cancer.
The show has gone through some growing pains in finding a permanent replacement for Alex.
Read More on The US Sun
Actress Mayim Bialik and Jeopardy! Champion Ken Jennings have been has been splitting the hosting duties since axed show exec Mike Richards had to step down after controversial remarks resurfaced.
Many loyal viewers are eager to learn who will take over as permanent host once this season comes to an end on July 29 2022.
