Best event at SXSW 2023: the Camacho for president ‘campaign’ with “Idiocracy’s” Terry Crews

One of my favorite movies of all time is Idiocracy, a cult favorite that has only become more prescient since its release in 2006.

It’s a tale of two very average Americans waking up 500 years into the future from a government experiment, only to find that humanity has dumbed itself down so much, it can barely function, and these two mediocre individuals are now considered geniuses. Idiocracy’s brilliantly hilarious—but also sad as it hits a little too close to the truth many times—from the great dark comedy mind of Mike Judge. Idiocracy illustrates a society where low-IQ people are only motivated by instant gratification and are full of extreme personalities.

One of those excessive characters is the awesomely named President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, brought to outrageous life by charismatic Terry Crews, a role that is much beloved and frankly one of the best characters ever created, IMO. Crews’ President of “Uhmerica” is a gun-toting, cursing, middle-finger saluting, a blunt, extreme leader who “gets sh*t done.”

So when I found out that he was running a mock campaign to “run for president some mo in 2020FO,” I dropped everything I was doing at SXSW to make his campaign rally at Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden in Austin. I planked myself at the front of the stage for his announcement and it was one of the most joyful experiences ever.

"“I’m looking forward to bringing back the beloved character in Austin, where Idiocracy got its start. There’s not a day that goes by where people don’t ask me about the role and I had so much fun playing the part. I can’t wait to reprise his outrageous persona,” said Terry Crews in a press release from his production company, SUPER SERIOUS, billed as a “creative company focused on using creativity to make the world a more interesting place for everyone.”"

The super fun Banger’s event on March 13 featured the hip-hop star Armani White, and the comedy singing duo Toasters ‘n’ Moose (a cult act from the mockumentary Chickens In The Shadows), who sang Comacho’s goofy election song while Terry Crews hilariously danced to it from the balcony. It was a fan’s dream with plenty of Brawndo (It’s got electrolytes! Water is for toilets after all), which I got to taste for the first time, election pins that said “back fo mo,” (I got one for each member of my family, LOL), a lucky few who got election t-shirts thrown by the man himself above in the balcony, and bumper stickers for his mock campaign (which I hope will confuse people when they drive past me).

“His royal highness” was introduced and Terry Crews appeared onstage and launched into a litany of complaints from the future that included “China owns the moon! Big Macs cost $80! The DMV bought HBO!” He also yelled at the audience for arguing over oat milk (“oats don’t even have t*tties!”) when we haven’t even accomplished a sequel to Snakes on a Plane (he’s got a point there)! He continued, “Tony Stark died for our sins!” And gave us the bad news that Waffle House and Walmart had combined (horrible retail combos are a running theme in Idiocracy, the comedy stuff of nightmares).

But Comacho’s a unifier at heart, as he brought everyone together with his song, “you think you red, you think you blue, one thing I know, you a dumb*ss too.”

I honestly could watch this character in anything! Let’s see him take on everyone.

Crews’ outlandish campaign stunt was followed up with an electrifying concert by the Grammy-winning artist Thundercat, proving that Pres. Comacho knows how to put on a great show for the people.

Terry Crews also made several appearances throughout SXSW in bandana-wearing glory. Friends of mine in line for the surprise screening of John Wick 4 saw Crews’ campaign truck go by with the actor motioning to the crowd.

His campaign flyers were everywhere, which described his stance on important matters, such as:

• “Oil dependency: Cars should run on f*rts. F*rts are gas. F*rts are free.” (I think with the price of gas, we can all agree on this)
• “Immigration: All are welcome! Except Australians.”
• “Defense spending: Defense is for sissies. We gonna put it all into OFFENSE.”

Just to name a few.

The electrifying personality also gave a campaign rally earlier on at the fest.

So what does it all mean? Is an Idiocracy sequel happening? (word is that it might, nothing definitive though) Is Crews’ Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Comacho really running in 2020FO to fix our problems? Is this a stunt?

You know what? I don’t care. I’m here for all of it! And let’s hope Terry Crews keeps crashing events. Because this is the kind of positive outrageousness we need right now!