'Jackass' Star Ryan Dunn and his Nights Out at The Zephyr

For many years now I have heard stories about Jackass star Ryan Dunn making sporadic appearances down at . When I heard the news that he died in a car accident  Monday, I felt it was time to figure out what happened at The Zephyr on those nights.

Colin Rafuse, who provided me with the images for this story, recounted what he remembered about the night he and his friends met Ryan Dunn at The Zephyr:

"I was down at last summer (2010) and one of my buddies ran to me and was like, 'Dude, Ryan Dunn is at The Zephyr. You should totally get a picture with him or something.' So my two friends and I left on the spot and headed right down there.

"When we got to The Zephyr we saw that he was with two of his buddies playing pool in the back of the first floor, behind the bar there. He wasn't acting like a snobby famous person or anything like that. He was really cool. I didn't want to annoy him, I just wanted to let him do his own thing and have fun. So I just talked to him for a couple of minutes, just basically about his parents living close and just like how often he comes to the area. He told me he came here when he wasn't working. I remember I said to Ryan, 'Hey man, I am a big fan of Jackass. You guys are awesome and hilarious.' And I said, 'Do you mind if I take a picture?' And he said, 'Yeah no problem.' He was very good to his fans and he was totally cool about having his picture taken. He was really friendly and he was talking about Northeast Ohio and saying that he really only liked going out to The Zephyr, and it was the place he liked to go when he came to Kent. I mean, that was really his style. It's kind of like a hipster bar."

Colin's friend, Jamie Farrel, who appears with Ryan Dunn in one of the images provided for this story, recounted his memories of that night:

"He was playing pool. The dude was really laid back. At first I didn't recognize him because his beard was so long. But then it was unmistakeable that it was Ryan Dunn. I offered to buy him a drink, and he declined and said he wasn't drinking and that he was just in town hanging out. He seemed very normal and he fit in at perfectly. Then my buddy Colin said, 'Let's take pictures.' We had another buddy with us, Derek, and he was happy to take pictures with us. He was cracking jokes. We stuck around but we didn't want to annoy him. There weren't too many people there. I kind of got the vibe that a lot of people had been coming up to him. But then again, The Zephyr is a pretty cool place to get away and everyone seemed to be on the same page that he was trying to enjoy himself. For me, at least, it was like, when I met him outside of the movies and stuff I was like, 'Wow, he actually has a certain level of maturity' and maybe Jackass is more of a job for him rather than a way of life. We ended up sticking around for probably another hour or two. I never saw him drink, which is really surprising, especially when you would suspect that a star of Jackass would be a party boy. But he was pretty reserved. I remember that he did tell us that he is from Medina and he was visiting family. He is gonna be missed."

Brice Forman, a longtime bartender at The Zephyr, had many encounters with Ryan Dunn at the bar over the past half decade. Brice told me this of his dealings with Ryan:

"He was always cool. The first time or two that he was there I was probably as star struck as anyone else, wondering what the hell he was doing in our little bar here. After he had been in there a few times ,I just realized he was a normal dude. He was always polite and he always tipped really well. I think the first time I saw him was around 2006. I had been bartending there for a year or two. It hadn't been all that long. The first time I met him he was out on the patio. It was just a weird off night. He would come in on off nights and hang out. It was usually him with like a buddy or him with like his girlfriend and maybe one or two of their friends. He would come back in the summers so he wouldn't get mobbed as bad. I'd usually see him in around 10:30 p.m. or 11:00 p.m., but by like midnight he couldn't be in there because people would start bothering him. I feel like he was there once or twice a year for the last several years. It wasn't always regular, but it was usually in the summer and it was usually after he had just finished filming something. I think his family was from Medina and I am pretty sure his girlfriend lived in Ravenna.

"The last night that I saw him was probably last summer, and I was bartending on the third floor and Ryan and his buddy came in early enough that they weren't being bothered. He actually recognized me because I had served him so many times. He walked up to the bar and I gave him a snarky remark like I do most people. Something like, 'Oh, you again.' He got some beers and they just sat there and just did their thing. And ya know, the longer he's in there the more and more people start coming up and bugging him. He was always super cool about people taking photographs and stuff and meeting them, but I think it's when it got beyond that point that he started getting annoyed. Sometimes there would be people like screaming at him and shouting 'Jackass' and whatever. Once or twice I had to approach some people and be like, 'Hey man, leave him alone, he's just a dude.' But I mean Dunn and his buddy would come in and I would crack jokes with them while I was bartending. Once it would get too crowded in there and people started recognizing him he would bail."

Ryan Brannon, another longtime bartender at The Zephyr, told me this about serving Ryan Dunn:

"I remember that he was always friendly. He was a nice guy — a big tipper, a lot of fun. He would always chat with us bartenders. The last time I saw him was last summer and he was in there with a bunch of dudes. I was working the bar on the third floor at The Zephyr by myself as the bartender. That only used to happen on certain nights. And my night to do that is Wednesday and I remember being up there and Ryan was up there hanging out. As the night ended he was getting some last-round style drinks. Legally we could still serve drinks, but technically he should have been heading out the door but I gave him a last quick round and we chatted for a minute and then as he was leaving he dropped me a $50 tip. I remember that time really well.

"He was a really good dude. He was always nice to everyone who came up and talked to him. He seemed comfortable in the Zephyr because he wasn't swarmed by the people there. I asked him why he would be at The Zephyr and he said his girlfriend's family lived in Ravenna so he would stay out there and when they would go out they would come to Kent specifically to hang at The Zephyr. That was the spot they liked to go to."

Jackass is certainly not for everyone, and part of its schtick is meant to completely offend and gross out a certain segment of their audience. Like it or not though, an entire generation is more than familiar with their antics. It's crazy to think that one of their prominent members found himself frequenting The Zephyr Pub here in Kent.