What we couldn't anticipate was that the tickets we bought last fall for Jim Belushi & The Board of Comedy would have its performance date moved twice because of a movie Belushi was asked to star in (can't blame him for dumping our gig for that) and in the end, the show was held on Thursday. Dave and I started the evening by eating at Bobby O'Brien's (great happy hour dinner deal -- a pitcher of beer, giant plate of nachos and pound of wings for $25) and met up with Dan and Rudy (and Adam and Ryan) at the theater, even though we weren't sitting together. Belushi started the show by singing Sweet Home Chicago and then launched into some standup -- the singing was great and the jokes were funny, and the best part of all : he had learned some really subtle local news that he worked in and wherever he could, he made fun of Cambridge (even though we're not exactly Kitchener's rival city; that may have been why we found it so funny). My favourite joke: "Kitchener, that's the home of the Blackberry, right? I've done a couple of corporate shows for them, they're great people, what's the company called? Research in Motion? They call it "RIM"? Yeah, I hear they're not doing so well, losing jobs...as a matter of fact, I hear they're outsourcing all the rimjobs to Cambridge..." They launched into the improv, which was all very well done, hilarious, and I was impressed to learn that Larry Joe Campbell (Andy from According to Jim) is a really sharp and funny man (I know he was acting on the show, of course, but his star power on stage might even eclipse that of the more famous Belushi). We were sitting in the front row, and though I dreaded getting picked on, when they asked for volunteers for the final skit, I got Dave to go up. It was a mime game where Dave and Larry Joe (and Belushi and a woman on the other side) tried to get two other actors to say three obscure words without talking. I loved when Dave went up and was asked, "What's your name?", he replies: "Dave", and "Where are you from?" : (totally deadpan) "Cambridge". And of course Dave looked like a total plant -- while Belushi and the frightened woman lamely flailed about, Dave (with his degree in acting) and Larry Joe went into huddles and came out miming like pros. Loved it; a great night (and afterwards, Dave thanked me for "making him go up". Yeah, I twisted the rubber arm.)
Then Saturday, we went to Straftford to see Man of La Mancha. We were looking forward to eating at York Street Kitchen (where we haven't been for two years) and were shocked to arrive and be told that it was just closing up for the day (at 5 o'clock?). I guess we were there just before the high season, but it was disappointing to see that so much was closed in the downtown. We ended up going to Boomer's for burgers and fries, and that was a disappointing meal (but I think Ma was impressed to try out a place that had been on You Gotta Eat Here). We had lots of time to waste and we got some ice cream and we were walking back to the car to drop off some candy Ma bought, and like a total dork, I tripped off the curb and landed hard on my hands as I spread-eagled across the road, my pants drooping to expose the top of my butt to the wind, skidding through gravel and landing on top of my cone. My mother thought I hit my head and she was freaking out, but I didn't, and didn't want too much attention, but oh my god, did I ever hurt my hands (I still can't bend my pinky finger on one hand and it's swollen and half-covered in bruises).
It feels way worse than that looks. So, I had to watch the play with my hand throbbing, but since it's my favourite musical, I enjoyed myself anyway (despite it being in previews and not quite a tight show yet). And nice to be there with the whole family (plus Ma and Zach ).
I should have realised that Ma would freak out when she heard that I had put that ^^ photo on facebook -- she said she's never put a picture of herself online before and I guess that was thoughtless of me (and I did set it to private eventually).
Then yesterday, just me and Ma and the girls went into Toronto for our Mother's Day/birthday fun day. When we first got the show tickets and I realised it would be Mother's Day, I was so afraid that we wouldn't be able to find a place to eat that I made a reservation waaaay in advance at Big Daddy's, and as awesome as the food was, the place was never full and we had a leisurely time eating. Then to the Lion King (which the girls thought they remembered but didn't really) and as awesome as it was, me and Ma could really see a difference between this time (a one-month engagement road show) and the first time (a long-term permanent, run as long as you can show) -- the sets were way more elaborate the first time and it had more characters then, and this time, it seemed much more focussed on the little kids in the audience. But still a great time!
I wouldn't have thought going into this weekend that the Jim Belushi improv show would be my favourite -- and it would have been nice to stretch the experiences out!
