Death of a Comedian
(this entry is backdated due to vacation)
Zak and I treated Beth, my stepmother, to her favorite comedian: Gallagher. He was at Wiley's, and it seemed rather fortuitous that they could get a name that big. My dad and uncle were both huge fans of Gallagher (well, Uncle Mike still is), and I remember watching several of his specials on TV. I believe my dad even had a tape of one of his shows. He wasn't supposed to do any "Sledge-o-Matic" stuff, but I still had high hopes. The person we saw on stage was not the savvy educator of the masses that I remember. He seemed old, which is not surprising, but one never things of people like that aging. He was bitter-sounding. Gone was the cleverness, gone was the "open your eyes to the bigger picture" attitude that I had enjoyed so much when younger. The man on stage was old, he was lonely, he was bitter. He was worn down from years of trying to get his point across, only to have crowds chant for him to smash stuff. Gallagher was never really about the smashing. The Sledge-o-Matic was a gimmick, something to draw people in, before he would give the real message: realize the consequences of your actions. Think for yourself. Don't be afraid to be different. But how many people really saw that? How many people came to that show (and there were many fewer than I expected) to hear the message? And how many people wanted the simple humor, the dog and pony trick, the stump on a stick versus the watermelon? His words, the way he delivered them, the acid bite behind them, told the truth.
Gallagher is retiring soon; this is his last big bang. Though perhaps, it has become more of a whimper. I think he deserves the rest, for nothing lasts forever, even truth.
L.A.
Zak and I treated Beth, my stepmother, to her favorite comedian: Gallagher. He was at Wiley's, and it seemed rather fortuitous that they could get a name that big. My dad and uncle were both huge fans of Gallagher (well, Uncle Mike still is), and I remember watching several of his specials on TV. I believe my dad even had a tape of one of his shows. He wasn't supposed to do any "Sledge-o-Matic" stuff, but I still had high hopes. The person we saw on stage was not the savvy educator of the masses that I remember. He seemed old, which is not surprising, but one never things of people like that aging. He was bitter-sounding. Gone was the cleverness, gone was the "open your eyes to the bigger picture" attitude that I had enjoyed so much when younger. The man on stage was old, he was lonely, he was bitter. He was worn down from years of trying to get his point across, only to have crowds chant for him to smash stuff. Gallagher was never really about the smashing. The Sledge-o-Matic was a gimmick, something to draw people in, before he would give the real message: realize the consequences of your actions. Think for yourself. Don't be afraid to be different. But how many people really saw that? How many people came to that show (and there were many fewer than I expected) to hear the message? And how many people wanted the simple humor, the dog and pony trick, the stump on a stick versus the watermelon? His words, the way he delivered them, the acid bite behind them, told the truth.
Gallagher is retiring soon; this is his last big bang. Though perhaps, it has become more of a whimper. I think he deserves the rest, for nothing lasts forever, even truth.
L.A.