Reasons Why (#2)
(Second in a series detailing why my Onion gig didn't go as well as I wanted it to.)
"I stipulate from the outset that ultimate responsibility rests with me. Part of the skill is transcending these things." -- Andrew J. Lederer, 2006
Ill Omens and Harbingers of Doom
Back when I lived in California, I resided for a time in a large house (we called it a mansion but it wasn't) in the hills behind The Comedy Store. It was a comedy house, not just during my time but also before and after.
We were told that the house and the venue had long been under common ownership and this was cool because the Store had been Ciro's, one of the great nightclubs of Hollywood's golden age. Legend held that Martin and Lewis and other greats had reveled at the house in the past, as Robin Williams, Sam Kinnison and others did later on.
The domicile has also been a drug and alcohol rehab center (primarily for comedians) and I think Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore's son Pauly lives there now; at least, he did.
Like I said, a real comedy house.
I felt fortunate to be among the chosen.
So, it came to pass that, in the springtime, “Chosen Andrew” met up with family friends at Disneyland and had a spectacular day. He felt footloose and fancy free. The world was fine.
And when he got back to Comedy House, he was informed he'd just been kicked out of a comedy quartet that had pretty much been started for me, er, I mean “him”. A cold dose of reality had frozen out the joy. (Two other members of the sketch/improv group were Dan Frischman, who would become one of the stars of the sitcom “Head of the Class” and Adam Small, who wrote most of Pauly Shore's definitive movies and co-created "MAD TV". Big deal stuff.)
(pause)
Author's note: I am abandoning that cumbersome “third person” thing I used in the last paragraph.. If you've grown fond of it, I apologize. Perhaps you will find some consolation in the fact that the previous paragraph will always be there for you to read again and enjoy!
(resume)
A short time thereafter, it was off to Disneyland again (we do love our Disneyland), this time with my sister and her boyfriend (now husband).
Another perfect day.
I returned to find I was kicked out of the “mansion”.
Y'see?
When things go really well, like after a day at the ”Happiest Place on Earth” (and don't give me any of that anti-corporate, anti-Disney shit -- never forget, it was started by a mouse), you will inevitably suffer the consequences.
That's the lesson I've decided to take from this reminiscence.
Not that I shouldn't have been involved with the capricious Mitzi Shore, who not only owned the house but made both the aforementioned decisions.
Not that I owed many months of rent and should have been expecting an eviction.
Not that I skipped a rehearsal of my comedy troupe to go to Disneyland that first time and should have expected repercussions
And most definitely not that I shouldn't go to Disneyland.
No! It was bad magic. The evil eye.
You know, Jews have traditionally, when speaking of something positive like reaching a healthy, advanced age, followed it by saying Keyn aynhoreh -- no evil eye. Wisely, we do not wish to want to jinx the thing.
Okay -- some would say the unpredictability of life and maybe the law of averages and perhaps the fact that bad things and cruel ironies seem to linger more in the consciousness than good things do just makes it seem like everything good is waiting to be jinxed.
Again, no.
This is not superstition, it's observation.
Something bad is likely to follow something good. (Y'see. Life is predictable.)
And so it came to pass that last Thursday -- the day of the Onion show -- I was takin it easy, workin' on my laptop in a Lower East Side cafe, eatin' at the Delancey St. Subway (6” meatball subs for only $1.99. -- that's like a pound); livin' large with a medium soda.
Glancing at the paper, I noticed a really good pop band was playing for free that afternoon just a few blocks from where I was sitting.
But damn, the show started at 2 and it was almost 4. However, the band I wanted to see was playing with other bands and was probably headlining, so I decided to chance disappointment and toddle over to the venue.
Well, I got there in time. And I got pretty much the only seat in the house -- not the only seat left, the only seat period. (Okay, there may have been one more stool. I mean, I'm tryin' to be honest with you.)
Then I won several hundred dollars of merchandise when they pulled the number of my ticket out of a hat (or some similar receptacle). It even turned out that in that crowd, I wasn't just an ordinary-lookin' Joe – I looked just like the lead singer of the band. And he even had a (fairly) hot blonde wife.
. . . From the South, even.
What a run of luck!
Well, I remembered those trips to Disneyland and I remembered how my shows in London had gone so very well and I knew that there was no way I was going to have a good show that night. The very laws that guide us would not allow it.
And that is Reason Number 2 why . . .
"I stipulate from the outset that ultimate responsibility rests with me. Part of the skill is transcending these things." -- Andrew J. Lederer, 2006
Ill Omens and Harbingers of Doom
Back when I lived in California, I resided for a time in a large house (we called it a mansion but it wasn't) in the hills behind The Comedy Store. It was a comedy house, not just during my time but also before and after.
We were told that the house and the venue had long been under common ownership and this was cool because the Store had been Ciro's, one of the great nightclubs of Hollywood's golden age. Legend held that Martin and Lewis and other greats had reveled at the house in the past, as Robin Williams, Sam Kinnison and others did later on.
The domicile has also been a drug and alcohol rehab center (primarily for comedians) and I think Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore's son Pauly lives there now; at least, he did.
Like I said, a real comedy house.
I felt fortunate to be among the chosen.
So, it came to pass that, in the springtime, “Chosen Andrew” met up with family friends at Disneyland and had a spectacular day. He felt footloose and fancy free. The world was fine.
And when he got back to Comedy House, he was informed he'd just been kicked out of a comedy quartet that had pretty much been started for me, er, I mean “him”. A cold dose of reality had frozen out the joy. (Two other members of the sketch/improv group were Dan Frischman, who would become one of the stars of the sitcom “Head of the Class” and Adam Small, who wrote most of Pauly Shore's definitive movies and co-created "MAD TV". Big deal stuff.)
(pause)
Author's note: I am abandoning that cumbersome “third person” thing I used in the last paragraph.. If you've grown fond of it, I apologize. Perhaps you will find some consolation in the fact that the previous paragraph will always be there for you to read again and enjoy!
(resume)
A short time thereafter, it was off to Disneyland again (we do love our Disneyland), this time with my sister and her boyfriend (now husband).
Another perfect day.
I returned to find I was kicked out of the “mansion”.
Y'see?
When things go really well, like after a day at the ”Happiest Place on Earth” (and don't give me any of that anti-corporate, anti-Disney shit -- never forget, it was started by a mouse), you will inevitably suffer the consequences.
That's the lesson I've decided to take from this reminiscence.
Not that I shouldn't have been involved with the capricious Mitzi Shore, who not only owned the house but made both the aforementioned decisions.
Not that I owed many months of rent and should have been expecting an eviction.
Not that I skipped a rehearsal of my comedy troupe to go to Disneyland that first time and should have expected repercussions
And most definitely not that I shouldn't go to Disneyland.
No! It was bad magic. The evil eye.
You know, Jews have traditionally, when speaking of something positive like reaching a healthy, advanced age, followed it by saying Keyn aynhoreh -- no evil eye. Wisely, we do not wish to want to jinx the thing.
Okay -- some would say the unpredictability of life and maybe the law of averages and perhaps the fact that bad things and cruel ironies seem to linger more in the consciousness than good things do just makes it seem like everything good is waiting to be jinxed.
Again, no.
This is not superstition, it's observation.
Something bad is likely to follow something good. (Y'see. Life is predictable.)
And so it came to pass that last Thursday -- the day of the Onion show -- I was takin it easy, workin' on my laptop in a Lower East Side cafe, eatin' at the Delancey St. Subway (6” meatball subs for only $1.99. -- that's like a pound); livin' large with a medium soda.
Glancing at the paper, I noticed a really good pop band was playing for free that afternoon just a few blocks from where I was sitting.
But damn, the show started at 2 and it was almost 4. However, the band I wanted to see was playing with other bands and was probably headlining, so I decided to chance disappointment and toddle over to the venue.
Well, I got there in time. And I got pretty much the only seat in the house -- not the only seat left, the only seat period. (Okay, there may have been one more stool. I mean, I'm tryin' to be honest with you.)
Then I won several hundred dollars of merchandise when they pulled the number of my ticket out of a hat (or some similar receptacle). It even turned out that in that crowd, I wasn't just an ordinary-lookin' Joe – I looked just like the lead singer of the band. And he even had a (fairly) hot blonde wife.
. . . From the South, even.
What a run of luck!
Well, I remembered those trips to Disneyland and I remembered how my shows in London had gone so very well and I knew that there was no way I was going to have a good show that night. The very laws that guide us would not allow it.
And that is Reason Number 2 why . . .
posted by Andrew J. Lederer at 12:38 PM
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