Not a political endorsement but given the choices, why not an Emmy®-winning comedian with a pretty impressive resume! At least he’s a good generation younger than the two old farts running on my side.
Dana returned to Austin to ring in the new year with a string of shows at our A-list venue. Well, if you’ve heard other comedians discuss it on podcasts when they’re “talking inside baseball” (aka, the business of comedy), my home’s club location is considered odd compared to competing cities. They often make strip-mall jokes over it.
There was a great mix of new stuff, modifications to existing jokes and his go-to bits. He made a callback to a joke I remembered in the Nineties when I saw him on The A List, the first TV show in which I could then always recall his name! Good turn out too. Must be the holiday element.
We spoke for a bit again. I got Dana to add his autograph to the Simpson’s chucks alongside the other four people. Nice to know he’s friends with David Silverman. He was glad to receive the way overdue DVD my late friend Ben composed of the Star Trek tribute he was in. Dana said he appreciated the video tape but hadn’t any luck in converting it; I did have the darn thing, I just misplaced it under a Gary Numan CD when Moontower rolled around last Spring.
The best news is, Dana remains open to doing my birthday celebration at Alamo Drafthouse. The plan is to have a private screening of Planet of the Apes, the original, good 1968 version. All I’ve asked of him is 10 minutes before the movie. He can do whatever he wants. I figure Dana will give a quick FYI about the film, work in some jokes and afterwards, we all enjoy the movie. As for you readers, especially if you live in the Austin area and are my friend, set aside the last weekend of July to attend! My birthday this year is on a Friday so you have little, little excuse. Oh wait, it might be a tricky day. Hmmm. Maybe a Saturday afternoon will be more cost effective. Let me see what quotes I receive from the general manager.
Other stuff. I asked what he will get to be doing in the new MST3K. Some writing, probably some punching up of jokes and at least one appearance as an unnamed character. Pretty cool. Dana also let me know some trivial things regarding comedians/writers I like. Nothing like gossip or dirt, more on how the world is a smaller place than we think on who is friends with whom. Lastly, I did pitch a podcast episode idea to him on doing spotlight of Austin with these little factoids he found intriguing.
- The world premiere of Batman: The Movie was here. Fox chose Austin as a thank-you gift to the company that built the Batboat you see during key scenes.
- Charles Whitman’s infamous UT Tower shooting was the impetus for Daryl Gates’ push to create SWAT teams within metropolitan police departments.
I’m not trying to break into show business. Ugh! I don’t hate my enough to go into an even more soul-crushing profession. I thought it would be a time and money saver for him. Overall, my pitch would be how Austin is the Bryan Cranston of US cities.