Alcohol education speaker, Wendi Fox advised listeners to find their buzz before they booze and make sure they got a ‘sober sitter’ in case they decided to drink. 

Fox spoke at Massari Arena on April 15 at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Fox hasn’t always been an alcohol education speaker. She was a stand-up comic until someone told her she should use her material as a teaching tool for students at high schools and colleges.

That was 20 years ago and she said she has been a public speaker ever since.

As with most stand up comics, Fox did receive some hecklers. However, she managed to roll with the punches and hit back just as hard. She had a few punch lines which knocked the hecklers out cold and the crowd’s reaction helped make it sting. 

With the hecklers slowly fading throughout Fox’s presentation, she was able to tell stories from her experiences. She said she remembers waking up on lawns, getting pulled over and poking fun of the police and getting into an accident which almost killed her.

The stories Fox spoke of were not always bad. She said she found a mentor at an airport when a five-year-old spoke to her. She said she remembers the kid dressed in a Spiderman outfit being completely honest with her.

“Why is your hair so crispy?” the kid asked referring to the curls in her hair. 

She constantly referred children as the closest thing to heaven because they have no egos and nothing to influence their decisions.

She said she compared the ‘sober sitter’ to FBI agents with the combining power of a parent.  A ‘sober sitter’ is someone who takes charge and watches over their friends.

Fox said there must be a fair ratio among those who are willing to stay sober and those who are going to get intoxicated. She said one or more person must remain sober to keep control of any situation their intoxicated friends decide to get themselves into.

She compared those intoxicated to a litter of puppies. One will always wander off, while another gets itself into trouble. She said she recommends women to go to bars in groups of 100 and men to go in groups of four.

Two students acted out the puppy theory. One student played the ‘sober sitter’ while the other was the intoxicated friend.

Beer goggles were at play as well as methods used during a sobriety test. The beer goggles helped simulate blurry vision as if the person wearing them was actually intoxicated.

The beer goggles worked for the most part of the demonstration. Fox brought out many objects to help show how effective the beer goggles were. 

A cat toy, a child’s pyramid toy with rainbow-colored rings and a purple chew toy for dogs were used as an aid. She had the student attempt to catch the cat and dog toy and put the rings back onto the ring holder in order.