Evelyn Rubin has been watching Jeopardy! since she was around six years old. Altogether, she’s been watching the show regularly for 30 years or so.
It’s, therefore, no surprise that as soon as it became possible for Canadians to audition for the show online, Rubin gave it a shot. She first tried out in 2011 and was selected to attend a live interview that year in New York. Once somebody makes it to the interview stage, that person stays on the waitlist for 18 months. During those 18 months, she may be chosen to appear on the show, but is not allowed to audition again until those 18 months are up.
Rubin was not chosen in those first 18 months, so she kept trying. Finally, after five online tests and her fourth live interview in New Orleans last June, Rubin got the call. The Torontonian flew to Los Angeles in late July to play Jeopardy!
“Just being there, being on the set, meeting (host) Alex (Trebek) – I also got to meet Johnny Gilbert, the announcer – that was very exciting. I can’t even really describe it, it was just a surreal experience. This is a show I watch every day and I have for years, and to be there and know that I’m part of the show … is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
Rubin may have felt that the experience was surreal, but she wasn’t overwhelmed once she got to her lectern. Rubin had studied diligently for her appearance, learning about American history, geography and the arts. She didn’t bother studying much science because, as a family doctor, she felt she was in a position of relative strength in that field.
Rubin’s hard work paid off. In her first game, she had won just US$2,600, with only four categories remaining. One of those categories was called “Operation,” and Rubin provided the correct question to three of the five answers. But she really pulled ahead on a category about music, in which she got four of the five questions. Overall, she clinched the game in the lead-up to Double Jeopardy, getting nine of the final 11 questions correct. She finished the day with US$27,601 ($36,000).
During her second game, one of her co-contestants, Michael Pascuzzi, proposed to his girlfriend during the interview section of the show.
“That was also very impromptu. He didn’t plan to do that until just before the show. So I was actually in the green room when he decided to propose, that was very exciting,” she said. “They asked Alex if he would be OK with it, they set up the lighting on the audience, that all happened very very quickly. That was pretty cool to be a part of that.”
Pascuzzi’s girlfriend said yes, and Trebek joked about how big the engagement ring would have to be if Pascuzzi won. But instead, Rubin won her second game in a row, this time on a Final Jeopardy about U.S. landmarks. Despite a perceived disadvantage, Rubin wrote down the correct question: “What is the Alamo?”
Rubin lost her third game, but in total, she won over US$52,000. She said that California takes 38 per cent of it in taxes, but it’s possible for Canadians to reclaim that. She won’t get the cheque until four months after her episodes air (starting Sept. 26).
READ: HE’LL TAKE “JEWISH CANADIANS ON JEOPARDY!” FOR $400, ALEX
Rubin had a viewing party for her first episode at the Duke of Somerset pub in downtown Toronto, where she regularly participates in trivia night. Nearly 60 people attended and almost none of them knew the outcome, which made it especially exciting for Rubin.
There are just a few more people she wishes could have been there.
“Growing up, I would watch the show with my grandparents and they’ve passed away. But I know I was just so proud that I was finally able to get on because I know they would be very proud of me, too,” Rubin said.