LYNN — Generations of people from all over Massachusetts came to Lynn to crack eggs over their heads and pie themselves in the face Saturday night.
Nostalgic adults and wired kids filled the sold-out Lynn Auditorium. With Marc Summers, the host from the original 1980s “Double Dare” game show, “Double Dare Live” had audience members clamoring to get on stage and compete in the array of physical challenges.
There was pie, there was slime, and there was a whole lot of weird.
“Whose ready to get messy?” Summers asked the audience before every challenge.
The show began with a video of Summers out in public asking people what they thought about him being back in action. Most of them had no clue the 67-year-old game show host was standing in front of them.
Throwback videos of the show, which premiered in 1986, got the crowd hyped up for the event to begin.
In the first challenge, adults and kids faced off in teams and had to throw as many marshmallows as they could into a cup in 30 seconds. The catch? The partner on the other side of the stage could only hold the cup with their mouth.
Then came the Viking Ring Toss. A new round of chosen audience members had to throw frisbee-sized rings into the viking helmet worn on their teammate’s head. At this point, Summers had the crowd, but where was all this mess everyone kept talking about?
Growing up, I heard rumblings about “Double Dare,” but I was not born when it came out (I’m a child of 1995). My older brother, born in 1989, created his own makeshift “Double Dare” games and chose me, against my will, as his opponent. Let’s just say the messes we created in the name of the show had my mother ready to rip her hair out.
My excitement didn’t hit until the Pie in the Pants challenge. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with me, but I truly got a rise out of watching a little girl throw pies at her aunt in an effort to get them into the oversized overall pants she was wearing.
The show’s clean-up crew earned their money that night.
My favorite challenges were the one where people willingly caught eggs and cracked them on their head and the game of Musical Pies, where each time someone lost they had to pie themselves in the face.
It was even more hilarious when the show brought up married couples to compete in the physical challenges, like the one where the wife held an orange under her chin and her husband had to grab it and bring it to the bucket using only his chin.
I have to admit I was pretty shocked when they successfully got two oranges in the bucket in under 30 seconds.
While some of the jokes made by Summers were inappropriate, he had the audience, both kids and adults, roaring with laughter. My favorite audience members were the group of 30-year-olds sitting in front of me on the balcony.
One of them, a divorce attorney, made his way onstage to compete in a challenge, thanks to the loud efforts of his friends sitting beside him. He wore a purple crew neck sweater and a fanny pack.
To say he was ready for a game show originated in the 1980s is an understatement.
The second half of the show was dedicated to pitting two families against each other: the Wedgie Pickers and the Double Dare Lovers. Yes, they chose their own names.
After several rounds of trivia questions, physical challenges, and one obstacle course, the Double Dare Lovers took home the win and $1,000 cash.
My biggest disappointment was the lack of slime. There was some, but I wanted more. I had been hyping myself up all week thinking these people were going to be covered in the infamous green Nickelodeon slime.
Throughout the evening, there were a lot of challenges, a lot of winners, and even more laughter. “Double Dare Live” had both adults and kids giving off the same amount of excitement all night. The energy was unlike anything I’ve felt before.
