What if a Savannah history tour felt less like a lecture and more like a game show?

That’s the idea behind The Game Show Trolley, a new mobile entertainment experience created by Ardsley Park resident Garrett Zajac.

Zajac, originally from Chicago, moved to Durham, North Carolina, while his wife, Samantha McKean, completed graduate school. The couple eventually relocated to Savannah following Sam’s appointment at Christ Church Episcopal, where she serves as associate rector. They have called Ardsley Park home for the past four years, living in what Zajac describes as their “dream bungalow.”

The idea for The Game Show Trolley grew from Zajac’s lifelong love of entertaining people—and, unexpectedly, from the pandemic.

“I started a Zoom-based game show during COVID, and the idea of running a game show germinated from there,” he says.

After conversations with other Savannah hospitality and tourism business owners encouraged him to pursue the concept, Zajac decided to skip the traditional brick-and-mortar model and put his game show on wheels.

The result is exactly what it sounds like: a trolley bus gutted and transformed into a rolling game show, complete with lights, buzzers at every seat, a host dressed in 1960s-inspired plaid and, of course, a champion at the end.

During the day, The Game Show Trolley offers a Savannah history tour with a decidedly different approach. Rather than presenting a polished, predictable version of the city, Zajac embraces the strange, scandalous and downright bizarre stories that make Savannah unique.

“The premise is that Savannah is too interesting for boring tours,” he says.

The history is real, but it's delivered through competition and comedy. Guests can expect stories involving fires, yellow fever, scandals and even the city's founder losing his dog during the voyage to Georgia.

For Zajac, those details are what make Savannah's history worth telling.

“Somewhere along the way the tours downtown sanded Savannah’s story down to a boring cliche,” he says. “We think that’s a waste of a great city and a waste of somebody’s vacation.”

Instead, The Game Show Trolley aims to create an experience that is fast-paced, interactive and entertaining.

“The current tours downtown are like a lazy river at a waterpark,” Zajac says. “We’re more of a water slide.”

And the trolley isn't limited to tourists.

Outside of its regularly scheduled history experiences, the vehicle is available for private events and corporate outings. Companies can rent the trolley for team-building events, with the game customized beyond Savannah history.

Zajac's background in corporate events gives him a particular perspective on what businesses are looking for when planning team-building activities. He sees the trolley as an alternative to traditional corporate exercises—one where employees can compete, laugh and interact without the dreaded trust fall.

For companies with groups larger than the trolley's capacity, The Game Show Trolley can also bring the experience indoors. Zajac has produced a conference-room version of the game show for groups of up to 150 people.

“We’re hopefully solving the problem of corporate events and team building for businesses in or traveling to Savannah,” he says. “No trust falls necessary.”

For Zajac, the business is ultimately about creating memorable experiences and giving people permission to have fun.

That philosophy carries over into his life outside of work. He also produces Ghosted: Savannah’s Haunted Improv Show, a traveling comedy production combining improv, live music and magic or mentalism with Savannah’s spooky side.

At home in Ardsley Park, Zajac and Sam are raising their two children, 6-year-old Vera and 6-month-old Ira, along with their black Lab mix, Murray, named after actor Bill Murray.

Zajac is particularly proud of Vera’s individuality. She collects cicada shells and has dressed as a different bug for Halloween every year of her life.

“She’s six years old and going to Jacob G.,” he says. “I’m most proud of how weird she is.”

That sense of playful weirdness may be exactly what Zajac hopes to bring to Savannah’s tourism and events scene.

With The Game Show Trolley, the goal isn't simply to tell people about Savannah. It's to get them laughing, competing, learning—and perhaps still trash-talking their friends a week later.