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Oliver Peck
Sets the World Record for Most Tattoos in 1 Day
6.13.08
By Crash
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Well, he did it! Four hundred and fifteen # "13" tats! We all knew he
would but, still, it was pretty cool to watch it go down and it's great to
be able to proclaim that the title is back in the hands of Oliver Peck.
On July 12th I flew into Dallas to get ready for the 24 hour tattoo
session going from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday as Oliver Peck,
(with cast and crew), attempted to reclaim his long-standing (though
unofficial) world record of most tattoos done in a 24 hour period. This
time there would be no doubt regarding who held the honors or who actually
began the challenging prospect in the first place.
When I arrived at Oliver’s house, the place was silent. There were a dozen
bodies on the floor, all passed out after a long night of partying, now trying to
sleep their way through Thursday to prep for the long day ahead. They would
need all the rest they could manage.
It had long been an established ritual for Oliver and company to do these
marathon tattoo sessions on each and every Friday the 13th. Oliver paid
to get the Guinness Book of World Records people flown into town, given
accommodations, and paid their “fees” in order to certify each and every
tattoo completed for the ENTIRE time period. Regulations were sent.
Public figures were paid to witness the event and verify every “13” tattoo
completed. Friends and fellow tattooers from all over the country showed
up to participate in the historic event including Tim Hendrix (Just kiddin’,
Tim... "Tim Hendricks" is how it's actually spelled), Keith Underwood, Josh
Arment, and several more, plus the regular crew of Elm Street Tattoo and all
the assistants needed to handle the crowds and help the artists.
Unlike Oliver’s previous Friday the 13th marathons, where the customer could
pick from hundreds of small #13 tats, all the “approved” tattoos had to meet
the Guinness Book’s guidelines, which were that each tattoo had to be a
minimum of 2” X 2” in size; had to contain a minimum of 2 colors; and each
had to be overseen and documented by an official public servant who would
verify the authenticity of each tattoo done and certify the paperwork.
When all was said and done, Oliver had done 415 tats in 24 hours. We
all know that Oliver could have easily broken 500 tats if the crowds had
been there consistently. There was a 3-4 hour lull period between 5am and
9am where the people thinned out and, rather than doing a tattoo every 2
minutes, he might have had 10-15 minutes between tattoos. Many of the
artists present stepped up to get their own #13 during the slow periods, just
so Oliver could keep working, some of them getting several #13 tattoos over
the course of the whole day, all of us willing to sacrifice a little bit of whatever
skin we had left to help Oliver reclaim his title; (I think Tim Hendricks actually
got 6)! There’s a really funny story of Josh Arment also and some cops…but
I’ll save that one for another time. You should have been there!
ps: In November of 2009, Friday the 13th, Oliver and Co. are gonna do it
again! This time they’re taking appointments (not just walk-ins) for those
wee hours of the morning and they’re also going for a double world record
as Oliver goes to break his own personal record and the entire shop seeks
to set its own. Don’t miss it.
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