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Volume 1, No. 8. May 18, 2001

Truth has consequences

It's hard to say who "wins" in the television game show To Tell the Truth. David Escalante, the director of public relations for American Coaster Enthusiasts and organizer of the Guinness Record Project (GRP) last fall, received a share of $5,000 because nobody thought he could be he. The four panelists and studio audience all voted for drug rehabilatation center cook Felipe Esparza as "the real" David Escalante.

To Tell the Truth producer George Sylak approached Escalante after GRP accomplished its goal of riding 40 California roller coasters in 24 hours last October. The imposters, Esparza (seated as "David Escalante Number 3") and Italian restaurant waiter Jack Hernandez (Number 1), were selected based on Polaroid snapshots. Escalante (Number 2) spent an afternoon coaching his fellow "David Escalantes" and signed a sworn affidavit stating he would not lie during the program.

He didn't have to, even though, he said of his impostors, "They were bad students." Hernandez put the "Big Dipper" in Santa Clara and cited ACE's web site as "rollercoasterexperts.com." Esparza described Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as containing "a lot of little coasters" including the "Big Dipper" and Madusa (a Six Flags Marine World floorless steel coaster). "I had to bite my tongue," said Number 2. He dared not react and risk losing the prize.

Number 3's correct answer that GRP's biggest challenge was the van drive from park to park eventually won over the panel of questioners: that and the fact that Number 2 was "far too together" and didn't look like somebody who would break roller coaster records. Summed up panelist and comedienne Paula Poundstone about the real David Escalante: "He's clearly an Ivy Leaguer. In Number 2's spare time he plays tennis and thinks about art. Number 3, on the other hand, is a ne're do well who spent half his life with a big cotton candy stuck to his shirt."

"They were stereotyping coaster enthusiasts as geeks," Escalante said. "To not pick an Ivy League looking, together person was flattering to me and coaster enthusiasts in general." So the clear-cut winner in this particular game was GRP and ACE. Especially when, after the show's taping, producer Sylak signed on as an ACE member.

But does he play tennis?

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