I've gotten a few questions about the Drunk Science video that I posted here yesterday. The two most common: "Will there be another Drunk Science?" And, "Jeezus, didn't science journalist Charles Q. Choi drink a bit too much for this?"
The answers to those questions are, respectively, "No" and "Yes". Choi is probably the best person to explain both answers, which he does in a blog post that discusses the science of an alcohol-induced blackout, and why — despite the fact that everybody involved with Drunk Science thinks the final result is pretty damn funny and generally good Internet — we won't ever be doing anything like that again.
In a Twitter conversation, one of the co-producers of the much-more-famous and long-running Drunk History series explained to me how they handle the risks inherent in this kind of entertainment. According to Seth Weitberg, Drunk History is made by a team that includes an on-set medic. What you see is cut down from several hours worth of filming and the narrators (like Charles Q. Choi in Drunk Science) remember very little of their experience afterward. "[Our team is] truly great at making it a safe situation," he said. "But at the end of the day, you're still dealing with alcohol and adrenaline." In other words, think twice before you try this at home, kids.
