For 22 years, the dimly lit basement of Auntie Mae’s in Aggieville has transformed every Wednesday night into an eclectic battleground of brains, where teams huddle over tables and shout out playful jeers — all under the steady guidance of one man who has handcrafted every question since the very beginning.

Jeff Kreuser studied kinesiology at Kansas State and has hosted trivia since 2003.

“Trivia got started by another friend of mine who was in a couple of bands around town,” Kreuser said. “He did it for a few months, and I would sub in for him. Then he ended up moving away… and I started taking over after that.”

Each week, Kreuser writes his own unique questions and compiles them into a single Microsoft Word document.

“I get ideas during the week,” Kreuser said. “I’ll keep track for categories and stuff like that, so then I can go on the internet, do some looking and verify things. I think it’s now 4,500 pages of built up questions that I can go back and pull and tweak and steal from, and then include them in some new questions as well.”

Kreuser is not paid to host and said he’ll continue as long as he keeps having fun.

“I’ve always said that I’d quit if I ever get bored or don’t think it’s going well, and we continue to get great crowds every week,” Kreuser said. “We get a lot of regulars and great crowd participation. People come back to town and make special trips just to play.”

Auntie Mae’s co-owner Matt Vargabus said all entry fees are returned to the participants, which keeps people coming back. 

“Year after year, K-State students play,” Vargabus said. “It’s fun, and all the money that you buy in for trivia, you get back, so the bar doesn’t get any of that. Our [trivia] is kind of unique. I think it’s our host and the time and effort he puts in.”

Junior financial planning major Andrew Wilson, junior in financial planning, said he attended the first trivia in April.

“I think because it’s nice having it on Wednesday night,” Wilson said. “Because I know a lot of bars, they just have drink deals. But actually having something going on makes it more fun than just going to a bar and talking. … You’re only in college once.”

Kreuser said he has enjoyed the various traditions formed over the years. 

“It’s always been a running joke, especially now for about 15 years, that if you pick my potluck categories, it’s because you think my categories suck,” Kreuser said. ”The entire crowd yells out, ‘Because your categories suck!’”