Sunday, June 21, 2009
Jerry Seinfeld, Philly June 19, 2009
"Here's the thing. I'm old. I'm rich. I'm tired." was the response that Jerry Seinfeld gave to the packed house audience at the 2nd show on Friday, June 19th, when asked if he'd considered bringing back The Show. Keeping with the polite distance that he's effectively maintained with his audience since the early 1980's, Mr. Seinfeld silkily handled the adoring crowd. While we in the audience may have agreed with his "I’m rich." declaration, we knew he could not be serious about his other two proclamations. Looking particularly trim and vigorous in his finely tailored suit, he energetically paced himself through a solid hour and 20 minutes of mostly original material. "Tired?" "Old?" Mr. Seinfeld was using a dictionary I was not familiar with. If anything, he was more insightful and original than in his earlier years. Now married 10 years and with three kids, his source for material has expanded from the limitation of being single ("Dating is like playing waffle ball. You’re not even in the minors") to the motherlode of marriage and fatherhood ("It’s driving a truck with no brakes loaded TNT down a dark dirt road."). He dabbled into political humor ("...and what about these Al-Qaeda E. Coyotes with their rollerskates and jetpacks on their backs..."Boy, I hope it works this time; last time I did a loop-de-loop into a wall."") and continued his love of wordplay by doing his older bit about how how "doing Nothing is difficult (Since doing nothing is something that may lead to anything which eventually ends up with everything..." You get the idea, I hope) and then continuing on into the communication Sargasso Sea that is marriage. Hopefully, a DVD of this tour will be available as even a verbatim rendition does no justice to his complete performance.The Ever-Loving Wife, a fan from his first performance on Johnny Carson's "Late Night", was in bliss. A man talking with intelligence, manners and wit and in a fabulous suit? I, tight-lipped and blue-jeaned could not and would not (thanks to a mote of intelligence and manners) compete. She was well-prepared for his performance, pad and pen in hand. Aside from still practicing the ancient art of legible hand-writing, the ELW is quite skilled in taking copious notes while Mr. Seinfeld was rat-tat-tatting us with his observations. And in the dark, to boot!
So, what with synapses less snappy and recall functions not as rapid, the notebook that she came out with after the performance was gold. Since Friday's show, she’d bring out the book at different times during the weekend and recite a passage or two. Mr. Seinfeld's voice was still in our heads and the lines simply slipped into our mind’s stage and we’d relive Friday’s tour-de-force performance. A great way to start out the Father’s Day weekend.
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