Comedian and marijuana activist, Doug Benson, celebrated Dab Day this year in the District where the dab scene is hitting new heights. Following legalization in 2015, Washington D.C. is getting the respect it deserves as a hotspot among 420-friendly cities like Denver, Portland, and San Francisco.
At 4:20 on Sunday, Doug kicked off his sold-out Dab Day set at the DC Improv comedy club with a shout-out to the audience for being so dab-tastic. For the unfamiliar, ‘dabbing’ is the term used for using marijuana extracts – which are much more potent than smoking the leaf itself. Dabs are most commonly used in vape pens, rigs, and bongs.
Doug was so impressed with the warm welcome from D.C.’s cannabis enthusiasts, that he dubbed it his first annual D.C. Dab Day show.
Known for his heavy interaction with the audience from the stage, Doug reads Tweets from fans in the audience and likes to play games of memory and recall –a losing game for high participants. Funny tangents and profound thoughts littered the stage with a kerfuffle of entertaining food for thought. I give the show an enthusiastic high-five.
@DougBenson @dcimprov hey! I'm a cannabis journalist and I bought tix for your show today in DC – can I get a question in after your set?!?
— Chloe Sommers (@ChloeCannaNews) July 10, 2016
Doug eventually read our Twitter conversation aloud, then asked me for a question on the spot. Hilarity ensued after I tried to get a question in about his advocacy – needless to say, he ended up talking about being high versus being drunk and made sure to spell out the word “BLURGH”, obviously how he feels when really drunk.
Comedian @DougBenson really knows how to involve the crowd @dcimprov #shoutout #dontaskayesornoquestion pic.twitter.com/EoGPk3Dimw
— Chloe Sommers (@ChloeCannaNews) July 10, 2016
Rob Cantrell, a comedian and actor originally from D.C., was his supporting act. Rob made some observations about the decrepit and neglected state of the D.C. metro system that was so sad and true, the audience was in stitches.
Here’s another gem from Cantrell, a music video that he Tweeted about in celebration of his return to the District on Dab Day 2016. It’s a song about coffee and weed and it was published days after DC’s Initiative 71 legalized marijuana in March of 2015.
By far, the most interesting and poignant question of the evening came from one audience member who asked about the meaning of Dab Day. Doug we delighted to enlighten us all with his vast knowledge of all things marijuana, “If you take a calculator and write 7-1-0, turn it upside down and you see the word OIL, which correlates dabbing to July 10.”
Thank you, D.C. and @dcimprov, for a great Dabs Day! I think I'm still dabbed out today. And for the rest of my life…
— Doug Benson (@DougBenson) July 11, 2016
Until next year, Doug!