Skip to main content

How to Throw a Bill Murray-Themed Party for Bill Murray’s Birthday on September 21

Bill Murray celebrates another year of capturing ghosts, teeing up, and drinking Japanese whiskey on September 21st. For the comedy icon’s birthday, we’ve planned the ultimate Bill Murray-themed party for you and your platoon of pals, complete with drinks, décor, and dress inspired by Murray’s most exemplary roles.

bill miurray
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Booze

Suntory Whiskey

“For relaxing time … make it Suntory time.” Put out a bottle of Suntory whiskey and ice for a classic Bob Harris on-the-rocks. Our booze suggestion is inspired by Sofia Coppola’s film Lost in Translation, in which Murray plays aging actor Harris who is filming a Suntory whiskey commercial in Tokyo “when I could be doing a play somewhere,” he explains to college graduate Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansen). The commercial scene is wickedly funny as the Japanese director and Harris try to communicate. The “Suntory time” stock of aged whiskey actually dried up in 2018, so grab a bottle of Yamazaki Mizunara instead. Serve vodka tonics for the non-whiskey drinkers (Charlotte’s drink).

Suntory Yamazaki Mizunara 2017
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Snacks

Twinkies and S’mores

Put out a plate of Twinkies (or one 35-foot long Twinkie weighing 600 lbs) and chit-chat all things psychokinetic energy, much like Murray and his buddies do as scientists in the film Ghostbusters. Keep things sweet by roasting Stay Puft marshmallows for gooey s’mores.

Recommended Videos

Outfit

William Murray Golf Apparel

The Caddyshack star and his five brothers (Murray is one of nine children) created a wonderfully bizarre label of golf apparel in 2016. The goal was to “keep it light, have fun, and bring personality onto the course,” says the company. Dress yourself to the nines (iron) in William Murray Golf threads, including the party-ready Palmer Button Down and Round of Shots Shorts. Make sure everything fits right by practicing your swing like groundskeeper Carl in a patch of flowers. Add camo bucket hat for good measure.

Ryan Young/Getty Images

Activity

Basketball

If you’re celebrating alone, play golf. If you’re throwing a Murray party, split into two teams — the Tune Squad and Monsters — and play a game of pick-up basketball, inspired by Murray’s role as himself in the ’96 film Space Jam. (He also played himself in Zombieland.) You’ve got to throw a lay-up to this looney cameo since it’s widely considered the defining performance that sealed Bill Murray’s evolution from goofball ’80s actor to deadpan film legend. If you “don’t play defense,” that’s OK.

Music

Manfred Mann

Press play on the best of Manfred Mann and holler along to the unofficial Stripes theme song, “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy.” Take the music a step further and karaoke the song starting it off, “There she was just walkin’ down the street.” Murray would be proud, as he’s carried a tune in a handful of films including “Stripes,” “Lost In Translation,” and “St. Vincent.” (Note: We’re suggesting Manfred Mann, which made the tune famous, over The Exciters, which recorded the original version, because of the former’s larger discography.)

Stripes (1981) - Do Wah Diddy Diddy

Decorations

Jungle

Assemble fake palm trees and glue banana leaves to the ceiling because this party calls for jungle décor. Raid Party City’s jungle animals and luau aisles for plates and cups inspired by Murray’s voice role as Baloo in The Jungle Book. Murray’s also been the voice of Garfield in the titular movie (which he regrets) and the Badger in Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Smoke

Punch Churchills Cigar

Savor the classic, old-style Cuban cigars, Punch Churchills, one of Murray’s favorites, according to an interview in Cigar Aficionado. Fire up the medium-strong Havana flavor like the wealthy TV executive Frank Cross on the Scrooged film poster. The Punch is both woody and salty with a subtle hint of sweetness at the end, which somehow sums up Bill Murray perfectly.

Five Luxury Cigar Lounges from Around the World
Dylan Goldby at WelkinLight Photography/Getty Images

Have a suggestion from Groundhog Day, Rushmore, Meatballs, or another classic Murray film? Comment below for your additions to the party!

Jahla Seppanen
Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual
Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…
Jeremy Allen White was born to run in the first trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
The movie follows Springsteen as he makes his album 'Nebraska.'
Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere

Music biopics are all the rage these days, and Bruce Springsteen is the latest icon to get the treatment. The first trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere sees The Bear star inhabiting the role of The Boss. The film is based on Warren's Zane's book of the same name, which focuses on the period when he was making his 1982 album Nebraska.

The film is directed by Scott Cooper, who also directed Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. In the trailer, we see White embodying Springsteen as he sings "Born to Run," and we also get a lengthy monologue from Jeremy Strong's Jon Landau as he explains why Springsteen feels the need to make this album.

Read more
Tony Soprano vs. Walter White: Who is the ultimate antihero?
TV's biggest heavyweights duke it out for the antihero crown
Breaking bad season 4 screen shot

Sports fans often debate between two heavyweight legends. For basketball, it's LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Switching to tennis, you have Roger Federer fans and Rafael Nadal diehards. Debates like these are ingrained in the culture of athletics, but TV fans have their own version of this sparring match.

Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and Walter White from Breaking Bad are the two characters who still send shockwaves through every drama in the 21st century. These men were the perfect mix of good and evil. They navigated family life and the criminal underworld with cunning intelligence and ruthless risk-taking. Every show with morally gray characters at the center owes its storyboard to Walter and Tony, but which character deserves the antihero crown? This is Tony Soprano vs. Walter White for all the marbles.
Who was the more complex character?

Read more
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more