Poul Lemasters Has the BEST Excuse For You to Drink Cocktails For 24 Hours

Leave it up to Poul Lemasters to create an event that makes drinking 100 cocktails back-to-back for 24 hours straight a philanthropic endeavor! Yes, our favorite attorney/author/bartender/YouTuber and the man who brought the world the Blue Monkey Quarantini is back this year with a totally valid excuse for errrbody to get tipsy — and feel great about doing it.

From 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 16 through 8 p.m. on Sunday, November 17, Poul Lemasters (and all his rowdy friends) will host the annual live broadcast of the Blue Monkey Quarantina Telethon to benefit the ever-growing LC Coat Drive. Over that 24-hour period, Poul hopes to craft and “sell” at least 100 different cocktails, each lovingly crafted in his super-secret speakeasy (tricked-out basement bar).

“We pick a lot of weird stuff to raise money,” Poul says, citing his sales of a$$-covering forms and coffin-shaped card games as evidence. “So to really top it off, we started this 24-hour cocktail telethon. And it literally makes no sense.”

No matter how nonsensical his methods, Poul’s ultimate goal — providing brand new coats for kids who may otherwise go without — is completely rational … and heartfelt, and kind, and good. And it all started 15 years ago as a life lesson for his kids.

“We did it to teach our kids how to give,” he explains. “We bought four brand new coats and donated them. The next year the kids asked if we were doing ‘that coat thing’ again. And what do you say? ‘No, we only give once — it’s over’? Obviously not. So we doubled it; we got eight coats. And it rolled from there. This year we will do more than 2200 — the most coats we’ve ever done in one year.”

While Poul will still gladly accept donations of any amount for the coat drive, and will devote 100% of the proceeds from the sale of his books, forms, Blue Monkey Quarantina merchandise, and Corpses Attempting Hilarity cards to the drive, your support of the 24-hour drinkapalooza telethon will go a long way toward achieving this year’s 2200-coat/$50,000 goal.

Participating is a super-simple two-step process: 

1. You (virtually) step up to the bar (the Blue Monkey Quarantina website) and place your drink order (there’s a pretty clever online form just for that).
2. Next, you settle up your tab (tax-deductible charitable donation) with the bartender (Poul, who accepts payments online).

That’s it! Poul has requested a minimum donation of $250 for each cocktail, although “tips” will be gratefully accepted. As he makes your drink, Poul will share the history of the drink and/or a little bit about you and/or your company — or not. You can choose to remain anonymous. And if you don’t have a drink of choice, just pick your favorite spirit and Poul will take it from there.

We know what question you’re dying to ask — because we had to know, too: Will Poul be drinking these cocktails he’s concocting in his basement-turned-speakeasy?

“As a good bartender, I think I taste every one of them,” he concedes … before admitting the truth. “OK, OK, I do drink many of them. And I tell people that there are three moments you should tune in: One is the beginning. It’s high energy and there’s a lot going on. The next time is about three or four or even five in the morning. It’s much quieter, and I’m about seven or eight hours into it. And it’s fun to see somebody falling apart physically in front of you.”

(He’s right.)

“The last time is at the end of it, the last two or three hours,” Poul continues. “The house is filling back up with people, and we’re all emotional. People are crying at the end, including me. It’s just kind of pathetic. But as I tell people, if you want to feel good about your life, tune in to the beginning, middle and end and you’ll be like, ‘I’m doing OK. Like, look at this poor guy.’”

And remember — it’s all for the kids! Witnessing the 24-hour gradual breakdown of an otherwise upstanding human is just a bonus.

So make plans now to watch Poul fall apart tune in to the Blue Monkey Quarantina Telethon, streaming live on YouTube, Facebook, and on the coatdrive.org website (where you can also marvel at how forward-thinking — and darn lucky — Poul was to snag that URL back in the day). On the website you’ll find both a “Donate Today” button and a link to take you to the telethon. 

Seriously, every donation puts Poul and his small-but-mighty team of volunteers one step closer to purchasing, sorting, and gifting a warm coat to a child. Plus (cue the Sara McLachlan music), as Poul explains in this video, you, too, could save an abandoned cocktail.