Brandon Blackwell’s skill in trivia quizzes has brought him around the world — next stop, Carleton College! Blackwell’s address, “Adventures in Quizzing, Apology of a Tryhard,” took place on Friday, October 24, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. An internationally renowned quizzer, Blackwell finished second in the Junior World Quizzing Championships in 2020, with the majority of his success coming from his group quiz work. Blackwell has more team quiz titles at the national level or higher in the 2020s than anybody else in the world. He now works as an adviser to the U.S. national quiz team and has served as a tactical coach to several top Jeopardy! champions.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Blackwell’s first quiz TV appearances were during his teen years, including a win on Million Second Quiz that earned him a third of $1 million. By the time he turned 20, Blackwell had already earned over $400,000 quizzing competitively. While quizzing competitively, Blackwell attended New York University, earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science while embracing interdisciplinary opportunities to expand his knowledge for quizzes. After graduating, Blackwell turned his quizzing attention to the United Kingdom.
At the time, Blackwell considered the UK to be “the epicenter” of high-level quizzing. Blackwell’s specific goal was to win University Challenge, a TV quiz show that many say “makes Jeopardy! look like a walk in the park.” After being accepted to Imperial College London for a master’s in computer science, he played a key role in developing the school’s quiz team, resulting in a championship win in the 2019–2020 quiz cycle.
More recently, Blackwell has appeared on The Chase and The Chase Australia, where he is known as “The Lightning Bolt.” Renowned for his title as “world’s fastest quizzer,” as well as his charisma, Blackwell’s role as the professional quizzer is to compete against a team of contestants to prevent them from winning a cash prize. Check out a YouTube clip of his work on The Chase Australia.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations
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