Competing on Jeopardy! has been a very long time coming for Harvey Silikovitz.
On the March 10 episode of the sport present, Silikovitz, an legal professional and “worldwide karaoke singer” who first auditioned in 2001, detailed his 24-year journey to showing on the present.
“It’s been a longtime dream of mine to get right here,” he informed host Ken Jennings. “In 2019, I used to be recognized with Parkinson’s, however I continued chasing the dream, and now right here I’m.”
“I wouldn’t advocate that as a preparation technique for doing nicely on the present,” he added because the viewers laughed. “However after dwelling with Parkinson’s for 5 and a half years, it’s now not nearly eager to do nicely for myself.”
He concluded, “I wish to give hope and inspiration to the people who find themselves dwelling with power sicknesses.”
Silikovitz went on to win $23,200 whereas breaking returning contestant Laura Faddah‘s eight-game streak.
Silikovitz mirrored on his journey in a prolonged Instagram put up previous to his look on the present.
“One of many principal causes I journey is to be taught extra in regards to the world,” he started. “That very same voracious curiosity led me to turn out to be immersed on this planet of trivia. Whereas I consider that understanding stuff is an intrinsic good, I additionally take pleasure in testing my information in trivia competitions of assorted sorts.”
“Inevitably, I wished to check myself on ‘Jeopardy!’, which has lengthy been the gold normal of TV quiz exhibits,” he continued. “And so, for a few years, I’ve tried to turn out to be a contestant on that present. I persevered in that quest even after setbacks – like that point in March 2019 after I missed a voice-mail from a senior casting producer that, had I returned the decision, would have led to my turning into a contestant a couple of weeks later. By the point I lastly heard the VM, taping for the season had wrapped.”
Silikovitz revealed that 5 months later, he was recognized with Parkinson’s illness, which is “a motion dysfunction of the nervous system that worsens over time,” based on Mayo Clinic.
Silikovitz defined, “However I refused to let that prognosis deter me from following my long-held dream.”
“I labored laborious to handle my Parkinson’s signs – even whereas relentlessly in search of to enhance my information base in addition to my proficiency on the expertise, akin to timing on the buzzer, which can be essential to success on J!” he wrote.
Lastly, in January 2025, Silikovitz shared that his “dream was realized.”
“I flew out to Culver Metropolis, CA to tape as a J! contestant!” he recalled. “So how did I do? Can an individual with Parkinson’s be aggressive within the rigorous crucible of a ‘Jeopardy!’ recreation? So as to add to the intrigue, the returning champion who was one in all my 2 opponents had gained her first 8 video games. Did I turn out to be one other of her victims? Did I put an finish to her streak? Or did the third participant take down each of us? Tune in on Monday to seek out out! #jeopardy #parkinsons #parkinsonswarrior.”
Silikovitz will proceed his Jeopardy journey on the March 11 episode.
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Jeopardy! airs weeknights on ABC (verify native listings).
