Tuesday Night Karaoke – The Night That Ryan Came

As most of you know, all of us here at OMGWTFRVA absolutely adore karaoke. You might even go as far as to label us karaoke snobs.  We’ve been so spoiled with the greatness that is karaoke at Sticky Rice that we have a hard time attending and enjoying ourselves when karaoke presents itself at other locations.

Over the last 2 years, most of us can count the number of Tuesday nights we’ve missed on one hand. People always ask us why we attend the exact same event every single week without fail. Our response is normally that while it’s the same thing at the same bar, each Tuesday has its own personality with people, songs, and experiences that make it unique.

From now on, we’re just going to tell people that we attend Sticky Rice every Tuesday because you never know when you might get a night like “the night that Ryan came.”

Even after being promised via Twitter that Ryan Nobles would show up at Sticky Rice to celebrate his birthday with us Tuesday night, most of us were still skeptical. We assumed something (or someone) would get in the way, advise against it, or simply prevent it from happening.  Needless to say, we didn’t hold our breath.

The night went as any Tuesday would; we arrived around 10 PM, got comfortable in our reserved tables, and ordered drinks. As the night progressed, while Ryan and company were on our mind, they certainly weren’t at the front of the line; after all, we did have songs to sing, people to greet, and a Tuesday night tradition to uphold, whether Ryan showed or not.

11:45 came and went and most of us had either forgotten about his arrival or figured he simply wouldn’t be able to make it. But just as @chokeychicken and @CameronParker got up on stage to sing “On a Boat,” which has conveniently morphed into the OMGWTFRVA theme song, a magical thing happened.

Kurt Autry, head anchor for NBC12 walked in. Followed by a few others. And then, at the back of the line was Mr. Ryan Nobles himself, decked out in stylish glasses and a Buffalo Bills (not New York Giant) football jersey.

After our song, we asked Ryan what song he would be singing. We didn’t expect him to actually show, much less actually sing a song.  In front of people.

“Just put me in for ‘Jump Around” by House of Pain,” he replied with a sly smile.  “I’ll take care of the rest.”

Not a bone in his face gave any indication that he was kidding.

About 15 minutes later Ryan was called on stage, beer in hand, to sing the 90’s hip-hop hit. Before beginning, he grabbed the microphone:

“This song goes out to everybody for their kind birthday wishes, my wife Karey, and the crew at OMGWTFRVA! Let’s go!”

And with that, Ryan belted out “Jump Around,” complete with literal jumping, as if he had actually written the song himself. We would love to insert a video here of Ryan’s performance, but with Sticky Rice resembling the bat cave as far as lighting goes, that just wasn’t a possibility.

We want to thank Ryan for celebrating his birthday with us, despite all the negativity surrounding the situation we are sure he received. We hope that both he and his wife thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We sure did.

So much so, that we’re already planning for next year. How does Velvet Night Club sound, Mr. Nobles?

(Thanks to @KareyNobles for providing us with the fantastic opening picture)