The Future is Coming - Part II
A couple of years ago I wrote a blog entitled 'The Future is Coming." The blog was written after hearing the line by comedian Bob Levy on the Howard Stern Show. It's a clever line, and I've repeated it every now and again.
It's funny, but I've listened to Howard since about 1985 or so, first hearing about him back in college, and while he is distasteful for some members of the general population, I've always known about the cast of characters involved with the show. From Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf to Levy through Beetlejuice, I've sort of followed their lives as if I were watching a bad soap opera.
Last night Levy and Beetle did a comedy show at the Brant Fire Hall. The place was packed, and there were plenty of people laughing, but the cringe factor was also in effect as the filthy jokes were flying.
What was most interesting about the event was that I had the chance to sit with Levy and Beetlejuice for a good half hour before the show, and the cringe factor was more about what they do for a living. Traveling from town-to-town, drinking tequila in the back room for hours, just for a short time on stage, seems to be a bit of a lonely existence.
Levy and I chatted about some of the characters on the show, talked about writing, and had an honest exchange about meeting people and presenting ideas. He invited me on his radio show, and shook hands after his set, while he was selling tee-shirts out front.
As a man in his late fifties I spent a lot of his show wondering about his work, the drinking they all seem to do, and the fact that there will be another town next week, and more of the same. How did he even remember his lines in such a state of mind?
"I never even graduated high school," he said at one point, "but I've done all right. I tell my kid that he probably won't get so lucky and that he better be prepared because the future is coming."
Pretty cool - he mentioned the line in casual conversation.
A couple of hours later, Levy had the room rocking with laughter. I stood in the back of the hall, hoping he didn't point his finger and make fun of me. I enjoyed the show, but also found it all sort of weird. It was sort of like I had the chance to look behind the curtain at the Wizard of Oz.
We often think of show business as this glamorous exchange of ideas when in fact its just an awful lot like people downing tequila, making fun of each other and waiting for the show to begin.
And Beetlejuice? The black, mentally-challenged, chain-smoking, beer-guzzling, midget?
Let's just say I got my money's worth.
It's funny, but I've listened to Howard since about 1985 or so, first hearing about him back in college, and while he is distasteful for some members of the general population, I've always known about the cast of characters involved with the show. From Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf to Levy through Beetlejuice, I've sort of followed their lives as if I were watching a bad soap opera.
Last night Levy and Beetle did a comedy show at the Brant Fire Hall. The place was packed, and there were plenty of people laughing, but the cringe factor was also in effect as the filthy jokes were flying.
What was most interesting about the event was that I had the chance to sit with Levy and Beetlejuice for a good half hour before the show, and the cringe factor was more about what they do for a living. Traveling from town-to-town, drinking tequila in the back room for hours, just for a short time on stage, seems to be a bit of a lonely existence.
Levy and I chatted about some of the characters on the show, talked about writing, and had an honest exchange about meeting people and presenting ideas. He invited me on his radio show, and shook hands after his set, while he was selling tee-shirts out front.
As a man in his late fifties I spent a lot of his show wondering about his work, the drinking they all seem to do, and the fact that there will be another town next week, and more of the same. How did he even remember his lines in such a state of mind?
"I never even graduated high school," he said at one point, "but I've done all right. I tell my kid that he probably won't get so lucky and that he better be prepared because the future is coming."
Pretty cool - he mentioned the line in casual conversation.
A couple of hours later, Levy had the room rocking with laughter. I stood in the back of the hall, hoping he didn't point his finger and make fun of me. I enjoyed the show, but also found it all sort of weird. It was sort of like I had the chance to look behind the curtain at the Wizard of Oz.
We often think of show business as this glamorous exchange of ideas when in fact its just an awful lot like people downing tequila, making fun of each other and waiting for the show to begin.
And Beetlejuice? The black, mentally-challenged, chain-smoking, beer-guzzling, midget?
Let's just say I got my money's worth.
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