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January 08, 2004
exit wound in a foreign nation
The show last night was incredible! Even though Keith, Adam and I haven't done a show together in over a year, I think, we fell right into the same rhythm we had together when we were doing shows every single week, and we gave up some serious funny. Afterwards, a few audience regulars told me they thought it was our funniest show ever.
Two things about the show: Tracy Smith is insanely hilarious. You should all go to ComedyCentral.Com and vote for her, so you can see her on Stand-Up: Showdown.
The band last night, Orange County's own Handsome Devil, is teh rock. They are super nice guys, and they're about to break out HUGE in the pop-punk world. If you're in LA or OC, and you like the loud music, check them out.
The Big Time Guest™ was Henry Winkler. Last night was the first time I actually met Henry Winkler, but it wasn't the first "encounter" I had with him. That happened in 1980, when I was 8 years old . . .
When I was a kid, I always looked forward to auditions that were actually "on the lot," (rather than in some office building in The Valley) because I thought all studio lots were just like The Universal Studios Tour: movie stars roaming freely, thousands of extras dressed in exciting costumes, and sets so real we'd swear we were in The Old West, or on a space ship.
Of course, the reality of an audition on an actual studio lot never met the build-up I gave it in my young mind. The only lot that was anything like The Universal Studios Tour was, of course, Universal Studios, and even when we I got to go there they kept us non-paying actors away from the good stuff, like BattleStar Galactica and the übercool back lot. See, the sad truth is, unless you're actually working there (and often when you are), studios are quite boring. They're really just big office complexes, the über cool backlots are usually filled with unused equipment, and those throngs of movie stars are usually in their dressing rooms, safely hidden away from the unwashed masses.
As a matter of fact, during all the years I went on auditions, I only remember ever seeing one real "star," and that was Henry Winkler.
I was on an audition at Paramount with my mom. It was late in the afternoon, and we were walking down one of the streets on the West side of the lot, by the television sound stages. My brown Wrangler courduroy pants zip-zip-zipped rapidy as I walked. I'd done well on the audition, and I was happy.
"How did your reading go?" My Mom asked me.
As I talked, I looked around, and hoped to catch a glimpse of the cast of Diff'rent Strokes, which was my favorite show at the time. "Good," I said. "It was really funny. There was this man who said --"
The zip-zip-zip of my pants stopped, and I stared up at a second floor office window.
"What is is, Willow?" My mom said.
"Mom . . . look. It's Fonzie." I said.
My mom followed my gaze upward, and said, "You're right! You should wave to him!"
I nervously held up my hand and waved at him. He looked right at me, and waved back. Without even thinking, I closed my waving hand into a fist, and held up one thumb.
"Aaayyyyyyy," I thought.
The Fonz smiled, turned to face the window, and held out both of his thumbs in the world-famous Fonzarelli "Aaaayyy" move, waved again, and walked back into the office, out of my view.
"Mom!" I said, "did you see that?!"
"I sure did, Willow. That was very cool."
Henry Winkler didn't have to give me the thumbs up. He didn't even have to wave to me. He could have just walked away from the window, or pulled a WFS.
But he didn't. He was kind, and gracious, and gave me a story that I've been telling for 23 years.
Last night, before the show, I told Henry that story. Before he could say anything, Adam Chester told him a similar story. It turns out that Henry Winkler is one of the nicest people in the world, and he's waaaayyy cooler than Fonzie.
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