JEOPARDY! contestant Isaac Hirsch was reluctant to bring up another job outside of the game show.
The eight-day champion said that he was not good at stand-up comedy.
Jeopardy!Jeopardy! champion Isaac Hirsch revealed that his standup gig at a baseball stadium was brutal[/caption]
Jeopardy!Host Ken Jennings laughed at Isaac’s story, after the player said that his microphone didn’t work and he did his 20-minute set in silence[/caption]
During the introductions on Friday’s show, Isaac, who is a customer support team leader, told host Ken Jennings about his stand-up career.
“Tell us about some of your audiences,” Ken, 50, said.
“Yeah, I’ve been pretty reluctant to bring it up because it takes me from pretty funny as a Jeopardy! contestant to not very funny for a comedian,” Isaac revealed, which made Ken laugh.
However, the current champion said that the weirdest gig he ever did was for the International Guard of Montana at a minor league baseball stadium.
He was the opener and had a 20-minute set.
“They gave me a wireless mic that did not work, so I just stood there and said nothing for 20 minutes,” Isaac said.
“Nobody could hear. It was pretty brutal. It was a pretty brutal gig.”
Ken tried to cheer Isaac up by saying he is sure the International Guard wanted to laugh but were “so disappointed” when his mic didn’t work.
“They were like, ‘Well, he looks funny, but we can’t hear him’,” Isaac joked.
Ken said that he hoped Isaac gets a second chance before moving on to the next round.
HIRSCH HAIL MARY
Isaac pulled off his closest win yet on Friday.
He has the second longest-run all season.
After an all-out runaway on Thursday, Isaac faced Ashley Weaver from Lakewood, Ohio, and Mike Ferguson from Edmond, Oklahoma.
After the Jeopardy! round, Isaac led with $6,600, Chemistry teacher Mike was in second with $5,800, and Ashley had -$1,000.
Jeopardy! Host Timeline
Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.
Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.
Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.
Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.
Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.
Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.
Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.
Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.
Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.
Mike was giving Isaac a run for his money.
In Double Jeopardy!, Isaac and Mike found one Daily Double each.
This made Final Jeopardy! very close as Isaac only led by about $4,000.
Isaac answered the question correctly and ended with $34,001.
His eight-day total is $195,389.
TONING IT DOWN?
Earlier this week, Isaac opened up some of the rules on the game show after fans questioned his tactics.
On a Reddit thread, one fan wondered, “Are Jeopardy! contestants specifically told to avoid adding ‘flair’ to their answers?”
The original poster noted that recent contestants appeared to be answering without much enthusiasm and broke it down into a few options.
Fans said that either the players were nervous, scared of being “embarrassing” or “cringy,” or told by producers to give simple answers without “added pizzazz.”
“I’ve always wondered if it was option C. Since there are a lot of former contestants who post here, I was hoping someone might give me a definitive answer,” the fan added.
Isaac joined the thread and said that they are told not to answer with charisma.
They also aren’t allowed to sing their responses due to copyright infringement.
“We’re not instructed to give answers without pizzazz— I think a, that contestants are just too focused on saying the right thing, is the biggest reason,” Isaac answered.
“The one exception is that with your Kung fu fighting example, we are explicitly told not to sing answers because music is copyrighted and it costs Jeopardy money to clear it.”
JeopardyIsaac shared that he performed for the International Guard of Montana[/caption]
JeopardyKen Kennings said that he hopes Isaac Hirsch gets another chance one day and that he is sure the International Guard was disappointed they didn’t get to hear his set[/caption]
JeopardyIsaac Hirsch won his eighth game on Friday, making his total $195, 389[/caption]
