5 Seconds of Fame (Jumbotron)

JT Diary (Sunday, Sept 26, 2010)

Went to UT football game. Team (our team- Texas Longhorns) seemed unfocused, not able to see the end zone. We sat in the usual seats, on the alumni end of the stadium. We get shade starting at about 2:00 PM and that’s not an accident. Generous alumni must not be submitted to the torture of the Texas mid-day sun. The stands got restless, some profanity was hurled at the officials… who else?... as things went from bad to worse on the field.

I got my biggest thrill by engaging in some texting from my seat. An outrageous blonde with big boobs pushing forth from a plunging neckline sat directly behind us. When I say plunging I’m talking about the stock market following dot.com bust or maybe, even better, the flash crash of a few months back—we’re talking jaw-dropping plunge here. She was part of a foursome, including a slightly more modest but equally attractive brunette. So, wouldn’t you know it… the stadium camera crew found our little enclave of fans for the first time in the history of the Jumbotron, the huge screen at the south end of the stadium. The screen towers the size of a building emitting images and ads and game play and fan shots for the entire ballgame. We were never on there before but the two outrageous babes got us there this Saturday.

Happy, with my white hair shining like a beacon on the side of an electronic wall, I texted a few folks about my elation. Turns out I texted about ten people more than intended. It was fun to get the response of people around the nation, many knew nothing about my attending the game. The electronic world with its powerful embrace, and full of frivolous chatter, seemed different to me. I had the stage, a microphone of sorts, and my buoyancy carried me outward to my own little audience. They responded in various ways—my nephew the UCLA grad enjoyed what was happening on the field with the downfall of mighty Texas, my family in New York seemed bemused, my high school buddy, a sports guy, seemed curious about the setting. One friend put it best: “Ah, the sweet satisfaction of fame, at last!”

Johnny T, Retiree

My name is Johnny T, retiree. My thing is Almost Comedy. It's kind of like near beer, close but not quite the real thing.

Here's an example of Almost Comedy.

I've been reading about Gay Marriage, a very controversial issue. I'm okay with it. Marriage is great. But people don't do it like the old days. My parents are married 62 years. I'm their oldest kid. Guess how old I am? Yeah, 61. Back then it was wham, bam have a kid.

Nowadays, people wait till they're 35. So they go to the fertility clinic. And now iit's-- "My father's name is donor." Yeah, artificial insemination. Women are going for the donor instead of the boner.

But my fear is they all want to have the perfect kid, looks like Denzel Washington, plays ball like Derek Jeter, brains like Bill Gates and a moustache like Geraldo.

So they get a kid-- a creepy little introvert, with toothpick legs, has a fetish for X-box-- and a great moustache.

See-- almost comedy.

But, I've been retired about a year now. I used to be a college advisor. I advised the kids to stay in college as long as possible, if their parents were paying.

"No, I'm paying." Then you need to graduate as soon as possible. "I flunked Calculus." You need to take something else. "I flunked Chemistry." Can you spell Sociology. "No." How about English?

My wife got nervous when I retired. She said "you're only 60 why don't you get a job?"

I said why get a job when I can make a handsome living doing standup.

And so here we are. I was nervous about retiring. I used to work as a schoolteacher and I noticed some teachers would retire and die of a heart attack like two weeks later. So they gave the kids heart attacks for 40 years-- and then they did it to themselves.

Toastmaster Comedy

Principles of comedy from a Toastmaster magazine, Aug. 2010.
by: William H. Stevenston freelance writer in Hunstsville, Alabama
whsteve3@aol.com

1) The Funniest Subject: You
2) Use Battle of Sexes for Comedic Barbs
3) Comedy in Current Events
4) Show Them You're Funny (props)-- and maybe physical action

Things Not to Do
1) Drop the Joke Book

My Take #1-- Lots of People Squawking on TV These Days

I heard a guy on TV say that Newsweek wrote an article on how US was not the best country in the world to live anymore. They ranked Finland, Sweden and Norway ahead of the US. The announcer said Newsweek must be pro-socialist. Think again buddy. That was probably some nebbish Ivy League writer from Manhattan on a European sex vacation. Got his mind blown by some 6 foot blonde Swedish waitress.

The other thing in the news is gay marriage-- very controversial. It's okay, I'm all for marriage. But it's not like the old days. My parents have been married 62 years. And i'm their oldest kid. Guess how old I am-- 61 years. That's how they did it in the old days... wham, bam -- have a kid. Nowadays you gotta wait till your 35 years and try to conceive. So you consult the fertility expert, or you go the artificial insemination route.... My dad's name is -- Donor.

So women are going for the donor instead of the boner.

But here's the problem-- everybody wants a kid that looks like Denzel Washington, plays ball like Derek Jeter, has brains like Bill Gates and has a moustache like Geraldo Rivera.

Instead they get a creepy little introvert with an X-box fetish, toothpick legs and a great moustache.

I used to be a taciturn farm boy from the Midwest, the high plains, the golden wheat fields where the antelopes and buffalo played until we killed them, along with the Indians. Now I'm a hardboiled, big city reporter for the Daily Planet.