Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Get the Edge

day 2, tuesday daytime.
today on-site, i had just the experience i was hoping for. amidst corporate trainings and uneventful techs, we heard raucous cheering in the next ballroom. we asked what was going on next door, and were informed that the other entertainment for the gig was none other than tony robbins. i ran to the next room, showed my ID, and snuck backstage to watch the magic. it was everything i could've hoped - he was enigmatic, cheesy, and a spectacle... kind of the show we'd hoped to catch a few minutes of while in vegas.

in the 4 minutes i saw, people from the corporate office did a baptist revival-like call and response bit with him, all conjuring imagery for me of requiem for a dream. after all, what are you in the business of?, he asks. PEOPLE!, the crowd screams, and tony looks pleased. yes, people. it's all about people. following further prompting and emotional appeals, several of the people in the first rows are... crying. crying! i run and get the boys. my mouth is on the ground. everything that seems like a bit to me - the lip bite, the semi-sincerity... i mean, they really buy this shit.

we go back to our holding tank for our show to start very shortly. joey begins to do maybe one of the funniest bits ever of a corporate trainer gone wrong, feverishly scribbling on an easel notepad. several hot one-liners come out of this bit, and joey swaggers about mugging as the trainer. hey, after all, what are we in the business of?, he asks. PEOPLE!, we scream. oh, wait. you are? i thought this was for a restaurant. i should be in ballroom C.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

All hail the genius of Joey Bland.

Also, random thought: If they put rapper 50 Cent on a stamp, would that not be the most confusing moment in the history of the U.S. Postal service (excluding moments involving automatic weapons)?

Did you get my e-mail? You never said.

12:19 PM  
Blogger tara d. said...

i did! i just did when i wrote these entries. i was so psyched to know who you were and told joey yesterday.

I AM SO GLAD TO MEET YOU!

12:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent.

Also, I don't know what he's told you about me so far, but let me just say four things to cover all possible embarassing stories:

1. As far as any of us knew at the time, it was grape jelly. I wash my hands of any responsibility.

2. It's not a vestigial tail.

3. I admit that there was a rooster there, but it was a seeing-eye rooster.

4. The diameter of a can of Coke.


Finally, it's good to "meet" you as well. When you're not so busy, feel free to e-mail back anytime. Although, if you're so psyched that you resorted to all-caps, you will undoubtedly wind up disappointed eventually.

My apologies in advance.

1:36 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Web Site Counter
Web Site Counter
« chicago blogs »
<-- ? In MY Opinion # -->