Speaking of stupidity in smoking bans, I’m kind of proud of my fellow Minnesotans for this, not least of all because of the artistic infusion.
A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them “actors.”
The customers are playing right along, merrily puffing away — and sometimes speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation, too.
…
“They’re playing themselves before Oct. 1. You know, before there was a smoking ban,” [The Rock] owner Brian Bauman explained. Shaping the words in the air with his hands, like a producer envisioning the marquee, he said: “We call the production, `Before the Ban!’”
And it just keeps getting better.
At the door was a printed playbill for that night’s program, with a list of names of the people portraying bartenders and security guards. Playing the owner: “Brian.”
At The Rock earlier this week, a black stage curtain covered part of the entrance, and a sign next to it with an arrow read, “Stage Entrance.” Along the opposite wall, below a sign saying “Props Dept.,” was a stack of the only props needed: black ashtrays.
Courtney Conk paid $1 for a button that said “Act Now” and pinned it to her shirt. That made her an actor for the night, entitling her to smoke. She turned in an understated, minimalist performance, sitting with cigarette in hand and talking to a bass player with the band.
The non-smoking laws in Minnesota have been poorly thought out from the beginning. First, it was only for Hennepin (Minneapolis) and Ramsey (St. Paul) counties, which only encourages people to drive further to get to a bar where they can smoke, and voila: more drunk drivers driving farther. To make these idiotic matters even worse, Anoka County, not included in the ban, actually borders the city of Minneapolis. Then, and this is the only place I’m aware of this ever happening, servers complained so much about their tips shriveling up to nothing after the ban that they actually relaxed the rules at certain venues. You could say I’m not so proud of the Minnesotans who are designing these laws.
