Barry and Eric's awesome jury duty. Great Job!

I forgot to mention I was called into jury duty about a month and a half ago. I had postponed for way too long and finally had to face the music. I was pretty upset about the whole situation, as it meant I might have to miss a couple weeks of work, but little did I know that two comedians would be there, sent from the lord to make the ride a little smoother. When I first arrived at the courthouse at 8 in the morning, I was greeted by one "Judge Wapner". Not THAT Judge Wapner, but it was his son. Looking around the room I happened to spot Eric Wareheim from my favorite all time program, "Tim and Eric's Awesome show GREAT JOB!" on Adult Swim. It's basically an insanely stupid variety show with skits, fake commercials and other random stuff. Mr. Jon C Reilly even makes guest appearances from time to time as Health expert Dr. Steve Brule! After having spotted Mr. Wareheim, I was then immediately sent to a panel upon which I would either be selected for that cases' jury or released. It was a murder case, and it just so happens that I was on the same panel with Eric. I was really excited to hear him try to explain what he did for a living, (My name is Eric and I like to make weird faces and invent exclamations like "Farge" and dance on the beach with shrimp in my speedos) but alas, I was kicked off the panel before the judge got to him.

From there I was sent immediately to a different panel. This one wasn't as exciting, being a medical marijuana case. I was pretty disappointed with the overall quality of potential jurors. No one seemed exceptionally interesting or crazy. Although when we first walked into the courtroom and the judge announced the nature of the case an old lady started wailing hysterically and practically fell to the floor. If it was an act to get out of jury duty, it worked pretty well as she was immediately ushered from the room and never heard from again. Maybe they executed her.

Anyway, at some point when we were introducing ourselves, I heard an older gentleman mention that he used to be a comedian. His name was Barry Niekrug. I was on the panel for two days before I was mercifully excused along with this Barry Niekrug character. He was a really nice guy and he told me about how he got his start in Boston when stand up comedy was really taking off in the late 70's, early 80's, and how he worked alongside people like Bobcat Goldthwait, Stephen Wright and Denis Leary. He said he was in the movie Punchline with Tom Hanks and Sally Fields, but I'd never seen him before. Then, just last week a documentary came on IFC called "When Stand up Stood Out". It chronicled the very same period in Boston that Barry was referring to, and he was even featured in a few scenes.

I couldn't have imagined my jury duty experience going any better, unless of course I was "sandwiched" by Alan Thicke and Joyce Dewitt in the jury box. And I do mean "Sandwiched"! wink wink.

Bradley con beard

Sometimes I feel blessed by the celebrity gods (imagine Mr. Drummond from Diff'rent Strokes with a long, flowing beard) Not because I have the opportunity to see a lot of celebrities living in L.A., but mostly because the quality of celebrities that I actually spot are top-notch. Just to list some of the aformentioned sightings in the last six months: Kid from Kid N' Play, Jake Busey, Jon C. Reilly...These figures are cultural icons (sort of), celebrated not just for their talent and acheivements but for being true originals.

Now, I don't know if I can extend the former assessment to my two recent celebrity sightings, but in the context of the show they were featured on, Project Runway, it seems applicable. Just a couple months ago, I was working a family workshop at MOCA museum downtown. I was in charge of the clay art project, there was also a man juggling pancakes for entertainment, and a woman dancing with found objects. It was total chaos. Amidst this chaos, I spotted none other than Mr. Vincent Libretti. Those of you who watch Project Runway (sadly, I am one) know exactly who that is: Former prominent New York fashion designer who fell out of favor, went far on the show, but was eliminated partially due to his explosive outbursts (You can not FLUFF AND FOLD THESE SHIRTS!) and the fact that his designs that were stuck in the 80's. He was milling around the clay tent, and seemed like a nice enough guy.

Then, just last Saturday Jen and I were driving around Silver Lake trying to find a breakfast place when my other favorite character from the show, Bradley Baumkirchner, wandered into view. He was at a competing breakfast joint and looked lost and confused, much the way he was depicted on the show. If you remember, Bradley was the guy who claimed that he was eliminated because they didn't like his beard. Pretty amazing. I was happy to see that he grew his beard back, so much so that I yelled "Glad you grew your beard back" out the window. He didn't hear me.