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It's funny how quickly a simple game of trivia can turn into a joke fest when you have a certain combination of people in the same room vying for a microphone. That's what happened when nearly 300 soap fans gathered in the Xanadu Lounge of the Carnival cruise ship Imagination during Soap Cruise 2007. Hosted by Cameron Mathison (Ryan, All My Children), soap actors were invited to come up with questions to stump the audience. Alicia Minshew (Kendall, AMC), got things started by asking how many actors have played the character of J.R? The answer is five, but Cameron got the most attention by scoffing, "What Jacob doesn't know is that there is a sixth one coming soon." (Jacob Young, the current J.R. took the joke like a champ.)

Ross Moss (Ridge, Bold and the Beautiful), gave the microphone to a sweet young teenager in hopes that she could come up with the correct answer to why Ridge left Taylor for the last time? She did! Turns out that the lovely Taylor had some "action" going on with a guy named James! Cameron lobbed the next question to the fans when he asked how many times Erica Kane has been married? After the audience had successfully named all ELEVEN of her grooms, Jacob Young - in his best drunken J.R. imitation slurred, "I love sl*tty women. It's HOTTT."

The actors got a little stuck on the same question (hmm, do members of The Writers Guild even write all the trivia questions?) and then Don Diamont became the third person to ask how many times his character (Brad, The Young and the Restless) has been married. Julie Pinson (Billie, Days of Our Lives) was so bored that she "died of boredom" on the middle of the floor and was soon on the bottom of a pile of her "dead" male counterparts including Christian LaBlanc (Y&R) and Windsor Harmon (Bold and the Beautiful).

After everyone plucked themselves off the floor and scurried back to their chairs, Cameron took pity on the fans and let them toss the questions out to the actors. Suddenly the room took on a certain frenzied aura as the actors scrambled to avoid being stumped.

Q: What was Tad Martin (AMC) wearing when he proposed to Dixie the first time:

Julie Pinson: A Chicken Suit!

Q: Who played Dr. Cliff Warner (AMC)?

A: (All actors in unison): Peter Bergman.

At this point, As the World Turns' Austin Peck (Brad) moaned, "Does anybody here watch any show besides All My Children?" Everyone laughed, and then he tossed out a question from DOOL:

Q: What Oscar-nominated actress appeared on Days for a short time when Austin and Sammy ended up in a cave?

A: After several wrong answers of Sally Struthers and Sally Field, a fan finally got it right by shouting "Sally Kirkland." Austin seemed satisfied.

Questions and answers flew by so quickly that soon the actor's one-liners became more interesting than the trivia questions themselves. One that stands out was when Windsor Harmon was talking about his character's (Thorne Forrester on B&B) love life, "The only person I haven't slept with in the Logan family is Stephen!"

Cameron decided that the trivia had fallen to the wayside, so he turned the microphone over to anyone who wanted to say something. Ronn Moss took the opportunity to pay a compliment to the fans. He said that they all do their work for the cameras every day and it's great to come out to events and hear what fans have to say. Windsor matter-of-factly stood up and walked across the stage admitting (loudly!) that he only came for "…the booze and the money." But seriously, Windsor later admitted off camera that he had a fantastic time with the event and would be up for the next one, if asked!

It was a good time for all, and whether anyone actually learned any new trivia about soaps didn't seem to matter in the least. One thing we did learn is that soap actors and fans certainly aren't lacking for a sense of humor! Follow these links for more pictures and stories about Soap Cruise 2007: General Hospital and Soap Cruise 2007. Stay tuned for more stories, and exclusive video clips of the events!

Julie Clark Robinson
GH Editor
Soaps.com