So, Folks.
Heads up Chicago! I’ll be there this Saturday, Dec. 3 and I think there are still tickets available for the second show at 10. I’m looking forward to a chilly evening of warm comedy.
A quick update on the cat situation here at the house. I manned up and de-manned Buster. I had his balls taken out. Problem is that doesn’t seem to have stopped him from being a complete lunatic of a cat. He has fits of sporadic demonic possession. He’s climbing screens, knocking shit over, darting violently through the house and terrorizing the elderly cats, i.e. being a fucking kitten. He’s strong, though. He has a weird snout, almost like a dog, and huge ears. If I were at a different point in my life I would think he may be some kind of lesser devil or trickster spirit but now I’m older and more reasonable I think he’s just an odd cat with devil and trickster attributes.
He can fetch. I’ve only had one other fetching cat in my life and that was my ex-wife’s cat fat Moxie. I didn’t love that cat. Too needy. Buster will chase down a thrown fake mouse, use it as a Hacky Sack for a bit and then bring it back and drop it in my hand. It’s the only way to tire the little fuck out and it’s pretty cool.
All is pretty good on the LaFonda front as well. Despite an evil vet telling me she would probably have to be put to sleep, she seems almost fully recovered. She definitely seems a little older and more fragile but she is herself and eating and being the temperamental thing that she is. Monkey is Monkey. He abides.
So, the profound political shift is happening. It would seem to follow that an equally profound cultural shift would follow as well, but it doesn’t have to. It shouldn’t. I fully understand that Trump is the President-elect but if the popular vote means anything it’s that he's presiding over a minority rule. That is relevant in the sense that it is on us to hold some kind of line. There is no social mandate for people being douchebags in public to other people because they feel empowered to do so by the political situation. Some shit is not okay. Just isn’t. I know that most of us, on some level, have lost sense of a true collective respect for humanity because we live bubbled lives on both sides, but we are all Americans and all people. Some are worse than others.
Point being it may be necessary to step up and say, ‘Hey, it’s still not okay to do that,’ whatever ‘that’ is. Or, ‘Hey, it’s still not okay to say that,’ whatever 'that' is. It’s our duty out of respect for other people. I know I have to because I’m on stage a good part of my life and from what I’m hearing, it can get a little dicey up there. I can do crowd work. I can handle myself up there. I like it. It’s better when I don’t lose my shit, but you have to do what you have to do. There is no social mandate for being a douchebag in public—unless it’s your job and you are on stage and the situation requires it. Righteous douchebaggery has its place.
Today on the show is an old NYC comrade of mine and the host of the ‘Fixing Joe’ podcast, Joe Matarese. Joe is a great guy and a funny comedian. On Thursday I have a conversation with Sam Pollard who directed a new documentary called Two Trains Runnin'. It’s a great talk about docs and race and working as Spike Lee’s editor for years. I also talk with The Handsome Family for a bit on that episode.
Enjoy!
Boomer lives!
Love,
Maron