The Stand-Up Comedian

Jerry Seinfeld -- LIVE!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Saban Theatre -- Beverly Hills, CA

Jerry Seinfeld, friend of Reprise's Artistic Director, Jason Alexander, agreed to perform live as a benefit for Reprise.  The person that was supposed to come with me became ill, so Liz agreed to take her place.  This whole "I'm sorry, Sherry, but I can't make it to the show that we already had tickets for" thing has happened way too much in the last few months.  Yes, it's for different reasons, and yes, I'm a forgiving person, but y'all are just way lucky that I have other friends that are spontaneous, and can fill in for you....most of the time.  Rant over.

Liz met up with me at my house, and we drove to the Saban, and had dinner at Subway across the street, because the sushi place was full and the hostess looked really unhappy and mean.  We went into the theatre, and marveled at the theatre's art deco style, which is currently being refurbished so that Liz can stop wondering about the holes in the ceiling.  I was a little bit distracted the last time I was there, so I didn't notice the decor all that much.  I had mistakenly asked some bouncer to ask about our seat location, and he didn't really know, but still helped me.  Later, I realized that I should have asked one of the people in the red vests.  Whatever.  We found our seats.  We got to see Carl Reiner come in through the door with the bouncer guy.  Cool!

Jason Alexander walked onto the stage, and talked a little bit about the raffle to benefit Reprise (the winner would be taken backstage after the show for a picture with Alexander and Seinfeld).  He said a couple of Jewish jokes, clearly knowing what made up the majority of the audience.  I've truly never seen that many yarmulkes at a show before that night.  He then told us a little bit about his friendship with Seinfeld, and introduced him.

Seinfeld was hilarious.  I hadn't seen him since my days at UCI, when he performed at the Bren Events Center.  He is as funny now as he was back then, now using the topics of marriage and parenthood as his observational humor.

Liz and I thought that he must have been following us during the evening, as he touched on subjects that we had been discussing, such as texting, tweeting, and going out/eating.  I loved the proximity of That Which Sucks to That Which is Great.  Loved the comparison of Girlfriend as Whiffle Ball to Marriage as War in Iraq.  I also enjoyed the way the home with the children has become like a private mafia, threatening to get rid of things the kids loved when they misbehaved, and taking the heads off of play-doh creations and placing them on the foot of the kids' beds at night.  

Afterward, Jerry and Jason took some questions from the audience, which was pretty cool.  They talked about how the network really didn't understand the show (The Chinese Restaurant episode in the 1st season had the network absolutely perplexed from lack of actual plot), but still went with it anyway.  You see, the "show about nothing" actually came about much like the show's "Jerry" television show!  The "Seinfeld" fan in me was very, very happy to see them two of them interact.

Jerry Seinfeld is still brilliant, and at the top of his game.  Comedy Gold.