Dramatic Irony Lost on Area Man Celebrating Fourth of July at Penny Lane Pub

RICHMOND, Va. — A local man was spotted celebrating Independence Day in Penny Lane Pub and witnesses have concluded that he is doing so unironically.

Bon Air resident Peter Forrester was seen in the English pub on the fifth block of Franklin Street in the early evening hours of July 4, playing a lonely game of darts while enjoying a cool gin and tonic and quietly humming “Portobello Road” from Disney’s 1971 film “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”

Witnesses consisted of a group of friends who had planned on seeing the fireworks down the street on the Kabana rooftop but were turned away due to the popular spot being at capacity.

Without a plan B, someone suggested that they head to Penny Lane because it would be funny. According to LeeAnn Waverly, who was among the group, the pub was nearly empty when they arrived, except for the lone man in the red and white polo shirt playing darts upstairs.

“We’re the type of people that like to do things as a joke,” Waverly explained. “You know, like dine-in at Pizza Hut or get airbrushed t-shirts of our names on the Virginia Beach boardwalk. So when Bryan suggested that we go celebrate the Fourth at Penny Lane, an English pub, we thought it was a real crack-up.”

Waverly further disclosed that when the group arrived at Penny Lane to find Forrester playing darts and drinking, they were confused about the nature of his charade.

Other members of the group reported that they celebrated by drinking the most American beers available, such as Shiner Bock and Miller High Life, and posting pictures to Instagram with the hashtag #IronicIndependenceDay. They kept an eye on Forrester, searching for any sign that he, too, was in on the joke, but he gave no such indication.

“We kept waiting for him to join in on our karaoke rendition of Kenny Chesney’s ‘Back Where I Come From’ or at least do an apple pie shooter with us, but he was perfectly content celebrating in his own strange, unironic way,” Bryan Murphy, the group member who made the original suggestion, commented.

When asked why he chose to go to Penny Lane instead of a more “festive” place to celebrate the holiday, Forrester revealed that he was a Montreal native who simply wanted a quiet place to practice for his upcoming dart tournament.