WHEN a group of friends started a virtual quiz in lockdown, they had no idea of the efforts one couple would go to for the picture round.
Sam Hill and her boyfriend, Nathan Coyle, along with their friends – Paul and Rachel Greenland, Lee and Laura Russell, Kev Jackson, Gary and Karen Watters, Andrew and Rebecca Gatenby and Laura and Graham Willis – take part in a weekly Zoom quiz.
It was started in the height of the pandemic and it didn’t take long for things to get interesting.
Ms Hill explained: “We all usually meet up for family occasions such as weddings and christenings. Every New Year’s Eve we meet at one of our houses and have a blast playing games. With lockdown we haven’t been able to see each other, but with social media we can keep in touch.
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“I send out invites on Zoom so each Saturday at 8pm everyone tunes in and puts together one round of questions.
“At first everyone started doing normal questions and we [Nathan and I] decided to up the ante a bit and do something different.”
Instead of putting together questions on a topic, they have been creating hilarity with their picture rounds, where they feature as the subject and get their friends to guess who or what they are.
Ms Hill said: “We decided to do pictures ourselves as a bit of fun. We have different categories for our pictures from film, music, games, historical paintings or pictures, places and people. We spend the week coming up with ideas and because of work we spend most of Saturday putting things together.”
The results have had an uplifting effect with everyone looking forward to the photographs to be revealed.
Ms Hill said: “It takes us hours, but we have such fun doing it together, coming up with the idea and then working out how to do it. It’s worth it as we just have a bit of a laugh. And we have our friends crying with laughter at the results.
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“Nathan and I agreed all the props we use are stuff we have in the house. We needed a wig so used a T-shirt.”
Some of their wacky photoshoots have taken place in their own home and garden, but they have also used nearby locations.
She added: “We had to take our car to The Bowes Museum with two planks of wood to do one of the photos. I stood at the top of the hill and Nathan was at the bottom and there were dog walkers going past wondering what on earth we were doing.
“It is daft and silly, but it is so much fun. We’re hoping to keep the quiz nights up even when restrictions are eased but we have all said we will try and meet up more often as well.
“We definitely feel more connected to each other as a result and it’s just been so much fun and has given us all something to look forward to each week.”
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