Wednesdays are a busy night at Fatty’s Pub & Grille, largely because of trivia hosts Dan Monnier and Zach Andrews.

Monnier and Andrews host Fatty’s, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway, pop culture trivia night, which brings in students and locals for food, drinks and trivia questions. There is a long-term prize of $500 if teams continue to go to the bar and rack up their trivia points.

“Dan and I have a lot of devot[ed]fans,” Andrews said. “We have made a lot of friends with the teams that come every week or try to come out every week. It’s good because there is a lot of rivalry between the regulars.”

Alumnus Monnier balances the trivia nights with freelance work for NIU’s Media Services, and Andrews is a senior Spanish major who works 20 to 30 hours a week.

The two worked at Fatty’s for a year and a half before the torch was passed to them from the previous trivia night host, Josh Peter, when he left for art school in Scotland. When Monnier and Andrews heard about the job opening, having played on the same team, it seemed like a fitting choice.

“We actually didn’t know the other was interviewing,” Andrews said. “And when we got to the interview, we had an idea for a two-man trivia show. They went with it pretty much right then.”

Monnier said the two friends never discussed applying for the hosting job when it was available.

“It was funny because we’re good friends, and we played on the same team and it never came up in conversation,” Monnier said.

Trivia questions come from the activities Monnier and Andrews partake in when they aren’t working. Monnier enjoys music while Andrews relishes movies and TV shows.

“Sometimes we do current events and things that are popular, but other times if we are just at work or watching TV and something comes up that we think is good, we use it,” Andrews said. “Also, the third-place team from the previous round gets to choose a topic for five questions. We keep it pretty related to popular culture.”

Monnier is grateful for the consistent trivia crowd.

“It’s more fun to have two dynamics up there,” Monnier said. “We’re thankful for the fans and the patrons making trivia night so popular.”