ASSSSCAT - no, that’s not a reflection on me(ow)
I went to the 7:30 show of ASSSSCAT 3000 at UCB on Sunday. It was completely hilarious. Really good lineup: Amy Poehler from UCB and SNL, as usual; Seth Meyers from SNL; Samm Levine from Freaks and Geeks; John Lutz from 30 Rock; Lennon Parham (UCB and many plays and commercials); Miriam Tolan (UCB, The Office, The Daily Show); and several other guys from 30 Rock and UCB, please forgive me for not getting everyone’s name. Yes I admit I don’t watch 30 Rock and so didn’t recognize everyone. Not that I wouldn’t want to watch it; I just don’t watch that much TV. I was also told Horatio Sanz (UCB, SNL) was there, which surprised me because I had no memory whatsoever of seeing him and thought I must be slowly (or actually, maybe it’s more appropriate to say “quickly”) sliding toward forgetful dementia, until someone said it’s possible he was only in the later show, not the earlier one that I attended.
The way ASSSSCAT works is fairly similar to the structure of my class show at UCB (obviously these performers actually know what they’re doing and are really good at it). Amy comes out and introduces the show and talks for a few minutes to explain everything: they have a guest monologuist (Samm Levine) who starts off by doing a 2-minute talk based on some word that the audience suggests. He then sits down and the rest of the group do scenes–based on that monologue. I guess it’s not technically a Harold that they do, but the scenes to tend to intertwine and refer back to one another. Sort of a half-Assssed Harold. 
The first word suggested was “Eggos” (as in the waffles), which led to scenes about summer camp, a Jewish basketball team, and later on to a Taliban group struggling to find an available domain name (my favorite: I think it was Seth Meyers who offered “How about Talibang.com?”). The next monologue was about Samm’s experiences as a child who loved milkshakes, until he accidentally drank his mother’s beautiful creamy milkshake-like drink that turned out to be probably a heavily loaded Brandy Alexander, and whose throat is still on fire from it all these years later. All in all I think there were three or four monologues and scenes off all of them. It was a laugh riot. If you haven’t gone and are in New York, you really should try to make it. You need to reserve and pay ahead for the 7:30 show (it costs $8.00); the 9:30 is free but you have to line up probably starting about 7:00-7:30 for that–no reservations accepted. For the 7:30, I arrived at about 6:50 and there were over a hundred people in line already, but some of those were for the 9:30 show only. I actually ended up in the front row on the side, although I thought I was very far down in line. I guess I wasn’t, or people just didn’t want to sit in the front. The house gets completely filled though, and then some. They also allow one row of people sitting on the perimeter of the stage for this, something I’ve not normally seen at UCB. It’s worth the money–go!
I also went to the Museum of Television & Radio (aka the Paley Center–just can’t get used to that name) again and watched another couple panels from The Daily Show. I could watch those things all day. I really love the interaction between what ends up being, every time, five to seven male writers/actors/producers and Madeleine Smithberg, the co-creator of the show and only woman, I think, who has ever done a Daily Show panel. It’s clear to me all the guys either really adore and respect her, or they are MUCH better actors than they are given credit for.
Between the Paley and UCB I met up with an old friend and we went to lunch at Elmo, down on 7th Avenue in Chelsea. It was quite good. I was starving and had Eggs Nova (that’s like Eggs Benedict except with salmon instead of Canadian bacon) and a side of sausage. And a delicious peach Sangria. That was only about $30 including tax and tip, which surprised me–that’s kinda cheap for NYC! I wish I had taken a picture of the drink: it was the most gorgeous shade of blushed purple-y blue-ish red, with whole blueberries and chopped up pear, peach, and apple floating in it.
I was a little worried about parking on the street–why, I don’t know, since I doubt any thief would want my oh-so-sexy (not!) Mom Wagon–so I didn’t this time but I probably will next. And yes, I drove all the way into the city. I don’t know why people are scared of New York drivers–they’re a LOT worse in Boston. New York is pretty easy, especially in upper Manhattan where the streets are in a grid. And driving there is cheap–I can go all the way from north of Boston to NYC and almost back to Rhode Island on $35 worth of gas. So I figure while I can drive–before the weather detours into the “possible snow” category–I better.
When commenting, be sure to do the simple math question (to deter spammers) or your comment will be gone with the wind. And tomorrow is NOT another day. It will be “today” tomorrow, and then you’ll forget all about what you meant to write yesterday (”today”), and I’ll feel so sad for all my remaining yesterdays that you’re ignoring me today.