Monday, March 28, 2005

Scenes From A Life


Today

There's a special sadness that I feel when words I wrote on the computer suddenly disappear. What I spent the last twenty minutes writing wasn't the most brilliant entry ever written, but like people, when words become lost forever is sometimes when you first appreciate them. I wrote about the fact that I am presently in an alternate universe. For you it is now 2:25 PM, for me it's the middle of eighth period. For you it is Monday, for me it is a special program schedule. Outside my office a girl was on the phone describing the rabbi's skit. I transcribed what she described play by play. The most interesting thing was that she was sure one joke was dirty that wasn't. At least not as written. She walked away before she got to anything about my role. Then I spell checked and the whole megilla got lost. So I will not spell check again. Hopfuly I wn't ned itt.

The alternate universe thing reminds me of the book Magic Mountain. It's about someone visiting a relative in a center for sick people. He falls in love with this alternate existence and chooses to stay there. That Thomas Mann could write.

It's weird playing second fiddle in a play of rabbis, when you're the only professional actor in the group. But being a team player is always the right thing to do. I once read that when the elder George Bush was a little kid and returned from playing baseball and focused on his own playing his mother would ask, "How did the other kids play, George?"

Weekend Flashback

On Saturday night I performed with two other comedians. These guys have payed their dues. They went the conventional route. They're both somewhere around 45, I'd guess, and were around in The Eighties - in the heyday of stand up comedy in the U.S.

Back in the day they would gather outside the old Improv and be sent out in small groups to perform all around the tri -state area. They started together with many who have since made it big. Now one of them is a H.S. English teacher and the other checks people's ovens (people with government subsidized housing) for a living. One of them once asked Eddie Murphy why he thought he made it while others didn't. He was impressed with Eddie's honesty, as he simply said, "I got lucky."

The best part of performing with these guys was the banter in the car. One of them invited the other to the gig mainly because he needed the ride. We got extremely lost and getting lost was never so hilarious. In my limited experience with actors and comedians I have become impressed with the camaraderie. After my act one of the other comedians generously gave me an idea of how to improve on a joke. I am amazed and thank G-d for the fact that I can carry my own with these guys. If you ever have a chance to hire Stu Trivax or Randy Levin, I highly recommend that you do. But remember, I'll be coming along for the ride.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home