The URDB Blog

Thursday, December 10 at 7-10 pm, Piano’s Upstairs Lounge

Following a brief NYC hiatus and two sold-out events on the West Coast, the World Record Appreciation Society is coming back strong with holiday-themed world record blowout extravaganza. As our opening act, we’re thrilled to have comedians Sara Schaefer, Jon Friedman, and Cory Cavin, also known as “the mega-hilarious trio that drive the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon website.”

Record-wise, an outstanding lineup of performers is being assembled. On the bill so far:

• Stephen Shirley: Fastest Time To Drink A Bottle Of Tabasco Sauce Through A Coffee Stirrer

• Andrea Rosen: Fastest Time To Open An Advent Calendar And Eat All The Chocolates In Order

• Jon Friedman: Most Times Saying “Yo” In 15 Seconds

• Esther Silberstein: Fastest Rendition Of “Sleigh Ride” While Accompany Oneself On Cowbell And Kazoo

• Todd Lamb: Fastest Time To Vacuum One Pound Of Sugar

• Alexandra Young: Longest “Suck and Blow” Chain

• Jake Bronstein: Fastest Time To Open A Bottle Of Wine Without Using A Corkscrew

• Corbin “The Rustler” Day vs. Josh Golding in a “Longest Tape Measure Extension Toss” Battle Royale

To get on the bill and set your own record, email hello@URDB.org. Cost of admission is $7. Advance tickets are HIGHLY recommended, and available here. All proceeds from the event will be donated to New York Cares.

Hope you’ll join us for what looks to be a night of serious mayhem. If you come and it sucks, we’ll give you your money back.

November 17, 2009, 4:52pm

Bay Area! We’re flying west for a night of world record insanity at the Hemlock Tavern. Thursday, September 24th. Email me at dan@URDB.org to get on the bill and set a record. Advance tickets highly recommended - our last San Francisco event sold out. Tickets available here. Dan

September 07, 2009, 1:18pm

Though recent appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and at the Pitchfork Fest in Chicago have been fun, we are bonkers with excitement about this upcoming event. Save the date of Wednesday, August 12. It’ll be our first-ever themed night of world records. And the theme? Fooooooood!

“Food records” doesn’t necessarily mean shoving hot dogs down your throat. Past records we’ve documented include Tallest Carrot Cake, Most Names Written On A Dry Piece Of Spaghetti and Fastest Time To Open A Can Of Alphabet Soup And Spell ‘PANTYHOSE’.

CURRENT LINEUP:

*    Longest Cupcake Kebab - Nichelle Stephens and Rachel Kramer Bussel of Cupcakes Take The Cake and Nora Vetter of Nibbles by Nora

*    Most Crustless PB&J Sandwiches Made By 7 People In 1 Minute - Hilary Hodge & Friends

*    Most Crustless PB&J Sandwiches Eaten By 1 Person In 7 Bites - Jake Bronstein

* Fastest Time To Spell “I ♥ PICKLED HERRING” Using Pickled Herrings And Then Eat It - Adam Pollock of Fifty Bucks A Week, herring from Russ & Daughters

*    Most Cherries Pitted In One Minute - Harry Rosenblum of The Brooklyn Kitchen

*    Tallest S’more - Clint Cantwell of Smoke In Da Eye

*    Most Tortillas Frisbeed In 30 Seconds - Alexandra Young

*    Most Pig Parts Tasted In One Sitting - Sasha Wizansky of Meatpaper, meat from Marlowe & Daughters

*    Fewest Times Eating Out In New York City In Two Years By A Full-time New York City Resident - Cathy Erway

*    Longest Connection Of Individual Straws To Drink A Coca-Cola - Phil Covitz

*    Most Birthday Candles Fit On A Cupcake And Lit - Mike and Jane Sweeney

*    Most “Fruity” Jokes Told To A Piece Of Fruit In 30 Seconds - Catie Lazarus

*    Most Tire-Shaped Cookies Fed To Audience While Listening To ‘Flight Of The Bumblebee’ - Opus Moresechi

*    Fastest Backwards Rendition Of Alphabet While Balancing Egg On Head And
Spoon On Nose - Adriana Yugovich

The night will open with an ultra-spectacular Food Party screening, to be presented by series creator Thu Tran. Thu and her Food Party posse are lining up a few other surprises throughout the night.

Special guests From Bacteria To Boys featuring the legendary Mike Pride will be our house band, rocking Crash Mansion the entire night.

Cost of event is $5, free if you’re unemployed. Advance tickets are highly recommended, and can be purchased here.

Date: Wednesday, August 12

Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Location: Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery (@ Spring), NYC

* Named Best Oddball Night by New York Magazine

* Featured by CNN, BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News with Charles Gibson, Inside Edition, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

July 29, 2009, 7:23pm

Greetings from the always hectic URDB HQ. We’ve been buried by submissions since our recent appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and with three live events in the next month, there appears to be no end in sight. First up, next week’s World Record Appreciation Society #7 at Crash Mansion here in New York City.

The night is shaping up to be massive, with the world premiere of a short film from fish sandwich lover Todd Lamb, the musical comedy offerings of Erin and Her Cello, the sweet jazz of our house band Blast Off!!!, and a whole slew of record setters.

CONFIRMED WORLD RECORDS SO FAR:

* Giorgio the Human Carpet - Most Women To Stand On A Man Rolled Up In A Carpet

* Marcus Livesay - Most Names Written On An Uncooked Piece Of Spaghetti

* Betsy Davis - Longest Balloon Squeak

* Alexandra Young - Most Autographs Signed On A Person’s Stomach In One Minute

* Evan Berger - Fastest Time To Drink A Beer Through A Cocktail Straw

* Justin Gignac - Most Fortune Cookies Eaten and Read In One Minute

* Jon Chonko - Most Toppings On A Scanned Sandwich

* Jake Bronstein - Longest Whisper Chain (Attempt #2)

* Chris Beresford-Hill - Mystery Record

* Blast Off!!! - Fewest Beats Of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ Played In One Minute

* Erin Hall - Most Bisous Given During The Duration Of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Comic Strip”

More records to be announced shortly. $5 advance tickets can be bought here, and are highly recommended.

July 09, 2009, 6:32pm

Greetings from an extraordinarily busy URDB HQ. Fresh off our appearance yesterday on CNN.com, we’re lining up some events this summer we wanted to share.

First off, we’re heading back to Crash Mansion on July 14th for our first World Record Appreciation Society event of Summer 2009. Though it’s over a month away, record setters are already emailing and asking to get on the bill. More details and special surprises to be announced soon. Advance tickets will be available soon.

Second, we’re partnering with Team Saucony and heading to Chicago to spend two days (July 17 and 18) documenting records at the uber-radical Pitchfork Music Festival. Any bands we should see? If you’ll be there, be sure to come say hi.

Third, in case you’re someone who likes planning in advance, we’ll be back at Crash Mansion on Wednesday, August 12th..  Heck, I might even set a record that night. Stay tuned.

More announcements coming soon, including other events across the country and (fingers crossed) an exciting appearance on national TV. Thanks as always for your support.

Keep the records coming, Dan

June 11, 2009, 5:45pm

Hi all. If you’ll be in New York on Wednesday, May 20, please join us for what will be our biggest world record event yet. The lineup is looking bonkers. Massively fun times await.

Pianos was getting a bit squishy, so we’ve moved to Crash Mansion a few blocks away. We’ll have a ton more seating, a higher stage, a bar menu, video monitors…even a green room where record setters can hang out to escape paparazzi.

Confirmed Record Attempters So Far:

* Alexandra Young - Longest Scarf Knit In Two Hours

* Debbie Hampton - Most Knock Knock Jokes Told In One Minute

* Cynthia Kueppers and Dave Bredesen - Tallest Carrot Cake

* Molly Rosen - Fastest Recitation Of The First Paragraph Of ‘Lolita’ While Doing A Backbend

* Matt Kenefick - Most Pickup Lines Delivered In One Minute

* Opus Moreschi (Colbert Report writer) - Sham-Wow Record TBD

* Jake Bronstein and Kristina Hoge - Longest Whisper Chain

* Larry Smith - Most Six-Word Quotes Read In One Minute

* Emily Wilson - Most Consecutive People Beaten In Arm Wrestling By A Woman In Her Third Trimester Of Pregnancy

The extremely funny Craig Baldo (Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, Premium Blend) will open the night, and McSweeney’s contributor Colin Nissan will be reading some of his hilarious shorts.

BONUS NEWS: We just booked the mucho-radical Blast Off!!! as our house band for the night. Super stoked to have them onboard.

For advance ticket sales, please click here. Buying in advance is highly recommended.

Hope to see you there,

Team URDB

May 09, 2009, 12:29pm

Following a whirlwind month that included stops in Austin, San Francisco, San Diego and 30 Rock, we returned to New York’s Lower East Side for our monthly World Record Appreciation Society event.  Following a raucous stand-up set by the lovely and hilarious Jessi Klein, a totally sold-out crowd saw records set, tears (almost) shed and a surprise appearance by the legendary Bill Geist. Here’s a quick recap, with records and videos to be posted shortly.

Longest Flute Trill

Alexandra Young took one heck of a breath before playing a continuous trill for just shy of 23 seconds, a new world record. Beat that, Michael Phelps.

Most High-Fives While An Audience Recites The Pledge Of Allegiance

Hunter Duncan and Guy Harper connected palms approximately 75 times while the patriotic audience pledged to an American flag onstage. It felt just as thrilling as Inauguration Day.

Tallest Drawing of a Midget

URDB All-Star Todd Lamb defied vertical stereotypes by sketching a 10-foot, 8 1/4” midget, the tallest little person the world has ever seen.

Most Tootsie Rolls Stuffed in Mouth

Birthday girl Ali Lapinsky aimed to fit 23 Tootsie Rolls in her mouth to celebrate her new age, but managed to surpass that with a whopping 25. Extremely classy.

Most Different Meows in One Minute

Sara Goldberg explored the furthest reaches of cat vernacular, verbalizing an astounding 20 variations on the “meow.” Her performance included “cat stuck in closet,” “cat allergic to owner” and “cat looking at its 401(k) in 2009.”

Most Tweets to MCHammer in One Minute Using a Cell Phone

Brian Ries pushed his love of parachute pants to the limit, sending 6 @ replies to Hammer in one minute. Most of the tweets were incomprehensible, save for “@mchammer hello I miss Ure music luv ur jams.” Please, Twitter, don’t hurt ‘em.

Most Records Set in One Minute

Jake Bronstein confidently pursued four different world records within the space of one minute, which is itself a new record. So, actually, that made it five records. His feats included Fastest Time To Lead Five “Hey”/”Ho” Call And Responses (2.96 seconds), Fastest Time To Drink A Pint Of Water (6.03 seconds), Most Lizard Tongue Flicks In Ten Seconds (official count to be released shortly), and Fastest Time To Break Ten Pencils (11.22 seconds).

Most Times Opening And Closing Pants Zipper In 30 Seconds

Tom Peyton opened and closed the fly on his Levi’s jeans 96 times in 30 seconds, a new world record. Mick Jagger would’ve dug this feat.

Most Tandem Single-Rope Jumps While Listening to “It’s Tricky”

The soon-to-be-married Andrea D’Attansio and Phil Covitz demonstrated their love by performing over 100 tandem jumps during the duration of Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky.”

Most Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Chicken-Pecked Off a Table in One Minute

Lev Kushner orally wowed us by gobbling up 29 goldfish crackers in one minute using nothing but his mouth. He also made a lot of angry chicken sounds for good measure.

Most Ear Wiggles in 30 Seconds

Rachel Sklar courageously volunteered to set an impromptu record, managing around 60 ear wiggles in half a minute.

Sadly, the night saw a few failed attempts as well:

Fastest Time to Cry [Failed]

Julia Kaganskiy bravely returned to the Pianos stage after last month’s first bump record debacle to attempt a record for fastest time to cry. Unfortunately, the pressure proved too much. Kaganskiy was unable to shed a tear and walked offstage with shame and sadness.

Frankie Norstad attempted the same record after Julia’s failed attempt, but also failed to cry.

Fastest Time To Recite All 50 U.S. States In Alphabetical Order While Talking On Phone To Grandmother On Her Birthday [Failed]

David Stonehill called his grandmother on his iPhone and attempted to run through all the states after wishing her a happy birthday, but ultimately disappointed both her and the crowd by forgetting to mention Nevada.

Thanks to everyone who came out. Super fun times. Details on our April event to be posted soon, or just join our Facebook group to stay informed on all events.

March 30, 2009, 6:50pm

Escaping the winter of cold of New York City, we hopped a plane and took off to host World Record Appreciation Society events in San Francisco and San Diego. First stop was San Francisco’s legendary Hemlock Tavern. A sold-out crowd of over 110 people showed up to rock out to Date Nite and witness a spectacular display of 13 brand-new world records. Nutshell recap:

Most Trivial Pursuit Questions Answered Incorrectly In One Minute

Using the original Genus Edition, Nat Lawlor demonstrated impressively weak trivia skills by answering seven Trivial Pursuit questions incorrectly in one minute, a new world record.

Fastest Time To Twist All Fingers Over One Another

Lori Nygaard showed off extraordinary digit dexterity by bending all her fingers over one another in just 5.35 seconds. Though she set a world record in doing so, her fingers are now stuck like that for life.

Most Knock Knock Jokes In One Minute

Squeezing in 14 knock-knock jokes in one minute, Debbie Hampton set a new world record. Some jokes were hilarious, others were C+ at best. Regardless, they all add up to a tremendously impressive feat.

Most Playing Cards Incorrectly Guessed In A Row

Steve Payonzeck opened a brand-new pack of Bicycle Playing Cards and managed to guess 13 cards incorrectly in a row. The 14th card, however, proved to be his downfall.

Most Four-Letter Words In One Minute

Frankie Norstad demonstrated her tremendous vocabulary by saying 46 four-letter words in one minute, a new world record. Good. Cool. Zany. Nice.

Fastest Rendition Of A Rock Band Alphabet

Paying homage to performance artist Ray Johnson, Jack Woodworth ran through an entire rock band alphabet in a mere 53.25 seconds. He did so while wearing a tank top and smashing a box. Very performance art-y.

Most Insults In One Minute

In the evening’s most controversial feat, Ian Kalman brought brave volunteers onstage and showered them insults. He threw out 15 insults in one minute, a new record. Sadly, three volunteers then broke into tears.

Most Doughnut Holes Stuffed in Doughnuts In 15 Seconds

Craig Mangan paired up an astounding nine doughnut holes with nine doughnuts in 15 seconds. He then whipped the doughnut creations at screaming fans in the audience, sending two of them to the hospital.

Fastest Time To 18 Cigarettes Within One Foot Of Electric Fan

Displaying an impressive ability to draw fire from his lighter, Sean Farrell lit 18 cigarettes within one foot of an electric fan set on high in three minutes, 45 seconds. Fortunately for Farrell, the fire department didn’t show up until his attempt was complete.

Most Money Destroyed For Profit

Jerry Paffendorf came onstage and shocked the audience by shredding $72 in a blender. He then offered to sell the entire piece as an artwork for $73. No one bought it, but he’s going to list the piece on eBay soon. Stay tuned.

Most Times Saying “Snickerdoodle” While Eating A Snickerdoodle In One Minute

Matt Rivitz stuffed a homemade Snickerdoodle cookie in his mouth and said “snickerdoodle” 72 times in one minute, a new world record. People in the front row got showered with cookie crumbs from Rivitz’s mouth, leaving them mightily displeased.

Largest Group Toast

Octavian Drulen led 17 people to raise their glasses and toast, pushing the limits of collective celebratory achievement.

Most Drugs Named During A Rendition Of “I Want A New Drug”

Date Nite ended the evening by shouting out 27 different drugs while performing “I Want A New Drug”. Rock and roll, baby!

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We then headed south to San Diego to do a live four-hour broadcast with the 91X Morning Show in San Diego. They booked out the local House of Blues, and from 6 to 10 AM it was nothing but world records, breakfast burritos and 91 cent beers.

San Diego proved to a tremendous record-setting city, destroying several records New Yorkers and others had previously held. We’ll definitely get back there soon. Nutshell recap:

Most Compliments In One Minute

Sammi the Intern showered people in the room with 26 compliments, a new record.

Most Images Of Fish Sandwiches Looked At In One Minute

Carlos Montoya stepped up and looked at an outstanding 67 fish sandwiches, beating existing record holder Todd Lamb and proudly bringing the title back to the West Coast.

Most Consecutive Hindu Pushups By A Forrest Gump Impersonator

Peter Chacon wowed the room by performing 18 Hindu pushups in a row, all while wearing a rather elaborate Forrest Gump outift.

Most Binder Clips Attached To Face

TJ Ervin displayed a stronger-than-average ability to deal with pain by attaching 34 binder clips to his face, beating the existing world record by by eight.

Fastest Beer Shotgun

Peter Cannales shotgunned a Coors Light Widemouth in a lightning-quick 2.91 seconds. We’re waiting on video evidence to deterimine if this was in fact a new world record.

Most Giraffe Tattoos On A Shoulder

Mike MacDonald took the day off work and got Luckys Tattoo artist Luke Wessman to ink three giraffes on his shoulder, breaking the existing record by two.

Longest “Shh”

Show host Mat Diablo maxed out his lungs and proceeded to let out a record-breaking “shh”, putting previous record holders in the category to shame.

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Two cities, 20 new world records. Tons of thanks to everyone who helped make the trip happen, including the Hemlock Tavern, Date Nite, Debbie Hampton, Frankie Norstad, DJ Clyde, 91X, the House of Blues, all the new record setters and all our friends who let us sleep on their couches. Dan

March 03, 2009, 3:47pm