Jiggle Juggle Jam

Most people don’t know that Jell-O wrestling was invented in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1927. A young wiseguy by the name of Sal Mavicci had just pulled off the biggest heist of his career, hijacking a trainyard shipping crate packed with illegal bathtub gin headed for Cleveland. Prohibition was in full swing, and the rival mobsters he stole the load out from under were using none other than a metric ton of boxed Jell-O to disguise their booze. Mavicci and his boys packed the whole contents of the crate in an 18-wheeler and took it to the garage of their hideout, a nightclub disguised as a mechanic shop in the middle of the city. They sold off three-fourths of the score to a Minnesota gangster and threw a massive party with the rest. It was a scene straight out of flapper girls gone wild, and by 3 a.m., everybody was incredibly drunk. Mavicci dumped 100 pounds of bright-red powder into a ten-foot-square garden planter in which they’d originally planned to dispose of a body, filled it up with water, grabbed a couple of broads, and body-slammed them in the gelatinous gloop. The crowd loved it, and a new sport was born. Now Churchill’s Pub (5501 NE Second Ave., Miami) keeps the tradition alive with its own Jell-O Wrestling Night. It costs $5 to get in, $10 for ringside seats, and live bands play all night. Doors open at 9 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 28, 9 p.m., 2013