A bunch of years ago, back even when "The Daily Show" was just "The Daily Show" and not "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," and publishing a website meant writing code in Notepad, my (younger, twin) brothers decided that Lewis Black was one of the greatest things on earth, and he deserved a "shrine" on the Web. So they made one. At that moment, I believe that was Lewis Black's ONLY presence on the Web; made by two teenage kids who really should have been too young to even get it.
A while after the site was up and running, I came across the listing that Lewis Black was doing a live gig in Detroit, at Mark Ridley's in Royal Oak. My brothers didn't drive or work, but I'm a dutiful big sister, and besides, I dug Black's act as well. Taking them to the show was a no-brainer.
I got on the horn to Mark Ridley's to check ticket prices ($12 I think) and make reservations for four. It occurred to me to ask whether there were drink minimums (I was not a drinker at the time; oh how times have changed) and was told no, no drink minimums. But oh by the way, it is a 21 and over show.
Oh, now that's a problem.
At the time, we really didn't know whether Black's career would go anywhere -- you never know with comics. Just being funny isn't what makes them successful; some of the funniest people I've ever seen were very quickly engulfed by obscurity. As far as I knew, this may have been our one and only chance to see him. I tried to explain the situation to the woman, that these two boys with over-developed senses of humor had made this site, and just wanted to see their favorite comic. I offered to pay extra to cover the lost liquor revenue. The woman on the phone said it was really out of her hands. I was despondent.
See, I'd already told my brothers we were going. Telling them now that we weren't, well, that was unbearable.
I called my brothers back and told them there may be a problem. I think they didn't really believe they were going to get to go anyway, so they handled it well. I told them I was going to take one more swing at it and let them know how it went. I called Mark Ridley's again.
The woman I had originally spoken to -- who was genuinely trying to help -- put me on with the club manager. I explained, again, the situation. He said as long as we promised to behave, he could make an exception for us. But no trying to sneak alcohol to minors! I told him there was absolutely no danger of that happening, we were just grateful to be allowed to see the show! But more than that, the manager wondered whether Lewis Black knew about this website. "Give me the web address and your brothers' names, and call me back the day of the show." Well, sure!
Day of show, I gave a call to reconfirm that we weren't going to have any problems at the door. "Oh, are these the guys who made the website?" I was asked. Yep, we're those guys. "Lewis heard all about the site and wants to meet your brothers after the show. He's also put you on the guest list."
Long story short (too late!), the show was riotously funny, and afterward, Lewis hung around to chat, quite amicably, with anyone who cared to. When he saw us, he thanked my brothers very sincerely for the PR and appreciation. And me for being such an awesome sister, naturally. We took a couple of snapshots, talked about sports and politics, entertainment and growing up in Baltimore. He told us that he teaches writing and standup classes. "I just teach them how to write about their lives," he told us. "Sometimes people say, 'My life isn't funny!' I say, 'Yes it is. Or you'd better get a new life.'"
I told you all of that, just to tell you this:
Lewis Black
Royal Oak Music Theatre
Sunday, March 21
DO 6pm
All Ages
Reserved Seating $55
On Sale Now
Royal Oak Music Theatre
Sunday, March 21
DO 6pm
All Ages
Reserved Seating $55
On Sale Now
It IS loud comedy. It does SOUND like angry comedy. But it's smart, it's thoughtful, it's with us and not against us, and at the heart of it, Lewis Black DOES want you with him in the "belief that things are going to be right."
