This is our concern, Dude: Will the AMF Rose Bowl have sufficient capacity to accommodate the hundreds of fans of the The Big Lebowski expected to arrive on July 19 for the Second Annual Big Lebowski What Have You Fest?
Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell — the dudes putting on the shindig — certainly hope so.
Last year, when they put together a festival to honor and celebrate the Coen brothers’ film, they hoped only to break even. Shuffitt said, “Even on the night of the event, I thought it possible that as few as 35 people would show up.”
Shuffitt may simply be — to use the parlance of our times — modest. Please consider that last year’s event was called the First Annual What Have You Fest.
They’d rented Fellowship Lanes on Seventh Street Road for an evening of bowling, made some T-shirts, bought a few bowling trophies and put up a website. But drifting in with the tumbling tumbleweeds were Lebowski fans from, not just Louisville, but also Arizona and New York. In all, around 150 fans showed up to celebrate.
But first, you gotta understand something about “the Dude.” For those who aren’t “Achievers” (the preferred nomenclature for fans of the film), The Big Lebowski was the 1998 film from Joel and Ethan Coen that followed the brothers’ previous success with Fargo. Lebowski features a befuddled Jeff Bridges as the Dude, an unemployed, laid-back pot smoker in Los Angeles who finds himself trying to solve a kidnapping after he’s mistaken for a millionaire by the same name. The Dude drinks white Russians. He loves bowling. Strikes and gutters. Ups and downs. The End.
It was hardly a blockbuster, but the movie has its hardcore fans quoting lines from the obscenity-laden script.
And it’s those obscenities — and the need for white Russians — that made Russell and Shuffitt decided that Fellowship Lanes, a bowling alley that allows neither alcohol nor cursing, might not be the best place for the second year’s festivities.
This year, dudes Shuffitt and Russell have set up a bigger and better website, Lebowskifest.com, and have a much more extensive list of activities for the Achievers.
The events planned for the weekend get an extra dose of credibility because the Dude himself will preside for the entire weekend. Not Jeff Bridges, mind you, but the actual Dude, Jeff Dowd. He’s a friend of the Coen brothers and the admitted inspiration for the film’s protagonist. He’s currently promoting a book about being “the Dude” after the film’s release.
The weekend starts with a party at The Back Door in Mid-City Mall at 10 p.m. July 18. Dudes Shuffitt and Russell promise a special on white Russians.
Then it’s only a few yards to a midnight screening of The Big Lebowski at Baxter Avenue Theatres. Costumed Achievers will act out portions of the film as it plays. Shuffitt and Russell don’t shy away from the obvious comparisons to midnight screenings, which often feature the same level of interactivity.
“Eat your heart out, Rocky Horror, there’s a new cult film on the rise,” the dudes’ website intones.
After the Achievers get some rest from the midnight screening, it’s on to the Holiday Inn on Bardstown Road and the AMF Rose Bowl (next door) for festivities running from noon Saturday until the next day. For those who are Shomer Shabbas and won’t be able to roll on Saturday, there is Sunday afternoon’s closing “Lebowski Fest recover brunch with the Dude” at Lynn’s Paradise Café.
“It’s really a totally Highlands event,” said Russell.
But the growth of the Lebowski Fest from last year is what has really surprised Russell and Shuffitt. The website is now averaging about 2,000 unique visitors every day. The Fest has been featured in Spin magazine and was a “Yahoo! Daily Wire” pick. The Dudes are even selling tickets ahead of time to make sure no Achiever is left out.
So if you find yourself at the AMF Rose Bowl on July 19, wondering aloud about the purple jumpsuits, white Russians and oat sodas, you may hear a passerby respond, “Obviously, you’re not a golfer.” If you don’t get it, you’re out of your element.
If you’re not a Lebowski fan, best just bowl elsewhere that night, lest you arrive with no frame of reference. As for ticket sales, Russell is cautiously optimistic about whether any will be left by the time the festival rolls around.
“Well, Dude, we just don’t know,” he said.
