Speakeasy with Joe Randazzo, editor of The Onion
Joe Randazzo, editor of The Onion, will take on area men and women as part of HowStuffWorks’ celebrity trivia team.
- Courtesy of Joe Randazzo
- Jack Daniels (left) and The Onion editor Joe Randazzo
“The Atlanta Trivia Night with Josh and Chuck” sounds sort of like a live version of the hipster game show “Beat the Geeks.” Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant of the podcast “Stuff You Should Know” on HowStuffWorks.com host a trivia night on Wed., Oct 13, at Five Seasons Brewery, where local fans of factual ephemera can compete against Josh, Clark, “The Daily Show’s” resident expert John Hodgman, Adult Swim’s Dave Willis and Joe Randazzo, editor of the venerable humorous web site The Onion. Randazzo discusses the origins of the event and “America’s finest news source’ has evolved with the Internet.
How did this celebrity trivia event come about? What’s your trivia specialty?
I have listened to “Stuff You Should Know” for a while and had been meaning to write them for a while to say how much I like it. When I heard they were coming to NYC, I sent an email to suggest some things to do. I didn’t expect them to invite me to come play trivia with them, but they did, and it’s a good thing because I anchored that damn team. A couple months later, they asked me to come down to Atlanta to do it again. I’d say my trivia specialty is “Things My Father Said To Me IN An Offhanded Manner That Have Nonetheless Left Indelible Emotional Scars Years Later.”
How long have you been editor of The Onion? Can you tell me what your duties are like?
I will have been at The Onion five years next March, and two years in my current position. Our main focus is on our content. Everyday we show up and push ourselves to create the funniest, smartest material out there. As a whole, our creative process is uniquely collaborative. As opposed to assigning ideas, everyone brainstorms a number of headlines independently and then we meet for hours to discuss which are the best. These days, as my responsibilities have grown, I do a lot less direct writing and tend to focus on the big picture, as well as ways to manipulate my staff.