I had a great time Mum: here's what I wrote in my livejournal, if you're interested:
Went to see Jon Stewart stand-up today, with my mum: OMG, it was great. ;D It was about, eh, two hours and thirteen minutes long (roughly, haha) so we totally got our money's worth. Even if the (cheap) tickets were $75. Tickets in the front? $500 bucks a pop. Damn, that guy draws a crowd.
First of all, the venue: University of California, Santa Barbara; Thunderdome. Which is pretty much the big gym where they have basketball games. We were way up in the bleachers, and the expensive seats were folding chairs on the basketball court, and then there was a fancy stage set up on the right with two big screens for those of us who couldn't see.
We got there about 7:20, which was too early, as the show was to start at 8. Despite the rather large sign that said NO LATE SEATING, the real crowd came about 8:05, fashionably late, true to California form. That was all right, though, since everybody was fine by the time it started.
It was tremendously funny, how it began. They shut the lights off in the gym, all of them, and it was PITCH BLACK. I could only see the reflection off my mum's glasses until my eyes adjusted. And then lights flashed all over the stage, like a rock concert, spotlights and colored lights and all that jazz. They announced Jon, and he came out, looking very casual.
He started off noting the stage, which had these weird tall bushy plants all around it. "Are these, like, real?" he asked and went to look at one. "What were they thinking...'We will make it so he is in a forest!' Well, if I need to take a leak later..."
He did a little about UCSB, asking what they were known for, etc. They are the UCSB "Gauchos," which he ribbed, gaucho-esque accent and prancing and all. He asked us what a Gaucho was and several people yelled "AN ARGENTINIAN COWBOY!" "Ah," he said, "you went with something native to the area. No, but seriously, Argentinian cowboys? They're the best cowboys. Those Brazilian cowboys? Fuck 'em. Pfft."
At that, (and then several times throughout the night), everyone stamped their feet like you do at games, making the trademark thunder sound, I guess. He seemed to think that was very funny. "Where I come from, we call that a subway." Everyone did it again. "Don't you wish you could do that at your job, and it would work?" He mimicked us. We did it again. He cracked up. Very funny.
I shan't repeat his bit, since it was mostly things from his show, etc, stuff you guys would recognize. Suffice to say, it was very funny. A few bits were new to me, I dunno if I've just missed them sometime or what: Lieberman ("He'd be a hard guy to break up with."), his computer (which apparently has the power to launch a shuttle, but not his games), and a great bit on Bush. ("He's not stupid. He's a twelve-year-old kid giving a book report on a book he hasn't read. He isn't stupid...but he sure thinks the teacher is. *Bush accent* 'Treasure Island...is an island.")He came back at the end to give us a final thought--that one about 9/11, and the guy jerking off on his stoop, and everything being okay. We got plenty of accents: Lieberman, Cheney, Bush, something German, and the gaucho.
At one point about halfway through, some girl tried to, I think, get on the stage. The security people got a hold of her so fast I didn't even see what was happening--I was watching Jon watch them. He stopped in the middle of the joke and kind of eyed them. Once they took her out (I saw them handcuffing her on the floor in the back) he was like, "If any other hot women would like to rush the stage...please don't." A very male voice from somewhere cried out "I love you, Jon!" He paused hilariously. "Thank you...sir." He never finished that joke--lost his train of thought, I suppose; I would too.
A while after that, in between jokes, Jon pulled out his camera phone. "I just want to get a picture of all of you," he said, and pointed it at us and took one. I thought that was rather funny. I tried to return the favor, but the bright lights made it impossible to get a photo. Some other guy from the back (VOCAL crowd, lots of shouting--and Jon would always stop and ask for them to repeat it so he could hear) said something I didn't hear, probably like "I want one too!" and Jon said "You're going to have to fight all these people to the death to get it. I'm 140 pounds of asthmatic Jew, let's go." Awesome.
All in all, a great performance. I was worried my mum wouldn't like it much--she wasn't really a Jon Stewart fan--but about halfway through she leaned over and said "Oh! He's so cute." And I knew it'd be fine. At the end, she said, "He didn't say anything I found objectionable or didn't agree with," which I thought was pretty cool. I think she's a fan now. And, as Stephen Colbert says, there's nothing more important than your mom having a good time. :D I had a great time myself, bit my nails and laughed and laughed.
-
Bits and pieces from The Little red Hen Thinks Again, pictures by me, S. Puglisi, text by my friend Stephen C. Clark who is far away and I miss him.0Add a comment
Add a comment