Editor Pick: Best Party Animal
Brant Carnwath dressed up as a Viking-tooth fairy on a recent snowboarding trip to Big Bear. Other passengers in his car were required to dress up, as well. Photo by Melanie De Leon
J. Brant “B-Rant” Carnwath – You’ve seen him around, sometimes in a wig and a tutu, almost always in exposed tighty-whiteys of some sort, and often in the presence of some poor, exhausted bouncer pleading with him to put his pants back on.
He’s the kind of guy who wears elephant thong underwear under brightly colored Speedos “just in case in the opportunity arises” to show them off for some laughs, throws parties where guests are allowed to wear anything but clothes, and has been known to wear an apron — and only an apron — at a friends’ parties.
But regularly throwing on — or off, for that matter — a pair of fishnets and pulling all-nighters that start at Hermosa Beach Yacht Club, continue up the pier and end in a rooftop hot tub at 5 a.m. is just one of the reasons Hermosan J. Brant “B-Rant” Carnwath gets our pick for Best Party Animal in the South Bay.
The leader of a crew of 20- and 30-something-year-old devotees who trust him to lead them to a good time, you’d almost think it’s B-Rant’s full-time job inspiring friends and strangers to release their wild sides through antics as crazy as his costumes and events that include themed and bachelor parties, camping trips, outdoor concert festivals and good old-fashioned house parties, always with a twist.
On a recent snowboarding trip to Big Bear, B-Rant required that passengers in his car wear costumes. At a “sex position party” he threw, one guest dressed up as a missionary. Another dressed as a dog with style.
Enough said.
“I like to do things that bring different groups together – something out of the normal bubble of things people usually do” said Carnwath, 30, who’s been planning and pulling off wild parties and events without a hitch since he was in high school. “The best part is making people laugh and making memories. So many people have made friends for life, or have started dating or become engaged after meeting at one of the events I threw.”
For B-Rant’s New Year’s Eve 2011 bash, he rented a multi-level home on 2nd Street in Hermosa and sold a limited number of $40 tickets to a party that included an open bar, food, a DJ , a dance floor, a “blue room for relaxing,” beer pong, flip cup, and a hot tub. A camping trip he planned included live music by local musicians when campers arrived, white water rafting, drunken inner-tubing, Cornhole, flip cup and a beer a keg per every 10 campers.
“And lanterns — tons of lanterns,” B-Rant said. “And a pig for pig pick’n.”
“You add different options to be able to fit everyone’s taste in a party or experience of an event,” he added. “Not everyone is going to want to dance. Some may want to party in a hot tub. Some may want to play drinking games. Some may want to just chill.
The Maryland native blames his wild side on his parents, especially his mom, Cheryl, who ran non-profit organizations for which she planned events and often dragged little B-Rant along for the ride. On top of that, his grandparents owned a costume store with more dress-up options than he and his younger brother and sisters knew what to do with.
“My parents have dressed me up from the get go,” he recalled. “Growing up, we had boxes and boxes of costumes.”
In high school, B-Rant started a weekly get-together with skits for high school students — in costume, of course — which quickly grew to 300 kids. At Christopher Newport University in Virginia, from where he graduated with a marketing degree, B-Rant started a rugby team and two outreach organizations that put on concerts, parties, fundraisers and entire weekend events. After spending six years perfecting his party planning skills in North Carolina, B-Rant moved to Hermosa Beach two years ago.
Friend and neighbor Melanie De Leon, one of several members of “B-Rant’s Crew,” said that she’s made a hundred new friends since meeting B-Rant a year ago.
“As much as there are the outrageous outfits and often crazy behavior, Brant’s really able to mobilize a group of like-minded party people,” she said. “He’s not afraid to go where no party animal has gone before. He’s always willing to push the envelope on what’s acceptable behavior. It’s almost impossible not to have a good time when you’re out with him.”
De Leon recalled a Sunday fun-day trip with B-Rant to Sharkeez in Hermosa when he saw two girls wearing matching hot pink tank tops and tiny shorts. Wanting to meet the girls, B-Rant bought the same outfit at a nearby store and came back sporting it.
“He walked back up to them and said, ‘Hey, we must all play for the same volleyball team or something,’” De Leon recalled. “It was so funny. After that, they became friends and we hung out all day.
Having amassed a solid base of party-people who like to share in his antics, B-Rant — a recruitment director by day — hopes to soon turn his ability to bring people together and keep them entertained into a full-time gig.
“As for now though, it’s just for fun,” he said
B-Rant’s favorite local spots to party at are Barnacles, Hennessey’s Tavern, Hermosa Beach Yacht Club, Sangria, Underground Pub and Café Boogaloo.
“And for some reason Sharkeez, the black hole which I try to avoid,” he said. “It seems I go into it and come out a couple days later.”