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  August 26, 2009

  'Three Sheets' Zane Lamprey Talks Booze, Oktoberfest and Zanetoberfest

  For those of us who wish that we could spend our days traveling from continent to continent just to find the local watering hole, Zane Lamprey is a hero. The Three Sheets host has been from Belgium to Croatia to Tanzania and South Korea all to find out what makes the locals tick -- at least as it relates to the bar scene.
  
  But if you're tired of just watching Zane do his work on TV (specifically on the Fine Living Network -- weeknights at 10PM), then why not join him for a few drinks. The party lover has been hosting some parties of his own in New York, L.A. and several other cities to connect with his fans.
  
  His upcoming bash, Zanetoberfest, will be taking place in New York City on October 3 at M2 Ultra Lounge -- and, for those in the neighborhood, you should come because it sounds like it's going to be a blast. Even our buddies over at Mutineer Magazine are involved.
  
  But before you go running off to get your tickets, check out what Zane himself has to say. I sat down with Zane to talk about Zanetoberfest, his Three Sheets travels and the authentic Oktoberfest in Munich.

  How exactly did you get involved with Three Sheets?
  I just got lucky. I went into audition for something and they said, "Wow, you're so wrong for what you're auditioning for but would you be interested in doing a show where you travel around the world and drink?" And I was like, Yeah. What do you think?
  
  I was there to audition for a Food Network Show and they said, do you want to travel around the world and get paid to drink. That's something I'd be interested in. Yeah, that's sort of a rhetorical question.
  
  Of all the places that you've visited, did you find a favorite hangover remedy?
  I talk about that all the time because there's not really such a thing out there as a cure for hangovers. To me, the idea of a cure is something that would alleviate your hangover in less time than if you didn't treat it at all. You know. There certainly are remedies that make the time waiting it out a little easier but I don't think there's necessarily such a thing as a cure.
  
  And it's remedies that I have ... It's funny because I wrote about this on my Facebook or something last night. I've been around the world basically exploring drinking cultures but also investigating hangover cures. And so for me, the thing I do when I have a hangover, I still take two Tylenol and eat a bunch, drink a bunch of water and, if I can, go back to sleep or just wait it out.
  
  I had a really bad one the other day and I took two Advil or Tylenol, whatever they were, and I ate a big lunch or breakfast and I just I went about my day miserable knowing that by about noon, I'd feel better. So you know ... you'd think that someone who went to fifty countries and investigated this would have a better solution but, in fact, there is none.
  
  I think it's sort of like a cure for the common cold. If there was a cure for the hangover, we'd all know about it. It would have to be like, Hey, have you ever tried this pill or this thing. If it works, it works and we would all be using it.
  
  Have you ever tried bananas?
  Just flat out eating bananas? No, is it something to do with the potassium or something?
  
  Yeah. That's what I've heard. Every now and then, it works for me.
  All right, I'll try it. I'll try it next time. I prefer not to have them but when I do, next time, I will have bananas. Now you have given me advice on my job.
  
  It's funny because you'd think that I'd have the inside scoop on it and I'm the first one to admit that I don't. When I put it on my Facebook yesterday, I think there was over a hundred people that responded with all these crazy things. That's when you can tell that there's no real actual cure.
  
  And the fact that you said that bananas sometimes work for you, it shows everyone has all these witch doctor things and there's no proven way to take it away every single time. I like to jump in the water, like a cold pool or something like that. That's amazing. But I'm not going to take a cold shower because that'd be painful.
  
  Where did you find the most surprisingly energetic bar culture?
  I guess the only place that I was necessarily surprised by was maybe South Korea. They like to have good time. A lot of other Asian countries too. Japan was amazing. And Taiwan Taipei. They are very rigid as far as their culture is concerned when they're sober during the day.
  
  But when they drink, all those ettiquettes and all those rules sort of fly out the window and it's just like they love to drink and they love to out-drink. I was the guest so their goal, for whatever reason, was to get me as drunk as they possibly could. In South Korea, in Taiwan, in Japan, that was their objective was to see how drunk they could get me.
  
  I was surprised by that -- I welcomed the challenge. It was fun but it definitely caught me a little off guard.
  
  Do you have any good drinking stories from all of these travels?
  I have plenty. In fifty episodes, I probably shot like 500 different scenes and they all involved drinking. A lot of times when I sit down to interview someone, there's the language barrier, there's cultural barriers and stuff like that and they make it clear that they're not comfortable and they only want to be interviewed for like ten minutes and this and that.
  
  But by the time we get a few drinks going and they realize that I'm just a fun guy who's not out to make them look like an idiot or like they don't know the English language very well. I only speak one language so I'm impressed when someone can speak to me in English when that's not their primary language.
  
  I say, I usually start an interview with a hand shake and end with a hug. It's pretty consistent. I mean, sure it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a pretty easy-going guy and funny, probably mostly when I'm not trying to be. But alcohol is a social lubricant. That's what it's best at doing. After you have one or maybe two, it gets people to loosen up and really, I think, be more comfortable. Get rid of some of those inhibitions that we as people in any society have built into us.
  
  You went to Oktoberfest in Munich for a Three Sheets episode during Season 2. Was that the first time that you had been to Oktoberfest in Munich?
  
  That was absolutely the first time. That was my first Oktoberfest. And let me tell you something, it's an amazing site, first of all. In twelve days, they get 6 million people, that's half a million people every single day. That's more than the population of most cities. 500,000 people -- that's a city right there. On probably a four-square mile or maybe a two-square mile block there.
  
  But the amazing thing there was that, first of all, the Germans are massive. They're all so tall, it's almost comical. And they drink like fish especially at Oktoberfest. But, again, with them, like the way South Koreans or in Japan, Germany, they are very serious in a lot of things and in business and just during the day, they are just very serious about things.
  
  And at night, man, these are the same guys that let their hair down and go crazy. And there's a lot of hugging and stuff going on. But I didn't see one altercation of any sort and it was amazing to have that much beer and that many people that are over their limit and everyone's just jovial and having a great time. It was pretty amazing.
  
  That might have been what I was shocked by most of that. And the fact that each tent holds over ten thousand people ... It's a massive event.
  
  Have you ever celebrated Oktoberfest in the States anywhere?
  Yeah, I've gone to smaller parties. There's one in L.A. down in Torrance -- it's an Oktoberfest. It's certainly not as grandiose as anything of the original but it's a fun time. It's an excuse to drink in copious amounts and staying and having a good time. It was fun. But nothing compares -- Oktoberfest in Munich, it's something that everyone needs to see. It's an amazing thing.
  
  But then there's Zanetoberfest. And this is just one of your many Zanefest parties?
  We started off doing these little pub crawls. We could only accommodate like 60 people because we'd fill up a bar if we'd go pub crawling and as fun and sort of intimate, I guess, as the events were, only 60 people could go. It wasn't reaching as many people as I wanted because I just wanted to be able to go and have fun with as many people as possible.
  
  These events came out of those pub crawls. We just got done with Zanedependence Day in Chicago and Zane De Mayo in L.A. And Zane Patrick's Day in New York and this one will be our biggest one ever. We rented out M2 Ultra Lounge on West 28th which used to be known as the Mansion or just as Mansion. And it's a huge place. It can hold like 2,700 people.
  
  And it'll definitely have an Oompa band -- an authentic German band playing sets of great music. We have some beer companies coming in and I'll be up on stage doing my stand up. Steve McKenna will be there. It'll be the most amazing event yet. It's going to be incredible.
  
  And the Friday before that you'll be hosting the "Ski Patrol" dinner at Lederhosen?
  So Ski Patrol is, when we shot the pilot, there was this guy who would not leave me alone. And he was a Polish guy, he kept saying that he was a ski patrol. "I am ski patrol. You come to my cabin, we will drink." He would not leave me alone.
  
  So now the crew, we had this little code that if someone looked like they were going to be a stalker, we pointed them out as "ski patrol" because no one knew what that meant. But then we talked about it in another episode, I think it was even in Japan or something, and let people know what ski patrol meant. And now it's like sort of a term of endearment for the super fans is the ski patrol.
  
  We have the ski patrol dinner at Lederhosen the Friday night before. Even though that dinner is $250, that thing just fills up like that, you know, it's pretty quick. But there's still plenty of tickets for the event the next day. For ski patrol, I think there's probably ten tickets left out of 75.
  
  And Lederhosen is a great bar, too.
  It's a fun place and you know what, I would have loved to have done my big party there but the space just wasn't big enough. So now we're basically turning M2 Ultra Lounge into an Oktoberfest tent. It's going to be amazing.
  
  And we got Jagermeister involved and the Fine Living Network is involved, Mutineer Magazine is involved. We've got all these companies that are doing what they can do to make the event as fun as possible. And I'm actually going to be doing for the first time my stand up which is based on Three Sheets so I'll be on stage for a bit doing my show.
  
  And then there's a red carpet and I'll be taking pictures with people on the red carpet and I'll be mingling and drinking with people. It's always a great event but I'm telling you there's no better place to have it than in New York because the amount of people and the quality of people that come there, it's just so much fun, it's ridiculous.
  
  I just love going out and meeting the Three Sheets fans. That's basically why these events were created -- to get out there and into the mix. I can be on the air and have no contact with Three Sheets fans but I prefer the opposite of that. I prefer to be out there and in the mix. And so that's why I'm doing these events to basically hit different corners of the country and be able to be out there and you know. We say, I know how to party, I have enough experience. I also know how to throw one.
  
  Are there any other cities where you would like to throw a party, aside form New York, L.A. and Chicago?
  Everyone's always saying, "Hey, come to Austin" or "come to Milwaukee," you know, all these great places where I'd love to do these parties but it just doesn't work out for us now because it's such an expense to get the venue and to get all this. We need to be in these big markets right now.
  
  Hopefully at some point, it changes. And I'm able to go around -- which I expect that I will at some point. But for now, we gotta stay in these big cities. I live in L.A. which is why we do a bunch here and I'm from New York so I love to go to New York to do them. We did them in Chicago; we've gone to Boston and San Francisco. We just have to stay in these big markets for now just to make it financially viable.
  
  As much as I love to go out and hang out with people, I can't lose money doing it. It's definitely a question I get asked every single day. It's like, "Hey, why don't you come to this city." Everyone has a good argument. I wish I could. I wish I could.

  Source: Digital City

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