My friend RonDog called yesterday, and told me that he may have two extra tickets to the Ann Coulter/Al Franken "debate" at the Gibson Amphitheatre, and asked me if I wanted to go.
Of course I did! When, where and how much? He said the tickets are normally $75 but that these two were no charge, if they were available -- and that I should meet him there by 6 pm for the 7:30 pm show. I said great; I will be there. Ron warned me that he had already promised them to two other friends, and that only one of these possible free tickets was actually confirmed at that time, so I would have to be on "stand by." He said that his one friend was on his way down from Bakersfield, and that the other did not want to drive all the way there if we were not sure that we really had two tickets.
RonDog never did get confirmation of the second ticket from his e-mail "connection" before he had to go offline for his ninety-minute drive to the event. He had no Internet access in the car, and we had no way to reach his contact person by telephone. Since he was pre-occupied with traffic, I called the box office for him to ask if the free tickets really were there waiting for us, and they said that they were. Wrong. When we got there, we found out that the envelope was there as promised, but that it only had ONE ticket. Meanwhile, the guy coming down from Bakersfield was stuck in traffic on the Grapevine and was seriously delayed. Ron said that we could not wait for him – as the show was about to begin.
This is when Providence intervened. RonDog found someone to sell him a "VIP seat" -- four rows from the stage, with a wristband for the after show "dessert" with Ann and Al!
So, he gave me the "free" ticket in the balcony, and we left the ticket that RonDog had already paid for (six rows behind the VIP section) at Will Call for our friend from Bakersfield, and we went inside.
The show was put on by the University of Judaism and thinking to myself that the crowd would be mostly conservative Jews, I was ready for a good night. I was wrong; the mostly Jewish audience was comprised of leftwing appeasers hoping for a Christian bloodbath (Ann is Christian, Al is Jewish). They were wrong. The 20-minute opening speeches were ideological blather from Franken, spewing superficial talking points and Ann forcing facts down the throats of the 85% liberal audience that for the most part seemed to be in shock.
After the speeches it was Q&A time with a Rabbi who should have been fired the minute he opened his mouth. My 12-year-old son could have done a better job at keeping the night rolling and exciting. This Rabbi let Franken ramble on and on reiterating the same tired old "there were no WMD" throw-up, while Ann was just completely bored to tears. Of course when it finally was Ann's turn to talk, she was relentless, with an in-your-face delivery of facts and logic that was fast and furious. (She was like many punk bands that I have recorded who are so wired that it is an assault on your senses, and truly an uncomfortable experience -- IF you don’t get it.)
Speaking of boredom, it seemed to be the theme of the night –- at least as far as Franken was concerned. One of the right wing conservatives in the audience was so bored that while Franken was in one of his 20-minute diatribes, this guy yelled out very loudly from the balcony "BORING!" Franken stopped his gibberish and said, "You are right. I am talking too much, so not to make this any more boring than it has to be yadda yadda yadda…."
Twenty minutes later, Franken was at it again. I think the Rabbi moderator was asleep and even Ann was dozing off, so the guy from the audience yelled "BORING" again, and the three thousand people in the audience got so upset. Boy, I have never heard so many expletives coming from such a self-proclaimed tolerant lot. Nevertheless, Franken lost his composure and got so incredibly pissed he was breaking a sweat, and asking the guy how could he be so "bored" about Veterans Rights, yadda yadda yadda. He looked like he wanted to get out of the chair and beat the guy to a pulp. He also looked like he was about to cry – I mean he was turning all shades of RED, (no pun intended). The man is incredibly insecure. He has to be - he is a comedian. I should know; I have worked with a few of the most successful. Mr. Pryor is rolling over in his grave.
After the show was over, the three of us cleverly got backstage to hobnob with the talent. [Details omitted to protect our future use of those methods and tactics.] We met Ann, and she gave us the secret location of an "after, after party." When we got there, we were greeted by Ann and several celebrities, who shall remain nameless. When I told her that I was the rude guy up in the balcony who yelled "BORING!" she gave me a big hug, and promised that she will invite me to all her LA shows. I think we became best friends...
We hung out with her and about ten of her friends drinking beer and having lots of laughs at the expense of Mr. Franken.
Enjoy the pictures and remember… RonDog and I were there for all of you, and it is my pleasure to share my experience in this blog.
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