Reasons Why (#3)

(Third 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


Guide Us, Oh Lord

Lights go down. Silence in room.

No announcement. No information.

I walk out. Lights come up.

Who am I? Has show begun? What show is this?

"Is that the MC?" "Is he going to do some kind of comedy piece?"

"Is this something before the show, like an introductory announcement?" "Why is he just talking to us like we already know ho he is?


As far as I could tell, people were just hangin' and talking and then the lights went down and went up again and though the people in the crowd obviously knew where they were and why they were there and what one would normally expect, structurally, of a comedy show, there was nonetheless a directionless inauspiciousness about the way it all began.

And that is Reason Number 3 why . . .