About…
You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat is a monthly audiovisual film quiz run at two venues in London and also in Los Angeles. Projected onto a big screen (the only way a quiz dedicated entirely to movies should be shown), the Bigger Boat film quiz updates the good old British pub quiz for the 21st Century. Running for over sixteen years, You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat is the original and best audiovisual film quiz you’ll find.
Now in its seventeenth year, You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat is a monthly audiovisual film quiz that has become something of a cult event for movie nerds from across the capital and beyond. Originally at The Boogaloo pub in Highgate (followed by The Assembly House in Kentish Town and The Hackney Attic), the quiz can currently be played at The Flamingo Room in the West End (above the Wardour Street O'Neill's) and Upstairs at the Ritzy (Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton). After a successful one-off quiz in December 2018, the quiz can also now be found every month in Hollywood, at The Three Clubs, Vine Street.

Immerse yourself in our big-screen, big-sound experience as our multimedia quiz brings you pictures, posters, clips and soundtracks from the world of film.
The quiz itself usually takes around two-and-a-half hours (this includes two intervals for marking and drink refills). While we have exclusive use of each venue, it's best to get there as early as you can to grab the best seats!
WEST END • The Flamingo Room

The Flamingo Room is a private hire space upstairs at the O'Neill's on Wardour Street, close to both Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square tube stations (map). A dedicated entrance to the Flamingo Room is on the left of the main O'Neill's entrance. Billed as "The best event space in central London" the name comes from the original music venue from the '60s.
BRIXTON • Upstairs At The Ritzy

The Ritzy Cinema is a few minutes’ walk from Brixton tube station (Victoria Line) (map). In 2009 this historic venue was treated to a refurbishment that added the bar and live music venue, Upstairs at the Ritzy. The venue is split across two levels, but in addition to our main screen on the upper level, we can also make use of a large-screen TV in the bar area on the lower level.
HOLLYWOOD • The Three Clubs

The Thee Clubs is based at the corner of Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles (map). Established in 1991, The Three Clubs reintroduced a classic Hollywood vibe: rich mahogany bars, plush tufted leather banquettes, casino-style carpeting and two stages featuring live entertainment nightly. The Three Clubs has become the entertainment hub of Hollywood…. including You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat.
You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat is developed and produced by Lee-Jay Bannister and Simon Williams, who have been writing and hosting the quiz since May 2005.

Simon is the one who writes most of the questions and you will usually find him on the mic in the West End and Brixton. He enjoys zombie movies, apocalypse movies and zombie apocalypse movies. He is also a huge fan of/apologist for Michael Bay.
Lee-Jay is the one who makes the AV magic happen and on Quiz Nights, he usually sits, Wizard-of-Oz-like, behind a curtain pressing buttons and twiddling knobs. He has an unhealthy fascination with 'proper' actors like Ian McKellen, Kenneth Branagh and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Back in 2003, MTV's Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams wanted to create a film-themed TV panel show. To test the concept, they set up a quiz at The Boogaloo pub in Highgate and called it You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat. The pub quiz ran for two years while Paul and Stewart developed their TV pilot, Dude, Where’s My Movie Quiz?, but sadly the show didn't get picked up (despite a brilliant line-up including Simon Pegg and Warwick Davies) so the boys announced the end of the Bigger Boat quiz to focus on their next project, the horror-comedy film Lesbian Vampire Killers.
Leaping at the opportunity, we took the first-Wednesday-of-the-month slot at The Boogaloo, kept the brilliant name and started up our own quiz. And the rest, as they say, is history!
