Tying a knot in a cherry stem with your tongue is an old bar trick that has sexual connotations going way back. When you're drinking, it doesn't take much to make you think about sex, and the idea of tongues and cherries will do the job. The knot tying is fairly easy, but Al Gliniecki took it to another level, becoming the Guinness World Record holder in cherry stem tying.
The first time he tried, it took him 20 minutes. But the more he practiced — sometimes wrestling 50 to 60 stems a night — the quicker he got. Soon, bar patrons were challenging him in time trials, and it wasn't long before the club owner started using him as a local sideshow to attract the attention and beer money of soused spring breakers. One year, he found himself with roughly 10,000 bikini-clad college babes spilling across his section of the beach, absolutely annihilating anyone who attempted to out-tie him. "My boss got on the PA and told the crowd he'd give $1,000 to anyone who could beat me," he says. "Like 50 lined up to try. That was a long, long day, but hell yeah, I beat 'em all!"
Read about Gliniecki and the history of tongue tying at Mel magazine.
