The summary:
Mission accomplished. Couldn't have gone much better. You can always nitpick but I am really happy.
So I am definitely in the contestant pool for the next 18 months.
First there was the retest and it was crazy. I don't know if it was really easy or it was just one of those things where all the questions happened to be in my wheelhouse, but I would be surprised if I got less than 45 out of 50. I couldn't believe the questions. I was wondering if I was on candid camera on something. It was like a slumdog millionaire effect.
I casually asked a few people around me if they found it particularly easy and they didn't seem to so I guess it was just me.
My mock game went well. I was the only person in any of the games who ran a category (there were 7 games with 20 people) . That was not a huge hairy deal but anything that gets you positive attention is okay. My interview went very well. I spent some time practicing my anecdotes in the car as I was driving out there and that paid off. I was pretty smooth and polished and came up with a few humorous lines that got some laughs.
Plus I was sensing a few intangibles in my favor. You like anything that makes you stand out and I was the only Canadian in the group.
And I saw myself in the mirror after we were done and dammit I looked good.
It turns out the odds of getting on the show are even a little better than I thought. They said there are 400 spots for 2-3 thousand qualifiers so the odds could be as good as 5-1 and no worse than 7.5-1. This is my 3rd time in the pool. One of these times they are going to call me. I believe it.
So now I wait. But it was good stuff.
