Some of life's lessons come from unexpected sources, like, say, from a standup comedian. The late Rodney Dangerfield (not his real name) made numerous appearances on the television's Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (also deceased.) He might have made more appearances on the show than anyone else, I recall reading one time.
The routine was always the same. Like other comedians, Mr Dangerfield would first stand on the stage in front of the live audience that we never saw on the screen, and perform the obligatory standup routine. But in his case, the routine was brief. The show hadn't started yet. After the applause, he'd walk over to sit on Johnny's couch, and if some young starlet who preceeded him was already sitting there, he'd turn to her and ask "Do you live alone?" Next, the essence of the show was Johnny feeding Rodney straight lines, and he responding with one liners, or brief stories, the gist of which was always that he was a man who could never get respect. 'No respect' was, as everyone knows, Rodney's entire shtick. He was slightly overweight, badly dressed, sweaty, nervous, forever adjusting his cheap neckie. The repartee between Johnny and Rodney started the routinely, with Johnny asking how he has been. Rodney's reply was always the same too (I recall from memory):
"I'm all right now Johnny, but the last two weeks have been tough!".
He'd shake his head and reach to adjust his necktie. Johnny would then ask what had happened and Rodney proceeded to describe his travails.
And that one line, which I had anticipated dozens of times, is the life's valuable lesson from a standup comedian. It is a philosophy of an eternal optimist, who remains an optimist despite it all, even as he fails repeatedly. It's not the present that's tough, we'll deal with it somewhow, it's the past that was and is now gone, thankfully.
After recent tough two weeks (broken legs, broken arms, broken head), I arrived at the workplace to be greeted in the office kitchen by a young Chinese co-worker, who, not knowing anything of my internal injuries, said: "You always look so happy!" I thanked her and reached up to adjust my cheap necktie, which wasn't there to be adjusted. What else was I to do?!
The routine was always the same. Like other comedians, Mr Dangerfield would first stand on the stage in front of the live audience that we never saw on the screen, and perform the obligatory standup routine. But in his case, the routine was brief. The show hadn't started yet. After the applause, he'd walk over to sit on Johnny's couch, and if some young starlet who preceeded him was already sitting there, he'd turn to her and ask "Do you live alone?" Next, the essence of the show was Johnny feeding Rodney straight lines, and he responding with one liners, or brief stories, the gist of which was always that he was a man who could never get respect. 'No respect' was, as everyone knows, Rodney's entire shtick. He was slightly overweight, badly dressed, sweaty, nervous, forever adjusting his cheap neckie. The repartee between Johnny and Rodney started the routinely, with Johnny asking how he has been. Rodney's reply was always the same too (I recall from memory):
"I'm all right now Johnny, but the last two weeks have been tough!".
He'd shake his head and reach to adjust his necktie. Johnny would then ask what had happened and Rodney proceeded to describe his travails.
And that one line, which I had anticipated dozens of times, is the life's valuable lesson from a standup comedian. It is a philosophy of an eternal optimist, who remains an optimist despite it all, even as he fails repeatedly. It's not the present that's tough, we'll deal with it somewhow, it's the past that was and is now gone, thankfully.
After recent tough two weeks (broken legs, broken arms, broken head), I arrived at the workplace to be greeted in the office kitchen by a young Chinese co-worker, who, not knowing anything of my internal injuries, said: "You always look so happy!" I thanked her and reached up to adjust my cheap necktie, which wasn't there to be adjusted. What else was I to do?!
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