hanging out with biff tannen

2006.08.05 16.44

Last Friday I flew into Houston and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Texas Land and Cattle with Christina, her mom, my dad, and Daniel my houston-based roommate. I use the term roommate loosely because I'm only living in the master bedroom and the rest of the house is essentially all him with the exception of my piano. After dinner, Christina and I left and headed to the River Oaks Laff Stop to see actor/comedian Tom Wilson. Who the hell is Tom Wilson? Tom portrayed Biff Tannen in the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy. We didn't know if the show was going to be funny or not, but figured meeting Biff would be cool nonetheless. I asked for a good view and we were seated at a table that wrapped around the perimeter of the stage. Two other couples sat alongside us. This was the 10:30 PM show and the place was about 1/2 full. The opening comedian / host began by saying that he liked to record his set during every show. He then grabbed a videocamera mounted on a tripod and pointed it at Christina's chest. Niiiice. That got a laugh. He then did about 5 minutes during which time the camera chugged away. I wonder how much of that was really filmed. She didn't mind, luckily. The next guy did about 15 minutes and it was mostly about how he was a teacher and the trials and tribulations associated with the job. Christina also happens to be a teacher -- an elementary school P.E. teacher to be exact. They bonded. He was mad at me because I told him I woke up at 8 AM every morning whereas he had to wake up at 6 AM. Cry me a river, as Mr. Timberlake says. Hey, I work really late, okay? When Tom Wilson finally came on he had the whole audience chanting and whooping. He humorously covered his background quite well and included plenty of BACK TO THE FUTURE references and stories to entertain even the most hardened fan. He interracted with me when he was asking each of the males on the wrap-around stage table what they did in high school. Guy #1 -- footbal. Guy #2 -- football. Wilson paused, looked at me, then said, ''Not football, huh?'' I felt like Marty McFly, suddenly. I meekly informed him that I was in band. He laughed and then revealed that he was also a band member back in high school. An ashthmatic tuba player, to be exact. He was even drum major his senior year, so we exchanged a fellow band member kinsmanship. The rites of passage when you're in a marching band are not particularly normal by any stretch of the imagination. My freshman year at the end of summer band party featured me and all the other freshman band members being forced to dance with the senior girls -- while wearing female flag corp vests and skirts. Not too terribly humiliating, but I won't forget it. I got to dance with then drum major Kim Frederick. She's 40 and married now. Holy crap, does time fly? Wow. Unlike the other two comedians, Tom was a total gentleman with Christina and didn't hassle her. He's 47 years old, which is fascinating as he portrayed both his 47 year-old self in 1985 as well as his 17 year-old self in 1955 for BACK TO THE FUTURE. The make-up artists really got that right. After the show I bought Tom's CD and got his signature and shook his hand. Good guy. Check him out if you should ever have the chance to see him in your area. He won't call your friend a butthead on their answering machine, but he's still nice nevertheless.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employers both past and present. « save houston's historic district \| Main \| the matrix phone has died » hanging out with biff tannen 2006.08.05 16.44 Last Friday I flew into Houston and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Texas Land and Cattle with Christina, her mom, my dad, and Daniel my houston-based roommate. I use the term roommate loosely because I'm only living in the master bedroom and the rest of the house is essentially all him with the exception of my piano. After dinner, Christina and I left and headed to the River Oaks Laff Stop to see actor/comedian Tom Wilson. Who the hell is Tom Wilson? Tom portrayed Biff Tannen in the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy. We didn't know if the show was going to be funny or not, but figured meeting Biff would be cool nonetheless. I asked for a good view and we were seated at a table that wrapped around the perimeter of the stage. Two other couples sat alongside us. This was the 10:30 PM show and the place was about 1/2 full. The opening comedian / host began by saying that he liked to record his set during every show. He then grabbed a videocamera mounted on a tripod and pointed it at Christina's chest. Niiiice. That got a laugh. He then did about 5 minutes during which time the camera chugged away. I wonder how much of that was really filmed. She didn't mind, luckily. The next guy did about 15 minutes and it was mostly about how he was a teacher and the trials and tribulations associated with the job. Christina also happens to be a teacher -- an elementary school P.E. teacher to be exact. They bonded. He was mad at me because I told him I woke up at 8 AM every morning whereas he had to wake up at 6 AM. Cry me a river, as Mr. Timberlake says. Hey, I work really late, okay? When Tom Wilson finally came on he had the whole audience chanting and whooping. He humorously covered his background quite well and included plenty of BACK TO THE FUTURE references and stories to entertain even the most hardened fan. He interracted with me when he was asking each of the males on the wrap-around stage table what they did in high school. Guy #1 -- footbal. Guy #2 -- football. Wilson paused, looked at me, then said, ''Not football, huh?'' I felt like Marty McFly, suddenly. I meekly informed him that I was in band. He laughed and then revealed that he was also a band member back in high school. An ashthmatic tuba player, to be exact. He was even drum major his senior year, so we exchanged a fellow band member kinsmanship. The rites of passage when you're in a marching band are not particularly normal by any stretch of the imagination. My freshman year at the end of summer band party featured me and all the other freshman band members being forced to dance with the senior girls -- while wearing female flag corp vests and skirts. Not too terribly humiliating, but I won't forget it. I got to dance with then drum major Kim Frederick. She's 40 and married now. Holy crap, does time fly? Wow. Unlike the other two comedians, Tom was a total gentleman with Christina and didn't hassle her. He's 47 years old, which is fascinating as he portrayed both his 47 year-old self in 1985 as well as his 17 year-old self in 1955 for BACK TO THE FUTURE. The make-up artists really got that right. After the show I bought Tom's CD and got his signature and shook his hand. Good guy. Check him out if you should ever have the chance to see him in your area. He won't call your friend a butthead on their answering machine, but he's still nice nevertheless. « save houston's historic district \| Main \| the matrix phone has died »