Crashing Sundance

from the SFGate Culture Blog:

Of course, one of the greatest thrills at Sundance is crashing parties, which has become increasingly difficult as the crowds get bigger and security gets exponentially more ruthless. But my pal Sidedoor Johnny, a veteran of about 10 Sundance festivals, was undaunted.

A typical Sidedoor Johnny triumph happened Sunday night at a very exclusive, heavily guarded shindig hosted by a famous Hollywood producer at a swank Park City bistro. First he checked the kitchen entrance, which was bolted. Then he approached the bouncer at the front door, who clutched a clipboard with a list of approved guests. While one of Sidedoor Johnny's cohorts asked the guard directions to the Yarrow Theater, Sidedoor stealthily slipped behind the guard and glimpsed the guest list in search of a name.

As he put it: "Like a hawk honing in on a mouse, I swooped in, picked a name off the list, and boom, we're in."

Once in, all went well for about 10 minutes, until a publicist approached us and asked, "Who are you with?" Sidedoor, all charm and smiles, repeated the random name he spied on the guest list. The publicist seemed satisfied, but a few minutes later a blonde, business-like woman stomped over and said, "Hi, I'm (random name pulled from guest list). They said you're friends of mine."

Without skipping a beat, Sidedoor said, "Pardon? I don't know what you're talking about. We're friends with (random name pulled from thin air)."

It was clearly time to make a quick exit -- before the bouncers grabbed the chocolate truffles and fine champagne right from our hands. Outside in the bitter cold, Sidedoor Johnny was unfazed.

"Admit nothing, deny everything, and always, always keep moving," he said.