LARRY THE LIZARD

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From Flipper: 

Back in college, which for me was at Umass, Amherst in the 1980s, there was much drinkery and more. I was also on the extended college plan having taken time off for one reason or another. 

Over time I met many souls, and one such guy nic-named Shrub, because his hair looked like one, was quite the partier indeed. He invited us over his rented apartment one afternoon and went to grab some schnapps out of the freezer where he kept it chilled. He also had this toy plastic lizard in there he named Larry. I think after a football player, although some thought it was after Larry Bird of the then great Celtics. Either way, he said he got it at some thrift shop and he poured a shot into the lizard's open mouth and drank it. 

He then poured another and handed it to me. And so on. We all had shots of Larry. We then headed over to this keg party (then known as keggers) and had to pay $3 to get in. They gave us red cups. We had a tough time getting beer and soon figure out that people with blue cups were getting beers but not people with the red ones. So I took Larry to the guy with the keg tap and got him to fill just the lizard, which holds about a shot. He did so and I drank it. Then he poured another and so on, and soon everyone around the keg was chanting Larry. Then he began to fill our cups too. We left that party as super stars at least in our minds. 

Later, Larry parties became the norm. But Larry got lost and there was much sadness. Until a girl I was dating found another at a store. Looking back, she was a rocker and she also found my drinking tool so she was a keeper too, but I was young and stupid and let her go over time. Am better off now but still, you get my point. The new Larry lived on for many moons. Then a friend found a store that sold them. I would later meet a better girl and marry her cuz she was way cooler and even hottah! 

Like the gnome from that travel company commercial, Larry goes everywhere. unlike the gnome, there can be more than one, which is the beauty of Larry. And the gnome is silly. Larry goes sick and looks like he is ready to rock And he is meant to get stolen. the word was spread and more Larry partying was had by all. Later, a company out west was found that sold them by the case. I bought hundreds. They have to be Larrilized --have the name LARRY written on the front in sharpie, and the foot colored black, and then they are valid. Later, when my clan of college friends migrated to the world of getting ski houses, we brought Larry with us and he took over ski towns by storm, particularly, Stowe, VT where many of us still go and some even moved to. 

Some locals up there still think my real name is Larry. I started an events planning business with Larry as the mascot and did well for a while, but all things do end. At the time I had even trademarked Larry and this came in handy when Budweiser wanted to make lizard mascots but we asked them not to in writing and they actually listened. We did host some pretty sick parties with local bands and whatnot, and had like 500+ people at some of these gigs. Many Jimmy Buffett tailgate parties too with 200+ and live bands and everything involving a tequila drinking Lizard. And in VT, bars had Larrys behind the bar for people who wanted a shot, and there were ski events and dummy air contests with giant Larrys in them. I entered a pond skimming contest too dressed as the giant lizarde. And Larry, the many that were out there, traveled the world. He met Gorbachev, Al Gore, movie stars, and went to places like Stonehenge and the south pacific. This was all before the miles craze we started out with. 

One of my main concepts was that if I created enough hype about this lizard, people would naturally hear about it and want to know what it was, and then that alone would create more hype, so this could create something big. This was before social media and selfies so I was onto something but without the computer. And it was working. 

A web site was started with another guy named AF Grant. He did the content and posted tons of funny pics of Larry. AF went on to make plush Larrys for kids and even a book about his Larry which you can buy on Amazon. He has the site, Larrythelizard.com now but this site is about the actual, real Larry, which you can drink out of, which is way bettah than kid's plush toys. Unless, I guess, you are a kid. Then again, everyone I know from college who loved Larry also had one for their kids to play with when they were growing up, so maybe we will let the next generation decide. And speaking of Star Trek, Larry even made it onto the Voyager series--Season 3, Episodes 8&9, "The Future's End" when they go back in time to LA in 1996 and visit a scientist in an observatory who has a Larry perched on her computer, but that's another story, and I don't believe that Larry was Larilized. 

*****

From Fidor: 

There was some banter regarding Larry's origins and the false connection to Lawrence Taylor by the NY contingent. This week I reconnected with my old friend Mike Arnold, Larry's original owner. Below is the dialogue that sets the record straight:

“So Mike, believe it or not, Larry the Lizard became a party community icon for years after UMass. A friend of mine had a website dedicated to Larry hijinx. Another friend had other plans and subsequently Larry has evolved into a plush stuffed animal and children’s book series. This actually caused a rift among some friends because they believed it ignored Larry’s original mission statement lol.

Now there are some NY UMass guys saying that LARRY was named after Lawrence Taylor when nothing could be further from the truth. 

Sometime after the original was lost, a source was found and Larrys were purchased by the case. There were Larrys attached to skis, a giant Larry suit, etc. But the 33 was replaced with Larry’s name, so the Larry Bird connection has become a cause for debate and guys are telling me now that Larry Bird had nothing to do with it. That’s where I draw the line...

As Larry’s original owner, could you shed some light on the origin of Larry for these guys? (Who obviously he was named after, why he had a giant number 33 on his chest etc.) I have been trying to tell them but they do not believe. 

Isn’t that what LinkedIn is all about?”

Mike's response:

“He was looking at me I was looking at him one night at the red house, (remember that place in front of the apartment we had in town). He jumped out at me I took him to a party he rocked the place, drinking shots out of his mouth etc. named after arguably the greatest hoop player of all time, on and on. I miss the reptile. 

The original also had a foot missing, burnt off, but he could still go! Tell NY not even close...no false legacy!”

I gave Mike A some background on Larry over the years and sent him the link to the Larry kids site. I told of the old website that had been made that Flipper started and AF Grant helped create- All kinds of Larry related craziness. Not about money at all, just sickness. Then AF Grant wanted to make money with this and so he trademarked Larry and made the kids stuff. 

He's amazed at how much it has grown and loves all of it. He also agrees with the consensus here that it’s great for kids but when they grow up already indoctrinated into Larrydom they’re going to need a plastic Larry to drink beer out of. So there should be a website for Larry’s original mission of fun and sickness and imbibing...

Heywup! ⛷

*****

PS: 'Twas Shrub who got Larry from Mike and brought him forth to first go sick. This is known. And it turns out that Shrub be the brother of Fidor, and the brother of Fidor is who he be! 

In the latter years of Umass, Larry lived out his days at Theta Chi Fraternity with Flipper and friends who boarded there. Shrub was among these friends and he had invented the term "going sick." A shout out goes to the brothers from other muthahz. It was Shrub who helped usher skiing into Larry's world and a Theta Chi bloke named Dave who said, "Bløep, I kant meuve!" who told Flipper which Vermont mountain to go to from then on.  Larry has skied and traveled ever since, and he continues to entertain people ünd kinder all over de wereled! 

From Tonner, who has spoken of Lare on April Fools Day 2021 and is not quite a fan of the direction AF Grant took the former website to run a business for plush lare and all... 

The olde Larry website site, as we knew it, shouldn't be resurrected.

Its legacy gives it value. That, at one point in time, there was this wondrous website that served as a kind of sanctuary, far from the mediocrity of our daily lives. 

It's like going to Fenway Park on a Saturday afternoon.

Suddenly, you're surrounded by greenery, far from the maddening crowd and chaos of that which exists outside its walls.

The comet that burns twice as bright only burns half as long.

That is Larry's legacy...

As one friend said, “Larry is the stupidest and greatest thing I have I have seen, but it works! I’ve seen proof if it!”

The Munich Mädchen pictured here named Martina loved the fun and community that Larry helps bring forth. 

Alas, once enough people around you enjoy and drink from Larry, you now have to wonder... they can’t all be wrong.

Of course, just like any style or idea, there are some people for whom Larry just does not work. That’s fine. We hope they just say something like, “Well that’s not for me” and politely move on and not be a jerk about it. But some are actually angry or mean when they call it stupid—and it is (in a silly way), but some of these folks get downright mad about it.

My thinking is: Look, we work hard, try to be good, maybe some of us have families or very busy positions in important jobs, school, etc... so I think we need and should have a time to enjoy silly fun in our own way. What’s the harm? Maybe you just need to go sick once and a while and not care about the matters of self-perfection. Nobody will attain it anyway. And those who strive for perfect by putting others down, well, they are the real fools. Live a little! Let go, and enjoy. Larry is about fun and community! 

But some folks want to put it down and call it foolish, and they can be serious buzz killers who cannot let any new ideas in. They might even get surly or pushy about it. Larry has seen it! We try to avoid those people but all are welcomed anyway so we hope they will come around. 

And yet, to most rational people, hatred, selfishness and staunchness are the things that are actually stupid, not some toy lizzid that people think is cool to drink out of.

What’s really interesting is how bringing out Larry can reveal so much about people. You’ll find that many drinkers chuckle or cheer, some try a drink and say “woo hoo!” and some do so to say, “ah heck, why not!” But some people need to be angry and against mixing traditions even for a silly moment and so if they have been hiding this attitude, the introduction of Larry will reveal it to you as you present the lizard and they turn away in anger or loudly protest that they would never do such things!

Look folks, Larry has been around for a long time, actually, and so melding him with other drinking traditions should be celebrated, not shunned. After all, those old traditions were new once too!

So if someone offers you a shot of Lare and you don’t want it, just smile and wave and enjoy your fun. Let others have theirs. Of course if you do enjoy your first shot of Larry, you will see what we mean!

The youthful, vibrant, international crowd of Munich's Oktoberfest Hofbräu tent (circa Sept. 2019) and some of its lovely staff embraced Larry and he thanks you all for your support and willingness to go sick.