‘Raid the Cage’ host Damon Wayans Jr. would be ‘screwed’ at the trivia

“Raid the Cage” host Damon Wayans Jr. would have a tough time answering the trivia questions that drive the CBS game show.

“Let me tell you something, coming from a dyslexic guy myself, I would not be great at that trivia because I pronounce ‘quiet’ [as] ‘quite’ and I mix all these letters up,” Wayans, 40, told The Post. “Every time someone does well in the trivia round … if you ever see me go, ‘Oh, that’s awesome’ it’s because I was like, ‘I could never have done that.’

I’m not crazy-dyslexic but when it comes to trivia I’d be screwed.”

Wayans and Jeannie Mai Jenkins host “Raid the Cage,” premiering Oct. 13 (9-10 p.m.) as part of “CBS Friday Game Night” (following “The Price Is Right”).

It’s based on the hit Israeli game show “Kluv Hazahav,” which premiered in 2013 and was adapted in over 15 countries including Vietnam, Brazil, Portugal, Turkey and Greece.

Each game features two teams of two contestants who answer trivia questions to gain access to “The Cage,” which is loaded with goodies of varying monetary value (and some unknown duds in boxes). Once in The Cage, they have a pre-determined amount of time — based on their trivia score — to grab what they can before the doors close (and they lose everything they’ve amassed).

There are multiple rounds, so a team that does not do well early on has the chance to catch up … or vice versa.

“That’s what I like about it,” Wayans said. “In this game, you’re never really out until it’s over because each team has three rounds to catch up and people make mistakes. You can grab something you had no idea was worth however much it is, and it can put you back in the running.

“The adrenaline is definitely a factor,” the “New Girl” alum continued. “I think it effects people more in The Cage, where they just kind of go in there and black out. What’s interesting is that all the [trivia] answers are on the board; you just have to match the answer to the question and there might be a little nervousness there — and sometimes people just aren’t good a trivia.”

And, he said, the fact that “Raid the Cage” is new to American audiences and to the contestants makes it more of a challenge to play the game.

“There’s really no way [for contestants] to prepare for it, which makes it more fun for me, as a viewer,” he said. “You have to be fairly good at trivia and fairly athletic to score in The Cage — and some people don’t know what the heck they’re doing!

“People don’t think about how the doors [to The Cage] are closing as time is counting down,” he said. “When you get to ‘3,2,1’ as soon as the timer hits ‘3’ the doors are starting to close and you have even less time than you think.”

“Raid the Cage” marks the actor’s entree as a game-show host after a resume that includes ABC’s “Happy Endings,” Fox’s “New Girl” and movies “Let’s Be Cops” and “Supercool.”

“This is more of a presentational performance,” he said, “and information you have to make sound like you’re not just giving out information. There’s a lot of exposition that you have to build into the show. In acting you memorize lines and make them your own; here, you can make [the lines] your own but you still have to nail what the contestants need to do and be present the entire time.”

“Raid the Cage” premieres Friday, Oct. 13, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.