How do you handle a drunk?

[Rog]

Remember, drunks are people too ;) If they're interesting (some are) I'll listen. If they're boring I'll go somewhere else. If they're violent I get out of the way - there's no point in beating up a drunk, they can't fight and in the morning they'll probably feel pretty stupid for kicking off anyway. A possibly true quote from Winston Churchill: Lady: Winston, you're drunk! WC: I may be drunk, but you're ugly, and in the morning I'll be sober. Always cracks me up :)

[Bobro]

[quote]Originally posted by Outrider: [b]She requested a reasonable song, we played it well, and then she started buying me shots and hitting on me during the break. Go figure. So you see...the lady in the parking lot calling you a "motherf****er" was really just hot for ya. You coulda scored bigtime. ;) [/b][/quote]Hehe, there you go. Maybe it takes one to know one, but if you fly that kind of psychology by the inebriated, that's the spirit (no pun intended). Seriously, In Vino Veritas- it's just people, being themselves how they are at that moment in time. No different than any other time, at the deepest level- "oh that person is just drunk" is just as much a denial and a lie as a drunk person saying "hey I'm sober". Biggest problem with alcohol is the game of pretending it's not a reality. Whatever trip you're on at the moment, that's the trip you're on, same feelings down deep, same responsibilites to others. Think about it. "Some drunk..." That's another [i]human being.[/i] We don't ever really see the roots, just the branches and leaves. That's why you don't say to a drunk person "don't drive, you're drunk", you address the physical impairments. "Man, you just dropped that shit and you can't even walk straight...no way you're having the keys". You address the same stuff you'd address with a sober person, don't get tangled up in some crap about alcohol. Deal with the reality of the moment. Some lady calls you a name, at that moment in time and space, she's some lady calling you a name and that's it. It's noone's place to do some voodoo breathalizer/psych assessment on other people. Human to human as they are at the moment, whatever the cause, which you may or may not know. Lose the whole circle-jerk game of "hey it wasn't me, I was drunk" and "ehhh, they're just drunk". This approach would solve a lot of problems in the world IMHO. Denying or dismissing the reality, even a temporary reality, however induced, of other humans because it doesn't correspond to yours is dangerous, stupid, and arrogant. That'll be .02$ consultation fee, thank you. :D -Bobro

[philbo_Tangent]

Man! After reading all this stuff, I feel really fortunate... When I was out gigging regularly, we had a biker roadie aptly named Dangerous Dan, who could lift our old Altec Voice Of The Theatre speakers unto the truck by himself. We used to play this raucous roadhouse-type bar in a little town in eastern Illinois that had no bouncers. Whenever a drunk would start heckling (3 or 4 times a night, because there was a huge supply of them in that place) Dan would just pick them up by the collar, carry them outside and politely convince them they should reconsider what they were doing. Worked like a charm every time!

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by philbo_Tangent: [b]Dan would just pick them up by the collar, carry them outside and politely convince them they should reconsider what they were doing. Worked like a charm every time![/b][/quote]Man, that's funny, a friend of mine named "Fuzzy" is this gargantuan guy (that now runs sound for Rosie (the singer, not the comedienne)), he used to do that... I remember one club these two guys were fighting at the front of the stage, Fuzzy walks up and picks both of them up by their shirts and hauls them outside while they're were still going at it... Pretty funny. He also did the "One Man P.A. forklift" thing... watched him hand-carry a huge Sonic p.a. cabinet loaded with 2-15's, 2 10's and a horn up a flight of stairs... and I complain about carrying a 1x12 up those same steps...

[strat0124]

My experience is if you go along with the drunks rants, and just let the silliness of the moment become part of your act, it usually smooths over very quickly. Drunks after the show? Well thats another story, but I still use the "everybodies my friend" approach regardless if the drunk is being an ass or not. If it gets to the point of confrontation, its best to walk away, but never under any circumstances let them hit you. Get your gear safe first. And if they persist, still try to get away, but be sure if blows are thrown yours are first. Surprise is the best ingredient to starting and ending a scrap. But I advocate not fighting, and have become a great BS machine while dealing with abstract personalities out in the pubs. Hopefully the wait staff are in the area to control it for you.

[teh dri]

i played the 'side-room' of a rave once with a side-project band id created cause our main band was busy writing the album and i...well like to be on stage anyway the event wasnt as good as it could have been and my sampler kept dying (covered for well by our Emergency Minidisc) anyway i noticed three drunk/smashed people off to my forward left who were singing along to a Nu Skool Breaks track (think breakbeat electronic bass heavy stuff... funky and all that) obviously there were no vocals to this track being a rave style event. what made it worse was how LOUD they were singing. to be heard at ALL at this event was something interesting, let alone ME hearing them over the FOH and my monitor anyway, instead of letter it get to me i actually got them up on stage, introduced them accordingly as the drunks who were singing etc etc (obviously with a little more tact then that) and got them to sing their little song over a rythm track i had "spare" in my drum machine they had a blast, it diffused my tension, the crowd cheered and laughed and, i find out later, it was filmed and the event promoters thought it was hilarious i only mention all this because im no socialite and would normally keeping a drunk laughing seems to be 50% of the battle in diffusing their threat