Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | March 12, 2014
Dan Harmon, the creator of Community, Rick and Morty, and Heat Vision and Jack decided last year to take his weird and wonderful podcast Harmontown on the road. He gathered up his posse and boarded a bus for a three-week cross-country and back again tour. In addition to being a (sometimes uncomfortably) close look at a brilliant man and the community he has created, it’s also a major study in alcohol intake. You may, therefore, be tempted to keep up, drink for drink, with the film. However, Dan is a professional and a “drink when they drink” mentality may have you under the table long before the end of the movie. Instead, let me propose the following: The Harmontown Drinking Game.
Drink because Jeff B. Davis is a super serious actor.
Jeff is Dan’s comptroller. He was on Who’s Line is it Anyway? He’s a super serious actor. He does vocal exercises and everything. Drink when anyone references this.
Drink for Erin’s amazing dresses.
Dan’s girlfriend — now fiancé — Erin (who, full disclosure, I once shared a college dorm room with) must have packed twelve suitcases of amazing dresses, and another eight of petticoats. Drink for each new dress.
Drink for every dice roll.
Dungeons and Dragons is a major component of the Harmontown live show. In fact, their Dungeon Master Spencer occasionally rivals Dan for the role of the film’s main protagonist. So drink for Spencer.
Drink for the Hero’s Journey.
Dan Harmon has a huge storytelling boner for the myth master Joseph Campbell. Dan applies his story circles to everything he does, including his attempt to analyze and self-direct own documentary as it’s being made.
Drink for Chevy.
Because when Dan drunk-dials Chevy Chase, it’s so uncomfortable you need to drink.
Drink when anyone compares Dan to a toddler.
Dan will be the first (but not the last) to call himself a “grown, rich, hairy toddler.” Drink when anyone calls him a baby, a toddler, or a man child.
Drink for a Dan Harmon hug.
Because as he says, “they grow on trees.” The man appreciates his fans and is always game for a hug.
Drink for Erin the Overworked Merch Wench.
For a guy who wants nothing more than for everyone to feel included, he frequently overlooks those closest to him. Drink every time Spencer and Erin are left on their own to push shopping carts overflowing with merchandise to a venue.
Drink for the outsiders.
The documentary’s director, Neil Berkeley has said ” [The film is] not about liking or loving Dan, but understanding why those people are in that room.” Fans are drawn to Harmon’s work because he serves as a sort of beacon for outcasts. Over and over in the movie we hear people say that Dan makes them feel understood, appreciated, accepted. So drink for that.
Drink for Dan’s ego.
The flip side of that nerd messiah role is that upon dissection, it’s not as altruistic as it first appears. Harmon himself has said, “there’s not that much more to me than just a guy who wants people to like him,” and that he wants to change the world. But there’s the rub. More than seeing the world change, he wants to be the person that does it. That’s his ultimate goal. Sure, it’s great if people feel loved and accepted, but if he’s not the person to give that to them, than what’s the damn point? Is his role as happiness-bestower more important than the happiness itself? That’s a question that my 3 credits of undergrad psych does not prepare me to answer, so instead let’s just drink whenever the question’s brought up, mmkay?
Harmontown premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival in Austin.
Vivian Kane understands there are people who DON’T sneak beers into the movie theater, but she doesn’t know what that’s like.
