Henry Gribbohm allegedly lost his life savings on a carnival game and all he got was this stuffed Rasta banana. Credit: screengrab via CBS video
Things are looking up for a 30-year-old man who squandered his entire life savings — about $2,600 — on a carnival game in an effort to win an Xbox Kinect, and ended up with is a life-sized banana with dreadlocks.
Henry Gribbohm, of Epson, N.H., told CBS Boston that he lost the money after going on tilt at a Manchester, N.H., carnival put on by Fiesta Shows, but thanks to a little help from CollegeHumor, Gribbohm got his money back. He also got an Xbox Kinect.
A CollegeHumor post created May 1 asked fans to “like” the page, and promised to pay Gribbohm $2,600 if more than 26,000 people “liked” it. Since the total tally of “likes” surpassed 30,000, College Humor threw in the coveted Xbox.
Watch the fruitful hand off below:
After the doomed day at the carnival, Gribbohm told CBS Boston he was shocked to lose his savings.
“You’re expecting the kids to win a few things, let the kids have a good time. It just didn’t turn out that way,”Gribbohm told reporters, adding, “It’s not possible that it wasn’t rigged.”
The tricky game in question? Tubs of Fun, which requires contestants to toss plastic balls into an angled tub.
Gribbohm told CBS he had no problem during practice sessions, but when it was time to play for money, the game suddenly got harder.
Within a few minutes he had lost $300, so he went home and returned to the game with $2,300 — but he lost that too.
An artist’s rendition of Gribbohm and his prize. @aewsome tweeted, “New drawing: “The Adventures of Henry Gribbohm & The $2600 Rasta Banana.” Credit: Mack Williams
His rationale for the gamble: “You just get caught up in the whole ‘I’ve got to win my money back. … For once in my life I happened to become that sucker. It was foolish putting up my life savings.”’
Gribbohm was given $600 after making a complaint. He is considering taking legal action.
According to the report, Tubs of Fun was run by an independent contractor. The carnival is looking into whether Gribbohm was scammed. In the meantime, the game will not be set up at an upcoming Fiesta Shows carnival in Derry, N.H.
Next Media produced an animated re-enactment of the situation. Check it out below:
[videoembed id=143880]
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