Travelog: SF and Eddie Izzard!
Tried to post a piccy last night but Photobucket was being evil. So I'll do this all at once.
Bought tickets in like March/April to see Eddie Izzard on his Stripped tour date in San Francisco, Jul 19 at the Orpheum.
I had wanted to drive SF for the first time ever, but the more research I was doing into where to park and such was telling me, No, Don't Drive, Take BART. Bad neighborhood, expensive or non-existant parking, dangerous, etc. So, I caved.
Picked up my brother around 3 yesterday and we finally headed out of town around 4pm. Drove to Pleasanton from Modesto with an awful lot of drivers who apparently thought they were driving in LA (It's called a signal, you fuckers.) Parked, with some confusion, in the lot at the BART station. Went inside and bought a ticket on their dispensing machine (again with some confusion and with a rude unhelpful booth attendant who acted like we were asking her to mop the top of Everest by asking her if buying round trip meant we had to know what time we were returning or if it was good for any time.)
Got on the BART fairly well without incident. Went under the bay, which was really not as bad as I thought. It's over very quickly and the only real sign you're under the bay is that your ears pop because of the pressure. Still had bad Jaws 3 flashes but again, didn't last too long.
Came up at Civic Center station and went up to street level. Really thankful I took BART now because street is just as described (haven't been to this theater since the 90's for JCS with Ted Neeley). Aggressive homeless people and just a general unsafe feeling. This is why my 6'3 brother got a free ticket to come :)
It was about 5:55 when we got there (curtain was at 8pm). Went to talk to this older gentleman who worked at the theater to ask what time they would open the doors. He informed us 7:15 for the doors and 7:30 for seating. We thanked him (guy was just a total sweetheart!) and left for Burger King across the way.
Sampled the local cuisine and on our way back to the theater were acosted by a nice homeless guy that talked comic books with my brother (who was wearing a dressy Punisher shirt). Gave him some change and went over to the front of the theater to wait. Realized while we were waiting, there was NOTHING advertising Eddie was going to be there that night. Not so much as a flyer taped to the door. Assumed show must have sold out but that was still very tacky in my opinion. Waited out front for about an hour then were let inside.
I went straight to the merchandise table, Rhian went to the bar :) I got a shirt, 2 keychains (one is for a friend), a dog tag necklace and a program. Rhian came over with his drink, a Sailor Jerry Rum and Coke. He wanted to get an Eddie Izzard DVD (he doesn't own any, I just bring mine over and show him). He asked which my favorite was. So I answered,"Well I really love Circle, Dressed to Kill and Glorious. And I also love Definite Article but I don't know of many others who do and..." He exhaled loudly and said, "Look just pick one!"
Clearly, he understands nothing of Eddie.
So I said, "Dressed to Kill. It was filmed in San Francisco and we're seeing him in San Francisco, so get Dressed to Kill." A lady in the crowd turns to me and goes, "You can't really go wrong with that one!" I said,"You can't really go wrong with any of them." She said, "This is true." Sigh. I love Izzardites.
So Rhian got D2K and we went to wait in line to get in. We were in row AA, which is the closest I could get. Good seats. Close enough to make out facial expressions and seats were tiered enough to see well over the heads in front of you.
Eddie was AWESOME. I laughed for two hours straight. He is in boymode for this tour, but I think there was some eyeliner. I won't spoil too much but there is one bit he does about they've tried making Tennis more exciting to watch by grunting when they hit the ball so it sounds like a porn movie. To which he continued by going "Uh. Uh. Uh. Oh yes. Just like that."
First Jack Sparrow, now this from Eddie. I'm having a good month for compiling a mental audio library of inspiration for writing smutfic. But I digress....
Again not wanting to spoil the show. It was hilarious and if you get the chance to go, GO!!!!!
We'd heard about the Q and A sessions after the show so we found the stage door where they had a velvet rope set up and we waited about an hour with about maybe 20-30 other fans. They brought out an amp with microphone and a wooden box. A few moments later, Eddie came out. We were standing no further than like 4 feet away from him. It was amazing. HE IS TINY!!!! I mean short and really rather thin! On film he always seems lean but a bit boxy shaped up top (around his ribcage section) but in person he doesn't look like that at all. Suddenly feeling better about how I look in pictures if that's what film does to him! Fucking gorgeous eyes!
He stood on the box and said he wasn't going to do signing because it takes too long when people are standing out in the weather (mostly heat, but it was bloody cold in "The City") but he would do a Q and A session (which was basically our own little 15-30 minute mini gig) and then he could "Fuck Off" as he said :)
I handed my camera to Rhian who is much taller than me and was a bit closer to the rope and he got some bloody amazing pictures that I will try to post soon.
While the Q and A was happening I was feeling a hand on my shoulder, and then on the other one, so I made sure I had a good hold over my purse. I realized that the hands were female, which is good because getting out of that kind of a hold is a move I have already learned in Kung Fu and that would have been embarrassing. I realized that it was just a female fan of Eddie's who was just trying to see around me and I think she was just trying to make me aware that somebody was behind me and to maybe not move if possible so she could keep the vantage point she'd worked out for herself. I was a little put off, but it was a fellow Izzardite and she wasn't really doing any harm so... that's very weird, cause if that had happened in, say Disneyland, I would have punched her out. Oh well.
Rhian got to ask him a question about Shadow of the Vampire and while he was answering him, I got a good 30 seconds of direct eye contact. Sigh, such little scraps to build a dream on :) Eddie also mentioned that they won't film Stripped until sometime next year.
It felt like he was up there for over an hour and I started to worry we might have missed the last train, but when he finished and we all applauded and thanked him, it was only like 11:20pm. We got to the BART station without incident and had to find which train to take back to Pleasanton. Uneventful trip back except every time I yawned, it hurt my face because my cheeks were aching from so much laughing that night! Got back to the station and found our car blissfully not stolen or vandalized and drove home. And it didn't even take a half tank of gas. Woot!
So, bit tired and sluggy today, but yeah, great time. Eddie is a King.
Hail to the King, Baby :)
Bought tickets in like March/April to see Eddie Izzard on his Stripped tour date in San Francisco, Jul 19 at the Orpheum.
I had wanted to drive SF for the first time ever, but the more research I was doing into where to park and such was telling me, No, Don't Drive, Take BART. Bad neighborhood, expensive or non-existant parking, dangerous, etc. So, I caved.
Picked up my brother around 3 yesterday and we finally headed out of town around 4pm. Drove to Pleasanton from Modesto with an awful lot of drivers who apparently thought they were driving in LA (It's called a signal, you fuckers.) Parked, with some confusion, in the lot at the BART station. Went inside and bought a ticket on their dispensing machine (again with some confusion and with a rude unhelpful booth attendant who acted like we were asking her to mop the top of Everest by asking her if buying round trip meant we had to know what time we were returning or if it was good for any time.)
Got on the BART fairly well without incident. Went under the bay, which was really not as bad as I thought. It's over very quickly and the only real sign you're under the bay is that your ears pop because of the pressure. Still had bad Jaws 3 flashes but again, didn't last too long.
Came up at Civic Center station and went up to street level. Really thankful I took BART now because street is just as described (haven't been to this theater since the 90's for JCS with Ted Neeley). Aggressive homeless people and just a general unsafe feeling. This is why my 6'3 brother got a free ticket to come :)
It was about 5:55 when we got there (curtain was at 8pm). Went to talk to this older gentleman who worked at the theater to ask what time they would open the doors. He informed us 7:15 for the doors and 7:30 for seating. We thanked him (guy was just a total sweetheart!) and left for Burger King across the way.
Sampled the local cuisine and on our way back to the theater were acosted by a nice homeless guy that talked comic books with my brother (who was wearing a dressy Punisher shirt). Gave him some change and went over to the front of the theater to wait. Realized while we were waiting, there was NOTHING advertising Eddie was going to be there that night. Not so much as a flyer taped to the door. Assumed show must have sold out but that was still very tacky in my opinion. Waited out front for about an hour then were let inside.
I went straight to the merchandise table, Rhian went to the bar :) I got a shirt, 2 keychains (one is for a friend), a dog tag necklace and a program. Rhian came over with his drink, a Sailor Jerry Rum and Coke. He wanted to get an Eddie Izzard DVD (he doesn't own any, I just bring mine over and show him). He asked which my favorite was. So I answered,"Well I really love Circle, Dressed to Kill and Glorious. And I also love Definite Article but I don't know of many others who do and..." He exhaled loudly and said, "Look just pick one!"
Clearly, he understands nothing of Eddie.
So I said, "Dressed to Kill. It was filmed in San Francisco and we're seeing him in San Francisco, so get Dressed to Kill." A lady in the crowd turns to me and goes, "You can't really go wrong with that one!" I said,"You can't really go wrong with any of them." She said, "This is true." Sigh. I love Izzardites.
So Rhian got D2K and we went to wait in line to get in. We were in row AA, which is the closest I could get. Good seats. Close enough to make out facial expressions and seats were tiered enough to see well over the heads in front of you.
Eddie was AWESOME. I laughed for two hours straight. He is in boymode for this tour, but I think there was some eyeliner. I won't spoil too much but there is one bit he does about they've tried making Tennis more exciting to watch by grunting when they hit the ball so it sounds like a porn movie. To which he continued by going "Uh. Uh. Uh. Oh yes. Just like that."
First Jack Sparrow, now this from Eddie. I'm having a good month for compiling a mental audio library of inspiration for writing smutfic. But I digress....
Again not wanting to spoil the show. It was hilarious and if you get the chance to go, GO!!!!!
We'd heard about the Q and A sessions after the show so we found the stage door where they had a velvet rope set up and we waited about an hour with about maybe 20-30 other fans. They brought out an amp with microphone and a wooden box. A few moments later, Eddie came out. We were standing no further than like 4 feet away from him. It was amazing. HE IS TINY!!!! I mean short and really rather thin! On film he always seems lean but a bit boxy shaped up top (around his ribcage section) but in person he doesn't look like that at all. Suddenly feeling better about how I look in pictures if that's what film does to him! Fucking gorgeous eyes!
He stood on the box and said he wasn't going to do signing because it takes too long when people are standing out in the weather (mostly heat, but it was bloody cold in "The City") but he would do a Q and A session (which was basically our own little 15-30 minute mini gig) and then he could "Fuck Off" as he said :)
I handed my camera to Rhian who is much taller than me and was a bit closer to the rope and he got some bloody amazing pictures that I will try to post soon.
While the Q and A was happening I was feeling a hand on my shoulder, and then on the other one, so I made sure I had a good hold over my purse. I realized that the hands were female, which is good because getting out of that kind of a hold is a move I have already learned in Kung Fu and that would have been embarrassing. I realized that it was just a female fan of Eddie's who was just trying to see around me and I think she was just trying to make me aware that somebody was behind me and to maybe not move if possible so she could keep the vantage point she'd worked out for herself. I was a little put off, but it was a fellow Izzardite and she wasn't really doing any harm so... that's very weird, cause if that had happened in, say Disneyland, I would have punched her out. Oh well.
Rhian got to ask him a question about Shadow of the Vampire and while he was answering him, I got a good 30 seconds of direct eye contact. Sigh, such little scraps to build a dream on :) Eddie also mentioned that they won't film Stripped until sometime next year.
It felt like he was up there for over an hour and I started to worry we might have missed the last train, but when he finished and we all applauded and thanked him, it was only like 11:20pm. We got to the BART station without incident and had to find which train to take back to Pleasanton. Uneventful trip back except every time I yawned, it hurt my face because my cheeks were aching from so much laughing that night! Got back to the station and found our car blissfully not stolen or vandalized and drove home. And it didn't even take a half tank of gas. Woot!
So, bit tired and sluggy today, but yeah, great time. Eddie is a King.
Hail to the King, Baby :)