Gotham Comedy Club

Last Saturday, while I was in the middle of putting clean sheets on the bed, I suddenly stopped, turned to Richard, and said, "We need to go to a comedy club tonight." I stopped what I was doing, went to my laptop, and searched local comedy clubs. The first one I looked at featured some guy I had never heard of, so I moved on. The next one I tried, Gotham Comedy, was one we had walked past several times (on our way to Doughnut Plant--no judgement, please). Rosie O'Donnell was the featured comic for the night. I couldn't believe that tickets were still available! I immediately ordered tickets for the 9 pm show. On any normal night, Richard and I are in bed by 9 pm, but I knew we were both in need of a good laugh. I'm still struggling with the whole feeling out of place thing. We were told to arrive 30 minutes before the show. Thankfully, both Richard and I are natural early birds, meaning we both arrive unusually early for any planned event. Richard arrives at his work by 6:30 am, even though his co-workers don't arrive until anytime between 9 am and 11 am. I arrive at school by 6:50 am, even though I don't have to be there until 8 am. When we arrived at 8 pm, we asked the hostess if we would stand outside the main doors until 8:30. It was a very cold night, so we were appropriately bundled up, just in case, but she gave us a table number and sent us downstairs to a lounge. She was nice enough to remind us that any drinks we ordered in the lounge would not count towards the two drink minimum per person required for the show. I was very happy about that because it was going to be hard enough for either of us to consume two drinks apiece, since we're not big drinkers. We weren't the first to arrive in the lounge, but the longer we sat in the lounge, the more crowded it became. A bouncer came downstairs at one point to let us know that her first show was going on longer than planned, but that they would let us know when to come upstairs by flashing the lights. Richard didn't wait for the flashing lights. He wanted to get upstairs before everyone else. Even though we already had a table assignment, there would be others sitting at our table, and he wanted to be sure we got the best view. We stood in the narrow hallway upstairs for about 10 minutes before they let us into the show area. Thankfully, because we arrived early and got a good table assignment, we were seated in the first row, not directly in front of the stage, but the table beside dead center. It was awesome! We positioned our chairs for comfortable viewing. and then I took a bathroom break. Sure enough, by the time I got back, another couple was seated at our table. They had to turn around backwards in their chairs to see the stage. He he! Sucks to be late!

The woman who hosted the show was hilarious, as was the man who was the opening act! I wish I knew their names! Rosie looked great! She has lost a lot of weight and was dressed nicely, something she said she is making a conscious effort to do. She joked about the troubles she's had in her personal life, which made her very human and relate-able. We never got picked on because the woman with the front and center seat was dressed in an orange, furry jumpsuit. She had on 8 inch gold, glitter platform shoes (which she plopped onto the stage), blue lipstick, and white mascara. She stuck out like a sore thumb in a very average-looking audience. Rosie asked her if she always dressed this way, or if she just wanted attention during the show. Apparently, she always dresses that way. Rosie noticed a man across from us, at the other end of the front row. She asked if he had been at her earlier show. He said that he flew in from California and had been at both shows the previous night and both shows that night. She invited him on stage and took a photo with him, which I thought was very nice. We had a great evening, and left in a cab saying what a great, only-in-New-York experience that had been. We need more evenings like this!