Playing games while caught in traffic

Television

Cash Cab

Tuesdays, 8:50 p.m.

AXN

By Joseph L. Garcia, Reporter

IF YOU’VE ever raised your fist at the heavens when a cab driver has refused to take you to where you need to go, here’s something very different: a cab that will take you in and pay you money. All you have to do is answer some trivia questions. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Cash Cab.

The show’s concept originated in the United Kingdom, and incarnations of it have appeared from Brazil to Slovakia. Here in the Philippines, the cab driver asking the questions is bespectacled actor and host Ryan Agoncillo. The cab has been going around Metro Manila, with the host/driver quizzing passengers as they make their way through traffic. Each correct answer corresponds to a cash prize, while every incorrect answer constitutes a “strike.” Three strikes, or three incorrect answers, means passengers are kicked out (not literally, we hope) of the cab.

The game ends when passengers strike out or have arrived at their destination.

Passengers, according to a press release, have two “shout outs” where they can call a friend or ask a stranger for help in answering a question.

“The traffic jams here in the Philippines works both ways for the Cash Cab and for the passenger. The longer you stay in the cab, the more chances of you winning, right? Also, the longer you stay in the cab, the more chances of you striking out: so it’s a risk you have to take,” said Mr. Agoncillo during the Dec. 9 launch in Aracama restaurant.

“You can either tell me… to bring you all the way where it’s two hours from where I picked you up, or you can choose a shorter journey. My role is to make sure I bring you safely to your destination, asking you questions, but if you strike out, I’m going to pick a safe place, hopefully bright enough [and drop you off]… if you strike out,” he added.

‘You can get rich in traffic’

Judging from Mr. Agoncillo’s stories, his passengers could be anyone.

“[There were] these two married guys, who, at that point — you know, I’m just… [not sure] if their wives knew that they were out that night.” He described them as “two burly guys” with tattoos, and the pair won about P13,000 that evening said Mr. Agoncillo. After their game was over, one of them approached Mr. Agoncillo and asked for a selfie. “Para alam ng asawa ko bakit ako na-late nauwi (So my wife will know why I went home late).”

There are no maximum number of questions, said Mr. Agoncillo, and you can keep playing until you reach your destination, or until you get kicked out.

“We had a MENSA dude,” said Mr. Agoncillo. “He played us out.”

Cash Cab premieres with a double episode on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 8:50 p.m. on AXN.