For the third year in a row, Adult Swim rented out a boat and took a bunch of fans on a ride around Manhattan. This year’s ship, The Tyrannic, had its maiden and only voyage for this year on Saturday night, crammed with millennials in and out of costume. Even a hurricane and torrential downpours couldn’t stop the boat from getting packed and rowdy. I managed to stow myself on board and I’m here to tell my tale.
For three hours, the Tyrannic traveled around New York’s most disgusting waterways, blasting EDM music and flashing bright lights. Adult Swim has a ton of money to burn, so they went full out with the festivities, bringing acclaimed rapper, producer and artist Flying Lotus along for the boat ride.
On the floor, Kraft Punk – that’s a guy in a Daft Punk helmet covered in macaroni for people who don’t watch The Eric Andre Show – and a Deadpool danced their hearts out behind FlyLO. Daenerys Targaryen with an inflatable dragon taped to her shoulder grinded on Bob from Bob’s Burger . An odor filled the air quickly as someone was smoking some marijuana in the mosh pit. It was as if someone's acid trip came to life and drank too many 10 dollar beers.
Throughout the ship, Adult Swim had plastered their iconography on pillows, flags and even some actual lifesavers. By the end of the night, the cruise had all been taken over by drunken boat riders who wanted a souvenir from this raucous boat experiment in experiential marketing. Sadly, I wasn’t able to steal anything, but not for a lack of trying. Drink too much overpriced booze and that pillow you’ve been holding onto all night gets ripped out of your hand – you sort of just let it go.
Cameramen filled the decks and halls of the boat, getting footage for Adult Swim so that they can prove they are still the hippest television station. I’m sure my dumb mug will appear all over Adult Swim bumps for the next few weeks.
When the boat finally docked, every passenger was handed a tote bag and a poster. I tried to bring a gender swapped Aquaman back to the crib, but she went to get cheesecake instead. That’s a sentence I can only write about the Adult Swim cruise and I’ll be sure to go to next years for sure.
