When I hung up the phone after accepting an invitation to participate in the bartending portion of the Dark Fall Blackout Party held recently at Maynard’s in Margate I had to chuckle because I realized that the most experience I had with serving drinks barely went beyond passing out beers to friends from my own fridge. I heard rumors of this shin-dig earlier in the summer, but I just figured it would be a standard promotional event for the Dark Fall movie (see the trailer here) that we have been working on. But guest bar tending? This was going to take it to a whole different level. Walking into the event, which was sponsored by Red Bull and hosted by Alex Dephilipo, I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I would be teamed up with fellow Ezekiel team rider, Clay Pollioni, to try and out-pour my friends – but rivals for the night - Kevin Richards and Andrew Gesler. Each team was to get one hour behind the bar to show off their skills and at the end of the night the customers would vote on the winning team.

From the start I felt like my team was at a pretty solid disadvantage due to my inexperience. A Bay Breeze? A Long Island Iced Tea? Mojitos? What the hell are in those? Not a clue. For those of you who were able to make it out that night you probably picked up on this pretty quickly. Luckily, I had two things on my side: Red Bull’s ability to mask the taste of anything and everything, and my control over the liquor levels. When in doubt just make a strong drink to keep the customers happy, right? Clay and I lost the coin toss and were forced had the privilege of going first. Once things got rolling, I had a great time pretending that I knew what I was doing for that hour. Clay and I served out drink after drink without the major disasters I thought would surely play out, so we were feeling pretty good. That being said, I was still pretty sure that Gesler and KR were gonna smoke us.

KR and Gesler got off to a good start and it looked like they were the crowd favorites. Ye olde waterin’ hole was bumping and Gesler’s flare seemed to paying off for him. Then, midway through KR and Gesler’s shift as pour-masters Clay and I caught a break. Gesler got the boot from behind the bar! Ha! In true Gesler fashion he was ejected for over-pouring the drinks. Apparently, the Maynard’s staff wasn’t too psyched on the idea of Gesler’s ratio of twenty parts vodka for one part Red Bull. What can I say, the kid just knows how party. KR was forced to finish his shift solo and I was hoping that all out pandamonioum was going to break out. Fortunately, for KR the crowd was easily tamed by the now ultra strong currents of booze coursing through their veins.

This is right about the time that the night started to get hazy for most of the people attending – I wonder if it had anything to with Gesler’s recipe for a hangover….hmmm. From what I could tell the night had all the markings of a successful showing. Alex’s sneak peak had everyone hooting and hollering for their favorite local boys. The DJ spun and scratched away to an enthused crowd of dancing machines. And most importantly everyone was looking pretty loose after an hour of the stiff drinks. Needless to say, I had an awesome time!

Thanks to everyone who made it out and supported the film. We couldn’t do it without you. Now, what you’ve all been waiting for: the photos.

Alex kicking things off

Clay showing off this skills

The crowd was loving it

Gesler right before getting ejected

Red Bull and Vodka - it's all I know

Ladies, I have a cell phone

This is how most people were looking towards the end of the night. Trevor looking especially creepy. Even more so than usual. Gnome Saying?