Drew Carey Tells the Tale of a 'Price is Right' Contestant Who Was Tripping Balls on Shrooms. Let's Go to the Videotape ...

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Now that Pat Sajak has finally hung up his suit and told his last Wisconsin housefrau to guess the puzzle, Drew Carey is America's longest running game show host, having been passed the baton-shaped microphone from Bob Barker all the way back in 2007. 

And as you'd imagine from a man who's logged more hours of inane banter over the price of major appliances with weirdos and shut-ins than anyone on television, he has tales to tell. Several of which he shared with TV Insider in a profile they just did. And one anecdote in particular has made the rounds:

Sometimes contestants get a little over-the-top, or it seems maybe they had a little liquid courage. How do you handle that?

Oh, that happens here all the time. They’ll have a gummy or I’ll smell alcohol on their breath. Not unusual. There was a guy here that was tripping on mushrooms. He came with a bunch of friends. He was a sketch [comedy] guy. I found out later when I went to UCB [sketch improv theater, United Citizens Brigade] to hang out and they were like, “Did you see that guy who claimed to be a skateboarding rabbi?” I asked him what he did for a living. And he goes, “I’m a skateboarding rabbi.” He didn’t think he was going to get picked, and he totally tripped.

Fortunately for us, this seems to have happened in 2012. If, say, Gene Rayburn had a Match Game contestant freaking out on LSD in the 1970s or Dick Clark encountered a 1980s crackhead on $10,000 Pyramid, the incidents might have been lost to history. But the Stakeboarding Rabbi was so proud of his moment of fame, he posted it for future generations to enjoy and cherish. Namely, us:

YouTube - Hi. I'm an idiot and I took mushrooms, got drunk, then went on The Price Is Right and lied to Drew Carey's melting face. (HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN NICER)

The Skateboarding Rabbi may or may not actually be a man of the cloth. But we can confirm Carey's report he's a sketch comedy guy. With several IMDb credits including a role in Another Yeti a Love Story: Life on the Streets and eight writing credits for Spongebob Squarepants. I'm not familiar with the former. But I raised two kids on the latter. And as a Spongebob fan, it totally tracks for me that their writers' room would be densely populated with guys who look like him, and have a very high Pysilocybin budget. I mean, the influence is reflected in the work. 

And while I'm not a practitioner of the magic fungi arts, Big Poppa here is a walking advertisement for them. You can see how much he's enjoying himself (fungi, "Fun guy!" That tracks!). How charmed not only Carey was, but the audience as well. And you have to feel for him because no one would've enjoyed that Atlanta Jazz Festival VIP package than this beardo in the Dolly Parton tee and jorts. 

If anything, we need more contestants high as lab rats. I'm going to start workshopping an alternate version of the Game Show Network, but where everyone has to get high on the drug their choice just before taping. I can guarantee Under the Influence Jeopardy! alone will make me a fortune. Copyright Jerry Thornton, 2024. All rights reserved. And of course the Skateboarding Rabbi is welcome any time.