When Andy Krumm quit drinking in January 2020, he worried that his social life would tank. But instead of staying out of nightlife hotspots, he decided to nudge them to make room for sober folks. This led to the formation of the production and events management company Sober One Six, a play on the 716 area code of his home in Buffalo, New York. Now Krumm puts on sober socials, drag shows, and other events for both the sober and queer communities.
“I can showcase a sober person that can stand onstage with a microphone, be his goofy, weird self, dance around, dance on the bar, be energetic, dress up in these crazy outfits,” Krumm said. “And that in itself, I think, is the message.”
Getting Sober
When I met Krumm for brunch at Betty’s in Buffalo on a September day, he described a couple of pivotal points that led to a happy, alcohol-free life and the success of Sober One Six. First, he read Quit Drinking without Willpower by Allen Carr. “It’s a very interesting book because it’s so simple,” Krumm said. “They debunk all the concepts of the drinking culture that we tell ourselves. And it reframes your brain to look at alcohol differently.”
Then, on Valentine’s Day 2020, he went out with his bestie, food blogger Rebecca Johnson, and had his first mocktail. “She had a cocktail. I had a mocktail. And we cheersed and we felt the exact same way that we did previously. So I was like, oh, wait, I can totally do this.”
Multiplying mocktails
Krumm started documenting his forays into Buffalo bars as a sober person on his Mister Mocktail Instagram account. In 2020, few Buffalo bars did much in the non-alc realm. “Me being kind of like the more outspoken, extroverted person, I was like, well, I’m going to make sure that these businesses know that people like me exist and want to go out and have a good time.”
Mr. Mocktail barely got off the ground before COVID-19 hit. So Krumm started posting about his sobriety instead. “I connected with many people in Buffalo, but also across the world.” He scheduled a five-person happy hour at the Breezy Burrito Bar when things began reopening. I’d just happened to wander into Breezy my first night in Buffalo and was blown away by its full page of non-alcoholic drinks and its excellent vegan burrito. It turns out that Krumm gets credit for pumping up the zeroproof menu. He’d worked with the very supportive owner Briana Hunter to increase the mocktail offerings, including multiple flavors of Mockaritas made with Ritual zero-proof tequila. “It tastes very similar to the real thing, but no hangover the next day.”
Emphasis on inclusion
Krumm didn’t want to miss out on the feeling of inclusion and didn’t want other nondrinkers to, either. He grew to feel he deserved his place in nightlife without a bartender giving him the side-eye for ordering nothing more than a Diet Coke. “So then I kind of made it a mission to make sure the non-alcoholic scene was just a little bit more loud.”
After Krumm’s initial Breezy happy hour, his group chat of interested people grew and grew. “It started getting like 30, 40 people. So it started getting slightly out of hand for a group chat.” He switched to a public Instagram page, inviting people for a casual hangout.
These sober socials are for people who are comfortable in a bar, whether they drink alcohol or not. Sober One Six is about normalizing nondrinking as an option rather than segregating from drinkers. Krumm works with local bars to make their non-alcoholic options more prominent. “The businesses are onboard with being inclusive,” he said.
Sober One Six buys the first round of mocktails—though this might change as the monthly sober socials grow. The business usually does a gift card giveaway. “Because as much as it is building the sober community, we want to promote the local businesses that also have mocktails,” Krumm said.
Queer and Sober
Sober One Six kept growing. “And at the same time that that was going on, I entered the queer community of Buffalo,” Krumm said. “I’d been out for a while since I was like 24. (He’s 32 now) But I never really had a queer group of friends.”
That all changed when he met a sober drag queen. In February 2023, Krumm hosted his first sober drag show. The following month, Sober One Six became an LLC.
Krumm values providing people with low-key networking opportunities at his sober socials. “But obviously, my love is going out and dancing. So, I love throwing drag shows. We do dance parties. I’ll be on board with anything that sounds fun to me. So I don’t pigeonhole myself into just drag shows or anything. We have a comedy show coming up at the end of this month. It’s a queer comedy show to showcase some of our queer comics in the area.”
Sober One Six events start early and end by midnight. Krumm is trying to attract people who might not want to stay out late. He also wants to bring queer artists into the mainstream. “As much as this is about sober community and being comfortable in spaces, it’s about the queer community, too, because that’s my other life. They’re all mixed together,” he said. “So again, it brings like just the comfortability up with people. So if you give them a safe space, you provide entertainment and then showcase that the entertainment are just real people as well, like we’re all just people, I found those two passions coincide together.”
Operating at 100%
For Krumm, sobriety is not about judging or being purer or better than anyone else. Instead, he feels like when he’s sober, he operates at 100% of his potential. “I always explain it like I was just flatlined. I was plateaued in life.” When he quit drinking, he was able to address physical issues like acid reflux and mental health concerns like anxiety.
“Then I was like, oh, this is totally 100% me now, and now I can execute the vision,” he said. “It’s an interesting self-discovery thing. You figure out where your interests lie. You stop doing things that you don’t want to do. You go home at a reasonable hour. You can make your decisions for yourself.”
It’s always the perfect day for a perfect day!
SOBRIETY IN THE CITY is your guide to substance-free adventures and events in cities across the United States. We’re bringing you hidden gems, local hangouts, art exhibits, unique attractions and pop-up events, limited shows, and tours. Being fully present allows us to enjoy life to the fullest. But we’re still taking it all in, just one day at a time.
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