Tequila Club
Tequila Club
Tequila Club is a drinking system that requires members to follow specific linguistic rules during a series of rounds, each featuring a spirit-based drink.
History
The Club was first instituted sometime between 2000 and 2003 in Bobbys, as a systematized community method of drinking Tequila - which nobody really likes. The rules that evolved are based around those present at that first occasion, but they have changed over the years to reflect the growing popularity of Tequila Club, a general trend of de-regulation in Bedlam, and the Club's creator leaving Edinburgh. The idea of a tequila 'Club' is based loosely on David Fincher's 1999 film version of Scott Palahniuk's novel "Fight Club", although the rules differ significantly.
Original rules
The Club requires six Members at any one time, one of whom takes the role of the host (although no such title has ever been specifically set). The Tequila Club begins when one Member buys a round of Tequila, ideally accompanied by salt and lemon/lime and normally carried on a tray: at this point many present will comment along the lines of "oh no!" and "what have you done?", leading to the self-selection of those six who are hard-core enough to be members for the first round. The club then proceeds as follows:
- The host speaks: "Ladies and gentlemen of Tequila Club! Six there must be - not five, no, nor seven, nay, but six - six for the circle to be complete! Number off along the boat!"
- The other members then each speak "one", "two", three", "four" or "five" in turn.
- The host then says: "Six. Six there indeed are! Ladies and gentlemen of Tequila Club - make ready!"
- The members clink their glasses together, and prepare themselves.
- The host finally says: "Ladies and gentlemen of Tequila Club: Round One - Fight!"
- All members drink, accompanied by salt and lemon/lime in the approved way if available.
- (It is usually advisable to have a chaser of something less tequila-y on standby.)
- This completes the first round.
Further rounds then proceed in exactly the same way, with the following caveats:
- Tequila is only a requirement of the first round: any spirit-based or 'short' drink is allowed in subsequent rounds of the Club. (Strictly speaking, a Black Techie would not be permitted, although some have featured in past Clubs.)
- Membership in the Club is fluid: members are not required to participate in all rounds, and membership can be transferred and swopped. It is only necessary for there to be six members at any one time.
It is usually expected that the host will remain a Member throughout the duration of a particlar Club, and the the same Member will be the host in all the rounds of that Club - although these are guidelines, not rules.
The Club continues until not enough Members want to carry on, everybody runs out of money or too many people are sick.
Notes:
- The phrase "number off along the boat" comes from the practice of splitting a rowing crew into odd and even numbers 'along the boat' to facilitate lifting a hull from rack to water.
- The phrase "round one - fight!" is taken from 'Mortal Kombat'.
- It is traditional (and, indeed, practical) that any round which includes Pete as a Member should take care to arrange a clear route between Pete and the toilets.
The Next Generation rules
After a couple of years of successful operation, Tequila Club relaxed its rule structure significantly. This largely manifested itself in removing the limit of "six there must be", initially doubling this to a Membership number of twelve for certain Clubs before abandoning it completely in later years.
The End-Of-Fringe Party in August, 2005, saw the most notable recent example. A Tequila Club had taken place in the Scene Dock during the previous two Fringe Parties, but the combination of many Members and an extremely poor selection of hideous alcohol resulted in what may be the last major Tequila Club for some time.
