The Arrow Bar will soon host a big cheese and his love for cheeseburgers: namely, Randy from the cult TV show "Trailer Park Boys."
Canadian actor Patrick Roach, better known as Randy from the show, brings Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic to town on Saturday, May 4, start time 8:15 p.m. He'll bring his special guest Shel, and he promises laughs, audience interaction with contests and more fun revelry befitting the show and character.
"There's so much fun. Life gets a little stressful for people in this world in this day and age it's early spring, the weather hasn't gotten that nice yet. I mean, gee-whiz, it just snowed where we were yesterday and the day before," Roach said.
But a cheeseburger picnic offers a chance to enjoy the finer fun things in life. After all, Randy is a character who can eat cheeseburgers in the bath tub.
"We have cheeseburgers. We tell some jokes. Have some laughs. Sing some songs. We have contests and games and prizes for people. We just have a good old time at Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic," Roach said.
So, why cheeseburgers? How did they become Randy's thing on the show. As for trailer park cuisine, they can't be topped.
"They're the perfect food. They've got all of the food groups. In Canada, we have the four food groups. You've got the bread group, which is the bread in the burger. You've got dairy, which is cheese on the cheeseburger. You've got the meat group, which is of course the meat or the bacon or whatever. You can put sausage on there, that's good," Roach said. "And then of course the vegetable group. You've got some pickles or sometimes people put onion rings on their burgers."
Forks aren't needed, neither are knives.
"You can just eat them and they're just wonderful," Roach said, noting occasionally he's nice and shares his own burger.
"Sometimes I'll even share bites of my own burger," he said.
As for fun times at the picnic, cheeseburgers will be available. Shel will do stand-up comedy, play the ukulele and accompany Randy on songs. There's a Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic song to sing.
"We usually have a contest for the guys. One thing I like doing is we have a big belly contest because there's lots of good bellies out there, and whoever has the biggest belly wins the prize," said Roach, who himself has a prodigious belly protuberance to share. He's forever without a shirt on the show.
"You can't forget about the ladies," Roach said. "I'm not going to tell you what that contest is. I'm going to leave that one as a surprise."
As to his own belly, Roach said, "I'm on a see-food diet. I see it, I eat it. I like more than cheeseburgers. I like double cheeseburgers, triple cheeseburgers." He's had chicken burgers. He's even tried a vegetarian cheeseburger. "When you put an extra slice of meat on there, the bacon, it makes that burger really good."
He's been impressed at the bellies they've seen on this Randy's Cheeseburger Picnic tour.
"The biggest belly that we've ever seen was 70 inches when you measured it around. Last night I think the winner was around 63 inches," Roach said Tuesday, noting these guys are proud of their bellies.
"Why not, we should be proud of our bodies, right?" he said.
Roach encourages fans to check out the new Netflix original show "Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series." The first season premiered at the end of March.
(Tickets: $20 advance, $25 the day of the show. Tickets are available at Ticketfly.com. The Arrow Bar is now located at 110 E. 36th St. in Texarkana, Ark.)