In my short 30 years I have had the chance to meet some cool
celebrities between my role as a junior reporter, comic fan, and now podcaster. As
we all know JoF has brought some amazing opportunities my way and for each one
I’m grateful. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Howie Dorough (of Backstreet Boy
fame), Mandy Moore (who up until last night was the nicest celeb I’d ever met),
Dean Cain, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Jason David Frank (biggest douche you’ll ever
meet), Katie Cassidy, John Barrowman (also super sweet and so gracious to his fans), and the list goes on. I say this, not to
brag, but to make the point that I’ve had some pretty awesome experiences in my
life. Up until last night doing a panel at comic con and singing in front of
Howie ranked as a tie for 1st. I think last night might trump them
both.
I love to laugh. A lot. I’m also very picky about my comedy.
A lot of comedians go for the cheap laugh I feel. They appeal to the lowest
common denominator and I don’t think it’s funny. That’s why I am not a Larry
the Cable Guy fan. He seems like a really great guy but I don’t like his brand
of humor. I love Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White (when he actually has
new material), Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias, Whitney Cummings, Kathleen
Madigan, and Chris D’Elia. By far my favorite though has always been Christopher
Titus. He knows how to find funny in a dark place. I don’t always agree with
his views (I’m whitey and I DO NOT apologize thank you…none of us were there
man) but even the bits I disagree with from a social stand point makes me crack
up because he’s so god damn funny. Hell, he bashes Texas and I laugh and we all
know I’m one of the proudest Texans and god save anyone that trashes my state.
Unless you’re Titus. I truly believe
Titus could take the topics that offend me the most and make me laugh at them…he’s
just that damn funny.
Titus currently has 6 comedy specials out. I have 5 (haven’t
had a chance to watch the new one yet). I have watched those 5 over and over so
many times that I’m sure the views are getting near if not passed 100. I can
quote most of the specials. When I have a rough day I turn on “The 5th
Annual End of the World Tour”. When an ex pisses me off I watch “Love is Evol”.
When I just need to laugh I turn on “Normal Rockwell is Bleeding”. When I feel
the need for something with a social commentary I watch “Neverlution”. And when
I need to gain some perspective I watch “Voice in my Head”, because the bit on
the inner retard is possibly one of the best bits ever written and certainly
one I relate to. I tend of have awful insomnia. When that happens often one of
his specials relaxes me enough to sleep. Not because it’s boring at all but
just because I find something about his storytelling soothing…which I realize
is slightly warped in and of itself. This is a fact that has not eluded me.
Titus has gotten me though some really rough times in my life through laughter,
which truly is the best medicine.
So, when I found out Titus was coming to Austin I was
psyched…for like 2 minutes. Obviously I couldn’t afford to go. As I discussed
on JoF TV the last several months haven’t exactly been kind to me. A lot of
shit went down at my last job which led me to leave the preschool industry for
good (little tip to all you people thinking of teaching preschool…the kids are
great but the parents suck ass), then shortly after that I ended up in the
hospital with pancreatitis and ultimately had to have gallbladder surgery. Of
course this couldn’t happen when I was at my last job and had insurance. No,
no, no. It had to happen 2 weeks into my new job when I had none. So you can
imagine my medical bills. Insanity! So I will be broke for the foreseeable
future and thus going to a comedy show was just not in the budget cause they
hospital will save your life just so you can pay them for the rest of it.
I was bummed but I accepted it and moved on. Then I noticed
a tweet that Titus tweeted saying the first show sold out so they were adding a
late show. I tweeted back saying I hoped he’d come back to Austin soon cause I
wanted to see him. Then I went back to work cause I need the money and they
frown on breaks longer than 15 minutes. I forgot about it. Shit happened at
work. I left completely frustrated around 6:30. I headed home, dealt with
traffic getting out of Austin, typical everyday shit. I met my mom and dad at
Chili’s, had dinner, and figured I’d get home, play some NHL 14 on the PS3 and
go to bed. Then on my way home from Chili’s I looked at my phone. Don’t ask me
why I opened twitter at that moment, cause it honestly doesn’t make sense since
I don’t use twitter that often. But I did and I noticed I had a notification…so
I looked at it. Titus’ wife Rachel Bradley had tweeted me saying I was on the
guest list for the late show!
My reaction was as follows: read the tweet, freeze, read it
two more times to make sure I read it right, realized I did, look at the clock
to decide if I can make it to Downtown Austin from Leander in time, decide I
can, go home to take care of the pets, rush out, made it to Downtown Austin in
record time, got my ticket, and stood there in awe and disbelief while I waited
for the doors to open. Then I went in and was in the 6th fucking row…I
expected like a back row seat and was just happy to be there but the seat was
beyond amazing. To say it was a surreal situation was an understatement.
The show itself was just amazing. Rachel did a quick set to
open and she’s pretty good. I enjoyed her set. Titus…well…how do you even put
into words a show like that? Awesome just isn’t enough. I’ve seen a couple of
comics in person, Jeff Foxworthy long ago and more recently Gabriel Iglesias
(few years back…was gonna see him when he was in Austin last year but that is
of course when I ended up in the hospital and so I couldn’t go.) And both of them were amazing. But Titus….he
really engages the audience which just makes it so much funnier. He knows how
to handle his written material but still localize it and include the audience
in such a way it doesn’t feel like it’s a scripted show. It feels like a guy
just up on stage telling hilarious stories. It was amazing. Towards the end of
the show he said that he’d be in the lobby signing autographs and what not. I
knew I had to go thank him in person for the ticket.
I bee lined to the area he was gonna be in so I was near the
front of the line. When I got up there I told Rachel who I was and thanked her
profusely. She told me she was glad I could make it and then told Titus I was
the girl he left the ticket for. I froze. My comedy hero left me a ticket? You
wanna talk inner retards…I think mine stroked out about then. So I told Titus
thank you and how much his comedy meant to me and how grateful I was to see his
show. He said it was sweet and he was glad I made it out and asked if I wanted
a picture. Which of course I did. Then I left.
2014 was one of the worst years I have had. I left behind my
career in child care, we lost 2 family pets in 1 month (December no less), I
ended up at an insane job that makes school very difficult to keep up with, and
I ended up in the hospital for the 1st time with a potentially fatal
illness that, although I lived through, I’ll be paying for for years to come…and
after all that insanity the first month of 2015 one of the coolest things in
the world happens to me.
I told my friend Jill I had no words for the level of
awesome but because I’m me I’d find some when I blogged about it…I was wrong. For
the first time in recent memory…maybe ever…I have no words.
Titus, if you ever happen to read this let me say again how
much your comedy has meant to me and even more so how much your kindness meant
to me. You are a celebrity. I’m no one. You certainly didn’t have to leave a
ticket for a random fan, but you did…and that is a memory I will cherish
forever. After going through so much in the past few months for someone to show
that kind of kindness, especially someone I idolize so much…words truly cannot
express my gratitude. Honestly, from the bottom for my heart, thank you.
Rachel, thank you for your part in this as well. Your tweet
completely made my day…quite possibly my year. Loved your show too and hope to
see big things from you some day.
So to sum it up, Christopher Titus is officially the nicest
celeb I’ve ever met. And if anyone is keeping track Jason David Frank is still
the most arrogant douchebag celeb ever (just sayin…)
And tonight I get to meet the Texas Stars after the game.
Comedy and hockey all in one weekend. It’s coolness overload! I hope this is a
sign for things to come in 2015 cause I could totally use an awesome year!
As always stay tuned to JoF TV. Big things coming for the
podcast (can you call it a podcast anymore since we added video?) and for JoF
Productions in general I hope.
Much love,
Cilla