Status Update #51 “Previously on “The Wallet” Richard retrieves his forgotten sandwich from a grumpy Casino employee, cutting her slack because she has to work the graveyard shift.” Heading out the door of the casino I pass the smokers on the large cement patio. One of them recognizes me and calls out – “Hey funny man!!” I smile and acknowledge the group. Not the girl with the tattoo breasts, some other table I don’t really recognize. It is a strange and special relationship with the audience on the street. They know me, they’ve been looking at me and listening to me for an hour. They know me in a way that, in some ways is superficial, and other ways, more intimately than my own family. I’m their new best friend. Perhaps simply the fact that their feelings are buoyed by their affection for me, that people who know me better have lost or forgotten. Anyway, I am reminded of some verses in Hebrews that say something like – “Be careful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unknowingly.” I often find myself standing outside of clubs and bars, in hotel lobbies and parking lots, chatting with ten people or so. They instinctively form a circle with me at the apex. They ask questions like did I really have cancer? I point out that it would be pretty perverse to make such a claim if I didn’t. They ask for pictures of me with them, and laugh hard at virtually everything I say. Their own “funny man” (or sometimes, but rarely a “funny woman”) tries out their own brand of humour on me, and I acquiesce to it. Anything I say in response, gets significantly louder laughs then their local hero. They’ve heard his stuff before. I make some generic remark like “Awkward” or “Ooookay”. The local star will often tell me I “can use that one”, which his friends scoff at while his wife rolls her eyes, and then they gratefully roar when I say, “And me without my pen.” And then, they seem to sense their time with me is up, and they tell me that I put on a great show. I thank them and say I look forward to seeing them again. And then I look at the funny man and, (one two three), “but not him.” One more big laugh and I wish them a good night. Sometimes, perhaps because I talk about cancer and addiction, people will individually share very private stories with me. Very private. Deaths in the family, heartbreak, fear. It seems strange they see me as someone they can talk to, but I am. I remember once after a particularly raucous show in Whistler Ski Resort in BC, a young guy came up to me and said, “Eight months ago, in Guelph Ontario, I walked in on my wife and my best friend, and I haven’t even smiled since…until tonight, when I laughed my ass off.” Another time a woman bought my CD after my show at the Yuk Yuks in Vancouver, which was right beside St. Paul’s Hospital on Burrard Street. She left and then came back, to tell me that her father was dying and she had been with him in St. Paul’s for the last week, and she needed a break, and so she came to the show. With tears in her eyes (and mine too, I confess) she thanked me for helping her. It is these occasions that keep me going when my dreams of fame and riches fade. I walk up the slight hill back to the hotel, my rescued roast beef sandwich in my hand. I check my phone and it’s on low power, but I can see a number of notifications registered. I will charge my phone back at the room. Entertaining strangers - for some have entertained angels without knowing it. The guy in Whistler – probably an angel. The woman in Vancouver – definitely. And maybe a few tonight in Niagara Falls. Seems likely. And Jody – delivering me my wallet. Angels… gotta love ‘em. Gotta entertain ‘em. TO BE CONTINUED #thewallet.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:04:21 +0000
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