+ City of Angels \\ 08.29.07
Today was filled with a series of ups and downs. What potentially started off as a productive night—getting to get up at two spots in LA (not bad for a newbie on a Tuesday night)—went terribly wrong, but then worked itself out, then went terribly wrong, and then worked itself out again.
So I started off my night at a club on Sunset and the host and crowd were really great and supportive. The host even offered me a spot at the Comedy Store later that week which was even better. But then for some reason I got the light early, which I didn’t quite understand. No worries, I figured the host liked my set, she was a really funny comic, and I have a spot at the Comedy Store; time to get in my car and head to UCB—oh wait, the car isn’t starting. I didn’t even realize that my car battery had died so now I’m stuck on Sunset in front of the Viper Room (a club in Hollywood for gothic people) and a liquor store. If there was ever a test of my small townyness this was it.
So I call AAA and they say they can come jump my car in 2 hours. But while I’m on the phone a cross dresser named Rachel offers to help me. Being the square bear that I am I nervously refuse and she/he laughs it off and continues to smoke a ciggarette on the street corner. After twenty minutes I take her up on her offer and she tells me to ask someone on the street if I can get a jump and she’ll ‘man the wheel’—whatever the hell that means (I wasn’t going to ask questions at that point) . I was pretty tentative about this piece of advice because so far the people I had met in LA eat doucheyness and drink faggotry. A couple minutes later a black S500 pulls up behind my car and this guy gets out—this car had no business being parked in front of the mothereffing Viper Lounge—but I figure what the hell, let me ask this guy if he’ll give me a jump…I ask…and he says ‘Yes’! I wouldn’t have even given myself a jump in front of the Viper Lounge had I seen the shadyness of the situation. So he nonchalantley pops open his hood for his $80,000 car and says ‘So…you know how to work this?‘ I respond, ‘Absolutely not.‘ He shrugs and goes ‘Ok. Figure it out and ask someone.‘ Ask someone? We’re in front of the Viper Lounge; does he expect the tricks and trannys going to come out and fix our car? But apparently they did! Now its me, Rachel, this random rich guy with a S500 hunched over his front hood. We pop open his hood and realize that S500s have their batteries beneath the rear seat. Fast forward a few minutes and now I’m back on the road.
After everything was said and done I was really shocked. Everything that I had assumed about people was completely wrong. The crazy cross dresser was really helpful, and the rich S500 guy pulled over and helped me out in a shady part of town. I thanked both of them and John (the guy who owned the S500) gave me a really good piece of advice:
“Good luck in LA, and don’t lend money to anyone.“
I still don’t know what that means. But maybe I’ll figure it out one day. Still, the whole night really made me open my eyes. I wouldn’t have ever done something that nice; not necessarily because I’m a douche, but because this was just such a shady part of town you naturally wouldn’t want to put yourself in danger. So as cliche as it sounds, the next time a cross dresser gives you car advice hear them out.
So as I’m pulling out of my spot John pulls his S500 around and gives me the ‘thumbs up’. And I’m like ‘Wow. This is kind of like a trippy version of ‘Touched by an Angel’‘. I drive my car all the way back to Westwood and just as I’m getting into to Westwood my car suddenly dies AGAIN in the middle of an intersection. This time around I’m in arguably one of the nicest areas of LA and every person I ask for a jump ignores me, lies, or offers me a jump if I sell them my parking permit. Now the night that had hit a high point struck another low. But then out of out nowhere two buddies that I met in the dorms were randomly walking up the street and helped me out!
Moral of the story: Life is crazy. Whenever you may be at your lowest point trannys, really rich people, and friends you just met may come through at help you out.
Purpose of this blog: None.
+ Superbad = Superawesome \\ 08.17.07
I saw ‘Superbad’ opening night with Sameer and a few other friends at midnight. It was hilarious; I thought they did a great job with ‘Knocked Up’ but this definitely raised the bar. It’s an effing sweet movie. Check it out!
+ NBC Standup for Diversity \\ 08.13.07
I just flew back up from NBC’s Standup for Diversity show at the SF Punchline. It was a lot of fun; a ton of comics came out, and I made it as one of the finalists! It was awesome. We’re all performed for a spot for the Hollywood show in December for the entire network. Check it out at: http://www.standupnbc.com for pics and details
+ Kashif \\ 08.09.07
Awesomeness.
+ Thanks Pirate Bum \\ 08.08.07
Whenever I seem to hit a brick wall cemented with depression and self-loathing I realize that I’m not so crazy after all. Today I performed at BrewCo and a guy got on stage wearing an eye-patch, tin bucket, and blue bath robe. He rambled premises for about 5 minutes and then riffed with a non-existent lady in the crowd. I still remember the last segment of his act:
Pirate bum: (Riffing with the non-existent lady) You want this?!?
(Silence)
(Pirate bum growls)
Pirate bum: DO YOU EFFING WANT THIS?!?
(Nervous laughter)
Pirate bum: She gets the picture. See you on Comedy Central.
(He stumbles off stage.)
Moral of the story? I really don’t have it that bad. Thanks pirate bum. You helped put everything in perspective
+ Kanye West - Can’t Tell Me Nothin’ w/ Zach Galifianakis \\ 08.06.07
Why is this so awesome?
+ The Critics Have Spoken! \\ 08.05.07
I found this review of one of the shows Imran and I recently did at the SF Punchline:
“The Punchline is an great comedy club…The next performer was this lanky guitar comic with a dark edge. Would have loved to see more of him…Then it was Hasan who looked dishevelled and talked about his dad and his mangling American words. Very Funny! Only in SF can something like this happen !“
Note to Self: Keep the jokes. Shave before the show.
Note to Imran: Keep being emo.