As good, outstanding citizens of the City of Austin, everyone does his or her part to “Keep Austin Weird.” There are many niches of people around town that form groups to correspond to their similar interests. Now, with sites like Meetup and Facebook, anyone has the ability to create a club and find others like them. Here are some of the most interesting clubs in Austin (that you may not even believe actually exist). By Megan Fullerton
1. Austin Facial Hair Club While many guys participate in “No Shave November,” these guys don’t shave all year around. Austin Facial Hair Club holds an annual beard and mustache competition and end the event by shaving it all off. They mostly hold competitions, but also do a lot of drinking, so it’s fun for us non-bearded people, too.
2. Tall Person Club If you are at least a 5’9 female or 6’3 male, you qualify for the Tall Person Club. Although this is the general height restriction, they do not discriminate if you do not meet these requirements. This club hosts mainly meet-and-greets to help other tall Austinites find others that can converse at the same eye contact level.
3. Vampire Court Of Austin As stated in a previous article for ORANGE, I discovered this club’s existence at a recent try-out for The Real World and I have been researching it ever since. While I am not sure of the application process for this club because of the privacy it maintains, you must be a “dark awakened” vampire to join. From the conversation I had with a known member, you must prove that you have enhanced human abilities to become a member. They run a democratic system of the vampires around Austin and hold private events for its members. The largest event the club holds is the annual Austin Vampire Ball, and vampires from other cities can attend.
4. University Flying Club This aviation club is a student organization affiliated with the University of Texas, but has open membership for the public. Once a month, members can partake in fly-outs by splitting the costs of a rental plane to grab a burger in a small Texas town. It’s probably the most expensive burger you’ll eat that isn’t Kobe beef, but well worth it if you’re a plane enthusiast.
5. Cards Against Humanity Meetup This isn’t exactly a club, but this meet-up gets a mention due to Cards Against Humanity being the best/worst game that exists. If you haven’t heard of the game, it is essentially an extremely hilarious and offensive version of Apples to Apples. People that excel at this game are typically the same people trolling the Internet, so gathering a bunch of horrible people in one room makes for the most interesting card game in history.
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6. Hill Country Nudists If you hate wearing constricting pants around the house, maybe a nudist club is for you. This club gets together to be naked doing various recreational activities, such as swimming, sunbathing, lounging around a stranger’s home and anything else in the legal realm.
7. Reddit r/Austin Arranging meet-ups through Reddit is becoming a popular trend nationwide and has finally reached Austin. This group isn’t targeted toward any specific types of people or interests, other than habitual Reddit users that want to meet locals. Activities include games, themed parties, art, comedy and drinks. If interested in joining, either make a Reddit, or just pretend you have one and compulsively study memes before you go to one of these events.
8. Austin Laughter Yoga Club There is hot yoga, baby yoga and even couples yoga, but laughter yoga is a very unique practice for achieving Zen. Geared towards any and all ages, Austin Laughter Yoga Club holds weekly sessions and is “open to all persons from all walks of life.” I’m not sure exactly how laughter is incorporated into a yoga session, but I frequently find myself laughing at how my body cannot bend into a pretzel and the absurd euphemisms used by the instructor, so having a yoga session that actually allows you to laugh is the best idea ever.
9. Active Fun/Peace Loving Hippies When other Texans think of Austin, they imagine the people in Active Fun/Peace Loving Hippies. This clubs holds drum circle gatherings, bonfires and naked sunbathing events. They are a collection of tree-huggers, free sprits, counter-culturists and freethinkers that love to party. They even have a disclaimer for non-drinkers to consider joining a different group that maintains healthier beliefs.
10. Austin Paranormal Investigations While there are many other paranormal clubs in Austin that are similar, this one is for serious and experienced members of the local ghost hunting community. Austin Paranormal Investigations meets at haunted locations and investigates together. Locations include various inns, prisons and old theatres.
