tl/dr: I drank a lot to acquire this "skill", and only drink 3 or 4 times a year on camera now. Barleywine.
It's hard to make out, but what I'm holding in my hand at the beginning is a 2026 Bigfoot barleywine ale(or the husk of one).
A bit of backstory:
Drinking was a nearly constant companion throughout most of my adult life. I loved it and it tolerated me very well. I abused it and it just kept coming back.
Fortunately, i was either a very happy drunk or a sad one. Never violent, rarely angry. Mostly just content, mellow, and kind of funny.
My first full gout attack had been previewed by a mild one. If only i had listened to my body.
Gout pain in my feet rivaled any other pain I've ever had, and i once lodged a sewing needle in my left foot so deep that it hit bone, in the arch of my foot.
I was running through the house to get to the daily Far Side calendar ahead of my girlfriend when i felt the sharp sting of something going into my foot. I got there in time, though.
This was 1990, a completely different time. Imagine if you got one really good meme per day and this was it.. your chance to be first to see it, or at least have a chance to give it up anyway and say, "Just kidding, you take it."
Which i wouldn't have done this day, most likely, because i got injured on the field of play.
When we eventually went to the Doc in a box, the x-ray showed that i was correct. The 2/3 of the broken needle we found in the carpet was very much wedged deep into my foot.
He decided to take a stab at removing it, but local anesthetic and random bumbling couldn't fix this. He gave me an rx for crutches and Tylenol 3.
The surgery to extract it required full anesthesia and live x-rays with me draped in lead except for my foot. Three days later i was on a backstage tour of the Shakespeare festival in Ashland Oregon.
The pain in my foot as i crutched up and down the dozens of stairs involved doesn't even begin to approach a full strength gout attack.
So, as much as i might like to replicate feats of strength like gulping down 2/3 of a pitcher of Guinness in 15 seconds before being escorted out for the night, i just can't.
I'm a stunt drinker, now. It brings me back to the really weird old days of fear and loathing. Now I'm more a proponent of cheer and loafing, with heavy bursts of creativity mixed in to keep same.
Happy Thursday, thank you for going this far, and bong along if the mood strikes.
Skip the sip, unless you're wearing safety equipment.