Donna in Hollywoodland

Billy Connolly at the Brentwood

I drove over to the Westwood area, to the grounds of the Veteran's Administration.
I had signed up to be a volunteer usher at the Brentwood Theatre.
Billy Connolly was doing his one-man show.

If you need to ever drive to the Brentwood Theatre ,don't get confused. The actual address is on Wilshire Blvd and Mapquest will take you to Wilshire Blvd. But you have to actually drive into the Veteran's Administration grounds.
So...From Wilshire Blvd, go north on San Vicente - and then you make a right on a little street called Bringham. Then you will be inside the Veteran's Administration Grounds and you can make it to the theatre.

When I arrived, I was given my volunteer assignment for the evening. I was going to be in the Member's Lounge serving wine and soft drinks. The manager said that lately they had not been getting many members stopping by before the show.
And the night before they didn't have anyone stop by. She asked if I minded being in the Lounge.I said "As long as I get to see the show, I'm fine with this. I just really want to see it."
She said yes, of course, and about two minutes before eight pm, I should head into the theatre.

After she left, I was in the lounge for a good 20 minutes. The thought flashed through my mind that I had gotten all dressed up in my black pants and white shirt for nothing, because I was just sitting in a room all by myself.
Then a friendly couple came in to have a drink before the show. We had an interesting conversation all about the local theatres. We had seen many of the same plays. It also turned out that the husband worked in the music industry as well, and he knew of the music company where I work.
So my assignment in the lounge was not a waste, I spent it in nice conversation with this lovely couple.
Soon a second couple came in for a drink.
And soon after that it was two minutes before eight, and it was time to go into the theatre.

Billy Connolly's show was a complete sell-out. So the volunteers had to find places to stand in the back. There were no seats available.
And the show was two hours long, without intermission.
So yes, I stood in the back of the theatre for the full two hours.

Volunteering and Standing - not a bad price to pay when you consider that the tickets were around fifty something bucks.

I already figured that since it was a comedy show, that is was going to be raunchy and irreverent in places.
If you go to something like this, you have to know what you are getting into.
And I just don't see the point in getting all offended if the comedian says something that you don't agree with.
Its comedy. So just enjoy the moment. At least I kinda sorta think that way sometimes.

My favorite part of the show was when Billy Connolly talks about the need for Reading Glasses once you get passed a certain age.
His son and him go fishing, and he leaves the glasses at a coffee shop along the way. They have to go back to get the glasses because he couldn't see to put the bait on the hook.

Its something I can relate to because the last few years I have needed reading glasses.
And since I need them all the time, I always put them on top of my head. Then I can't find them. I look all over the place.
And finally the last thing I do, is I pat the top of my head, and there they are.
Once I had them on top of my head, and was squinting to read something. My friend said "The glasses don't work if they are on top of your head. You have to wear them over your eyes."

The rest of the show was alot of different funny stories.
The most disgusting is when Billy Connolly tells about the three different times that women have vomited on him. He think he's made some kind of record by being vomited on three separate times by three different women.
Yes, they were gross stories. But they were also funny.

He talks alot about religion. Jokes about alot of new age stuff - Angels, Feng Shui and more. Its all "bullocks" and "shite", which actually sounds more polite than if he would have said the American equivalent of those words.
He says something along the lines of "For those of you have religion, thats fine for you - just keep it to yourself" before he goes into one of his religious comedy bits. He came off as being somewhat respectful of other peoples beliefs, while still going for the laughs.

One of his running jokes was about three Great Religious Leaders who had had spiritual visits while they were alone. #1 Moses and the Burning Bush (so funny ... Billy Connolly wonders why the Bush didn't ask for any
water, or why Moses didn't offer to put out the fire), and #2 Mormon Leader Joseph Smith and the visit by Angel Maroni and #3 one other visit which I have forgotten whom it was.
He asks the question - why wasn't there any other people there ? Why were Moses and Joseph Smith both alone at the time ?
How convenient.
He repeated the phrase "How convenient" enough times that you knew he was expressing his doubt about the reality of the event.
His reasoning being because there were no witnesses then it might not be true.
I laughed along, because it is a comedy show, its funny and entertaining, and I was having a good time.

After the show, I head out to the parking lot to my car.
I am walking behind a young, hip, well-dressed couple.
The woman is saying "You know, he's right - there were no witnesses to any of those things. He has a really good point when you think about it."
She seemed to somehow turn a Comedy show into a religious lesson and was taking it all way to seriously.
Like she had been in a college course and had learned some great scholarly truth that would influence how she viewed religion the rest of her life.

It was a Comedy show... told by a comedian ... get a grip. Put it in proper perspective.
Don't think about it. Just enjoy it, then let it go.

Thats the reason why I wrote previously that I "kinda sorta" believe you can go out to be entertained and just enjoy the event for the entertainment value, and not be to worried about the perspective that it comes from.
I guess in a perfect world you could do that.
But there are those people like the hip young couple in the parking lot, who just can't seem to distinguish between a comedy routine and a real life religious lesson.
They take the words of a very funny comedian to heart, as something to believe - when its just meant to be silly entertainment.

What I really wanted to say to her was "You have to take these things by Faith. You can't prove them.
You just have to take it on Faith that its true. And the fact that the story has been passed down all these years, and its helped people - well that has to account for something too."

Anyway, as for me, I completely enjoyed the funny evening. I was happy to volunteer so I could stand in the back and watch Billy Connolly do his two hour comedy show.
If he comes to your town, I recommend that you see it - for the laughs - and just buy your ticket way in advance, because it will sell out.

Links:

Billy Connolly Official Website
Daily News Review of Brentwood Show

Billy Connolly DVDS and movies
Billy Connolly Music and CDs
Billy Connolly Books

My favorite Billy Connolly movie (and Cinnamon the Cats too!)
Garfield - A Tale of Two Kitties

Labels: celebrities, hollywood, losangeles, plays, theatre, volunteer