What an amazing night, going with friend and colleague Rob M to see the Rescue Me Comedy Tour 2. Some great stuff happened!
We saw Denis Leary, Lenny Clark, Adam Ferarra and two awesome lesser-known comedians, Tony V and Kenny Rogerson perform. Look out for those last two– they were amazing!
But that wasn’t even the best part of the night. Rob and myself had a wild adventure. Coming down from the high of our last outing, having met Christopher Titus in person, I was excited to get perhaps another signature on my SAP logo sheet, this time from Denis “Asshole” Leary. Ya know, Tommy Gavin? Well it wasn’t happening.
There was no “photo op” moment with the comedians before or after as this was a HUGE show. Nearly 3,000 people in the audience at the Warner Theater, all there to hear Denis get mad at things…and I mean really mad. The Catholic Church, celebrity mugshots, and as always: really really fat people. Good times were had! We even got an exclusive version of “Asshole” in Chinese. Well…sorta. Ask him yourself.
At the end of the night I probably laughed my jaw off, and am still very thankful to Rob for scorin’ those tix. But still…no Denis. Rob put down a bunch of money for a really weird autographed Heath Ledger portrait (as part of his own sick needs AND a charitable cause) …but nothing from me except a couple of bottle openers and the few pictures I’ll share with you.
We tried to sneak into a backstage meet-and-greet, but alas we had no passes. When we nonchalant-ed the curtained area, the ushers and officers could see our nervous excitement! That didn’t help. Rob’s 500 dollar trinket, though, did, as it was a charity auction item, and grabbed the attention of a fan leaving the backstage, who promptly handed us his “used” pass. Oh yes, we took it. But alas it was only one.
And that bastard Rob took my camera with him, intending to get pictures of the cast without me! He almost made it though the security doors, leaving me alone, mumbling like Woody Allen on speed-post-coitus. I turned with disdain to the security guard like a sad puppy who wants to be let out the door. Well, the dude waved me in, and I suddenly turned that frown upside down.
So we got backstage…and low and behold! NO ONE WAS THERE. Or so were we told by the backstage guy. I couldn’t tell if he was DC or NY, but this dude was pissed that we didn’t have tickets and was guarding the place like Hitler’s own Secret Service agent. Lying to him was hard, but him lying to us was easy enough. He asked of us, “who’s name are you under? what list are you on?” to which Rob and I replied “mumble-mumble-the-GUY-mumble-continued-mumbling”. Finally, after his third time saying “no name, no backstage” I placed my hands in front of me as if to plead and said “Denis?” “Nope, not gonna work. They already left anyways.”
Rob and I exited the backstage with nothing. It was a sad, sad day in the lives of our two heroes. Our travels had been amusing but bittersweet. So we left the Warner Theater to traipse around the block…which I told Rob was the wrong way to the metro. He said “meh it goes around let’s just walk.” I said “Your picture is stupid and we should just go home. Or hound the backstage until we get some answers.” But alas…Denis and the rest had already left.
Then we crossed by what could only be the Warner Theater’s loading dock. And a realization hit me as a long, white van pulled out:
I thought to myself, “Cast members don’t ride in limos except to dinner and awards nights…to intended public appearances.” I learned this from my time in OC with the cast and crew of Al Thompson’s show. “They ride in vans…” And the screaming began as ten other frothing fans DEMANDED that the van stop…and that Denis get out of the front seat and say hi to some loyal fans god dammit!
What you are about to see is the result of a lot of really potentially lame fumbled words, a shaky-ass still camera, and last-minute preparation for getting my damned logo signed. I had to pass it off to this guy, you see.
But the Asshole of the Dance Himself…
Denis Leary! Supporting STRIKE A POSE FILMS