In early December 08, a business partner of mine was in LA for meetings we had set up for a current project. Each day of her 4 day biz trip we rushed here, there and everywhere. In the blur of meetings, auditions and lunches, she mentioned she bought tickets for us to a secret show hosted by Funnyordie.com.
FYI-I spend hours of my life on Funnyordie. com. The video that hooked me to prominent website was THE LANDLORD. I've watched Pearl threaten to smack Will Ferrell hundreds of times! Bitch, bitch, bitch! I've always liked Will Ferrell but he became my favorite comedian after I watched Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. I have a hard time between Will Ferrell and Dax Shepard, but for blogging purposes, Will wins.
Back to the biz at hand: We have tickets to a secret Funnyordie show? "Sweet" I proclaim. Her last night in town, the only time we really get to hang out and it's a surprise?! I can't wait. Honestly, we are both hoping it turns out to be Will Ferrell who is always working with the Funnyordie.com crew. The real question is; can we be that lucky?
The night of the secret show arrives. We are both mentally and physically exhausted, famished, parched and not to mention running super late to the secret show which doors will be shut and locked automatically at 8:30PM Sharp.
8:25PM we pull up to secret venue to find rock star parking. (That's how we roll.) 8:26PM we are in the reception which is just now being called into the theater. (On time suckas) As we walk in; threats are made on our cell phones..."NO TEXTING....NO PHOTOS....NO CALLS...this is a secret show folks. No communication with the outside world. We will take your cell phone and we will flush it" The Theater manager raged. The theater sat about 150 people, all struggling with cell phone separation anxiety, me included.
We found our seats. They were awesome. No one tall in front of me or smelly next to me. We were happy clams waiting for the secret surprise to reveal its mystery self! It didn't take long for everyone to sit down, be reminded to turn off all cell phones and shut up. The lights went black for a moment. Suddenly...a narrator from the darkness and into a microphone explains we are about to see a one man show with a series of songs and a projected slide show; that actually won't be in tonights show. Silence...darkness...the rustle of the eager audience. I was begining to doubt how funny this show was going to be. Who and WTF?. A slide show? Lame. I'm far to tired to pretend a show is funny if isn't funny and slide shows suck!
Finally a small theater spotlight shines center stage to reveal Will Ferrell as George W. Bush in his one man show, You're Welcome America ***A Final Night with George W. Bush****. I screamed out like a horny groupy; as did most of the audience. I had a surge of energy and alertness. I had to grab my biz partner; wrap my arm around her arm and ask her if that was WF to believe it was happening. She laughed, unwound her arm from mine and confirmed that it was indeed WF. Will Ferrell on the stage in front of me with only 148 other people? It was the truth! Damn straight. (This was one of the nights I also realized how freaken cool it is to live in LA County)
The show was fierce; hysterical; brilliant. I was shedding tears of laughter while bending over to prevent an oncoming hiccup attack from disrupting my amusement midway due to laughing non stop. The show consists of Will Ferrell in a suit, well known songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's and a photo slide show, that didn't exist but WF told us who the imaginary photo would be, eventually. WF had notes in his hands through majority of the show and a ball point pen. He would make quick notes, scratches and marks as the show went on. Barely noticeable BTW. It was hard to notice anything other than how believeable Will Ferrell is as GWB.
When the show was over WF thanked the 150 of us and told us we were his first test audience and that he actually was taking notes and making changes, based on us and our reactions for his broadway show. AWESOME! We left feeling so lucky that we should stop and purchase lottery tickets. It has been a great business trip with a kick ass ending.
CUT TO-
Last night I was at dinner with a new business colleague at Versailles on La Cienega. As we grubbed down on our Cuban cuisine, I spotted a billboard out the window with Will Ferrell pasted on it. I found myself studying the billboard rather than listening to the client list of my new colleague. I thought about the secret show in December and just how freaken cool it was. I realized the billboard was infact promoting WF's one man show and its live premier on HBO March 14, 2009.
You have to see this show people. As hilarious as it is(and it is) it is also heartbreaking on so many levels. Our country has been through so much BS over the last 8 years. We deserve an apology from our former president and his whitehouse staff. We will never get it! I know this and have come to terms with it. We have been left in a terrible recession, a never ending war and a freshly brewed war. WF and his one man show helped me get to that space where I can forget about the liver cancer that was farmed for 8 years on America and move forward with the Obama cleanse as if the past never happened.
Thank you, Will Ferrell for bringing the chaos full circle and leaving me with laughter and surprise! xoj
I'm finally beginning to fulfill my goal of watching all the Golden Globe and Oscar nominated films before the Oscars on February 22 2009 on ABC. Last night I watched Revolutionary Road directed by Sam Mendes, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a beautiful film with an amazingly well told and acted story. The cast deserves every nomination they have landed and the most deserving in my opinion is Michael Shannon. Shannon plays the mentally ill son of the Real Estate agent (Bates) that sold the Wheeler's their home on Revolutionary road when the couple was forced to move to the burbs in the 1950's due to April's (Winslet) first pregnancy. Frank (DiCaprio) and April have another child and appear to be the most perfect couple on Revolutionary Road. The family and the marriage are far from sound. This is a harsh film and although lengthy, kept me on the edge of my seat. I was nervous, anxious and desperately wanting this dismal and harrowing story to come to an end. The Wheeler's and their world were originally written and created by Richard Yates. Yates is an original at layering disguised, emotional, conflicts. He forces readers to reflect on themselves and the world around. Mendes keeps true and sincere in the movie version. The film left me happy that 50% of marriages in America NOW end in divorce. We have options people! Options! I'll stick with the single slice, cheese only. xoj
