Laughs Comedy Club

L. and I went to Laughs Comedy Club in Kirkland tonight to see Greg Behrendt perform. This was kind of a pre-birthday celebration, since next weekend we're getting together with a few friends to celebrate with them.

Anyway, the show was fantastic. There were two openers, and I wish I could remember their names but it's late and I just didn't commit them to memory. The first guy was a computer programmer, and he had some funny observations about working in the computer industry (to which I can relate). The second guy told great jokes about men's underwear, filthy roommates, and pets. They were really good at warming up the audience, so by the time Greg came out we were all in a good mood. Greg's set was hilarious, and I had tears streaming down my face several times during the show. His ending was by far the funniest and I really lost it, as did everyone else in the audience.

Following the show, L. and I went up to the stage and L. bought me Greg's DVD. We met Greg, and he signed the DVD case. Of all of the eloquent things I could have come up with to say to someone like Greg, who I really like and respect, all that came out was "It's nice to meet you. You're hilarious. Will you sign my DVD?" Yeah, totally cool, I know.

On the way home, I thought of all kinds of good things to say like, "What was it like writing for Sex & the City?; I really liked your talk show and it's nice that you helped so many people and made them laugh.; etc." But, none of those things spring to mind when you meet someone famous. It's like your brain goes on vacation or something. This has happened to me several times. I haven't met a ton of famous people in my life, but I have met a few. So far, I've met Sarah Brightman (singer) and the dancers from one of her productions, Bill Bryson (writer), Dave Barry (writer), Buddy Guy (blues musician), and Richard Cheese (lounge singer/pop parody musician). I also dated a guy in a local band many years ago through whom I once met some people from then little-known indie bands like Modest Mouse and Sleater-Kinney. In all of these situations, I experienced brain vacation and it pisses me off every time. Celebrities must think that the world around them is filled with inept and uneloquent people, although I suppose that even celebrities get star struck sometimes. I can only hope.