A Non-'Rick And Morty' Fan Goes To A 'Rick And Morty' Pop-Up Bar
I have never seen an episode of Rick and Morty. The only impression I have of this series (which plenty of people with great taste have told me is "really good, you should watch it!") is an unfortunate one involving Szechuan sauce and a viral McDonald's video. You know the one I'm talking about.
But a few bad fans don't a bad show make, so when I heard that a Rick and Morty-themed pop-up bar was opening in Washington, D.C., I was curious enough to check it out. Any series that inspires its fans to scream about pickles and tear off their shirts must be doing something right. Right? Besides, I was curious as to what a Szechuan-style cocktail would taste like (spoiler: it was delicious).
Here's my story of how I walked into a Rick and Morty-themed pop-up bar, and walked out more confused than ever.
A girl walks into a Rick and Morty bar and is bombarded with aliens, floating heads, and several phallic trees. It sounds like a punchline, but if it was, it's to a joke that I could never understand, set in a bar with a name that I couldn't even pronounce if I was sober, much less if I was wasted on "Schwifty" cocktails.
The Wubba Lubba Dub PUB was launched by the Drink Company, who also created insanely popular and ambitious Stranger Things and Game of Thrones pop-up bars, and stretches across three interconnected bars in northwest D.C. And the structures left over from those pop-up bars provide a perfect launchpad for the company to create the world of the trippy Cartoon Network show, in what may be their most dazzling accomplishment yet.
A mural of Rick and Morty characters greet you when you enter the door, and behind the first bar, there is a collage of Morty being electrocuted. The narrow bar leads you to a back room where a karaoke stage is set up — with no working mic, sadly — surrounded by floating alien heads. Then the bar takes you through a dimly-lit, green inter-dimensional portal (made of confetti and mirrors) to the largest part of the bar. The Weirwood tree from the Game of Thrones bar has been transformed into a giant naked man who floats above you in something called "Lower Abdomenland," and in the corner there sits, inexplicably, an old laundry machine.
Well, not inexplicably, according to my little sister, a true Rick and Morty fan who grew more excited with every weird thing we encountered. She guided me through the dizzying maze of mirrors, spaceships and penises (penii?) the best she could, but sadly, when she tried to explain the show to me, I just became more confused.
"That's because it's his lab," she said, pointing to the laundry machine and the shelves with boxes labeled "Time Travel Stuff." "He works in a garage."
So...the show takes place in a dream world or something? I thought it was post-apocalyptic?
"No. Well — not really. It's the suburbs but he has a gun that's like a portal to alternate dimensions and stuff."
Why is there so much poop in this show? (I had gotten a drink called Mr. Poopybutthole which was served in a poop emoji mug.)
"I...don't know. It's funny when you watch it!"
It was funny to watch it in real-life too, as bewildered press people intermingled with Rick and Morty fans dressed up in labcoats and icy wigs. When the bar officially opens later this month, those who dress up as Rick get a special express pass — one of the bar's two entrances is reserved for Rick cosplayers, the other is for everyone else (sorry, Morty stans). But in the end, the Wubba Lubba Dub PUB is actually a great experience for Rick and Morty fans and non-fans alike. Just be prepared for a lot of penises.
The Rick and Morty pop-up bar is held at 1839 7th Street NW, Washington, D.C., and is set to be open from August 16 through October 6, 2018.