Martha and I are up and headed to BWI within the hour. I'm heading back home for the Norfolk show, but Martha, having to be a responsible adult, must head back to Philly to prepare for a conference in Pittsburgh. We bid each other goodbye and marvel how well we got along. Promises are made for further shows together. Excellent!

No delays, thank god, I arrive home on time.

11:45am

I drive home, drop my luggage and head to the dog-sitter to pick up my beast of a dog. My friend Laurie has kept him for the last couple of days. Ever the hostess, Lauries fixes me lunch before letting me take the dog home. We have a nice chat as we eat outside watching the dog roll around in the grass. I have an extra ticket for the night, since Martha had to go off and be all responsible, and ask her if she wants to come. She's not sure, but will let me know later in the afternoon. Once home, the beast wants to play, but I am slammed. Tired and just ever so slightly hung over from the late night, I collapse in bed for a nap. The dog stares at me until I pull the sheet over my head.

4:30PM

After a couple hours nap, I am refreshed and ready to roll. I go through the pics from the weekend and print out a few to give to Lewis and John. In the process I get a call from Laurie, she's on for the show. Excellent! Meg rolls up about 5:30 and we're off to dinner.

6:00pm

Meg and I meet Holly for dinner. We enjoy a leisurely meal and I catch them up on the weekend so far. Most of my close friends get a kick out of my antics, perhaps not completely understanding why I go see Lewis so often, but at least they don't think I'm in need of an intervention.

7:45pm

Arrive at the Harrison Opera House. Meg and I scope out the slammin' bus Lewis and the boys have been touring in. We stroll up to the entrance and wonder why we don't see anyone hanging around outside the theater. I knew it was going to be a small crowd, but this is ridiculous. We wait out front for Holly and Laurie to get their cars parked. Someone opens the door to the theater and I hear laughter. What the fuck? I check the tickets. FUUUCK! The show started at 7:30!!! Goddammit, I had the wrong fucking time!!! Meg shoves me inside and tells me to go sit down; she'll wait for Holly and Laurie. As I come in Jeff meets me at the door, giving me good-natured hell for being late. He tells me the show had a late start and I've only missed a few minutes of John's act. I slip in the dark theater and try to get the usher to show me to my seats. He tells me to sit in the empty seats in the back. I ignore him and stumble my way down the darkened aisle to my seats down front.

The Harrison is a true opera house, complete with box seats and a very large orchestra pit. John, who enjoys jumping off the stage into the audience, seems a bit stymied by the chasm.

"This pit is making me crazy!" He yells as he peers over the edge. In a flash he jumps off the stage and disappears into the pit. It's a long way down and the audience hears him clump to the bottom. Lewis pokes his head out from off-stage to see what John is doing. For a brief moment, I wonder if John has hurt himself when suddenly he climbs up and surprises the front row. Once again he gives out hugs to stunned audience members. Not able to get back on stage from the pit, John climbs over the rail into the front row, works his way between the seats and exits the theater. He's back onstage in a few moments to rousing cheers. The crowd loves him and shows their appreciation with great laughter and thunderous applause. The only thing marring the show at this point is this exceptionally annoying woman who is yelling back to John after every bit. I assume she is drunk and, of course, she is sitting directly behind me. John tries to shut her up, but she feels she is an essential part of the show. I pray she will be struck by lightening and rendered mute.

Let me digress again for a moment...

Comedy show etiquette tip #2, DO NOT talk back to the comic. They don't need you. You are not funny. You are not helping the comic in any way, shape or form. You are simply irritating the people around you and throwing the comic off. Plus, a really good comic is going to make you look like the asshole you are in front of several hundred people.

<Ahem>...I feel better now.

8:25pm

Intermission.  I head back up the aisle and find Holly, Laurie and Meg. They came in a few minutes after me and sat in the back for John's set. Unfortunately, they missed the jump into the pit and I try to describe it to them between bouts of laughter. Everyone agrees John is lucky he didn't break a leg. Out in the lobby I chat for a few minutes with Ben. He laughs at me for missing the start of the show. Some fan I am, he tells me.

8:45PM

Lewis! The crowd roars their approval as he hits the stage. This may not have been a sell out show, but the crowd is certainly intense. It is the best crowd of the three nights. Small, but mighty. It is also substantially younger than the last two nights. Whatever the reason, this crowd is primed to see Lewis and rewards him with big laughs. The crazy woman behind me has ceased talking back, but is now making obnoxious noises as she laughs.

Holly turns to me and says, "Oh, my god! That woman is making animal noises!!! I've distinctly heard a duck and I'm pretty sure a gibbon!"

"A gibbon?" I respond.

"Yeah, she sounds like the fucking gibbons at the zoo!"

We both burst into hysterics over this. Every time the woman makes another stupid noise we try to link it to various farm and/or zoo animals. We add hyena and pig to the list.

Amazingly, Lewis has another 20 minutes of material different from the previous nights. Jesus, how does he do it?

Just before the end of the show, Lewis let's everyone know he and John won't be doing the post-show meet and greet. He apologizes, but the news is still met with hearty booing. This irritates him and he screams at us, "Fuck you! At least I told you and apologized. I could just walked out if here and not said a fucking thing!"

Lewis wraps the show with the correspondent dinner bit. Even this has been tweaked since the first night. The crowd gives him a standing "O".

I stop by the concession table and say my good byes to Ben and Jeff. I thank Ben for being so accommodating to me the last few nights and hand over the pics for Lewis and John. The girls and I say our good byes and take off. I'm home and in bed by 11:30pm but I can not sleep. My mind reels as I relive the crazy weekend. My friends and co-workers don't quite get why I would spend a whole weekend following a comic around. Hell, I'm not even sure I do. But I know I have a lot of fun, meet some fantastic people and get great joy from watching Lewis perform. That makes it all worth the lack of sleep and the money I should be saving for a rainy day.

The last thing that crosses my mind before i drift off is a line from Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good......

They say I'm crazy, but I have a good time.........

Oh yeah!