Saturday evening, a friend of mine and I were at the last stop for Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Blue Wave Tour, which was about 75% stand-up comedy show and 25% campaign rally. Ms. Miller, host of a popular radio show I've never heard, was the M.C. and she did stand-up about the election and politics and Trump but mostly about them driving her to drink. She was followed by John Fugelsang, host of a popular radio show I not only listen to but have guested upon. His stand-up was followed by Margaret Cho, who also did stand-up, somewhat about current events but mainly about herself.
The evening started with an appearance by the President of the United States — Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet, aka Martin Sheen. Mr. Sheen was very eloquent, as he always is. Later, he joined a panel discussion that included the three stand-ups, plus Congressmen Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff, plus Rob Reiner.
A couple of observations. While there was, of course, Trump-bashing galore, I think the crowd was nicer to the opposition than what I see of folks who attend Trump rallies. At the very least, no one at this event was chanting "Lock 'em up!" about folks who've never been charged with an actual crime, let alone convicted. There seem to be a lot of Trump fans who want to live in an America where you can throw someone in prison just because you hate them.
I also really liked the people I was with, some of whom I fell into conversation with. They did not seem angry so much as concerned…and not concerned just about themselves.
I wasn't wildly impressed with the two ladies on stage. Stephanie Miller hit one of my main comedic peeves: The presumption that everyone in the audience loves to get roaring drunk. Margaret Cho, who I have seen be very funny, seemed to be having an off night and didn't have a lot to say about the main topic of the night…current political events.
But John Fugelsang, who was the main reason I went, was sensational — not only funny but funny about topics that had occurred in the previous 72 hours. I once heard Mort Sahl say that a comic who deals in current events has to read at least three newspapers every morning and write at least ten jokes about what happened yesterday. Mr. Sahl said this in an appearance around 1986 just before he launched into a story about Adlai Stevenson and Eleanor Roosevelt.
But Fugelsang, as I already knew from his Sirius XM radio program, practices what Sahl preached and, like I said, he managed to be very funny. I'd quote some of better lines but I didn't take notes, even mental ones. I think I was concentrating too much on the current lines to remember the ones before. Also, I believe a few of them have already reached their expiration dates. Jon Stewart once wisely remarked that topical humor often has the shelf life of potato salad.
After Fugelsang and the overall fellowship of the attendees, I guess I liked the panel discussion the best. Both Congressfolks seemed restrained in their mud-hurling… though much to Stephanie Miller's delight, Congressman Schiff unleashed a few "f" bombs. That would have been shocking in pre-Trump America but Donald has pretty much done away with the premise that leaders can't have the composure of Andrew "Dice" Clay. Rob Reiner, by the way, revealed that authorities (the F.B.I., I think he said) notified him he was on the pipe-bomber's "to do" list.
I would describe the mood of the evening as guardedly optimistic but it also felt very refreshing to be, just for a few hours, surrounded by generally like-minded individuals. I think it's dangerous to surround yourself constantly with those who agree with you. They tend to reinforce the dumber things you believe. But a few hours a few days before the election seemed good for the soul. Afterwards, many of those on stage were available for "meet and greet" (which meant a lot of photos) and I really enjoyed talking with my Congressman and with John F. And then on our way out, there was a brief chat on the sidewalk with Martin Sheen that had a strangely calming effect on me. These days, we could all do with a few strangely calming effects.