On Lily Tomlin and ...

       On a recent Saturday evening, I drove to Manitowoc and experienced 73-year-old Lily Tomlin in her one-woman show.  It was really, really good.  No notes for almost two hours, and she went from informal talk about Manitowoc to all sorts of tidbit quotes that a comedian does, as well as her many skits.  With only one person in her retinue ... the sound guy who absolutely on cue whenever it was programmed would provide his light changes, videos and sounds.

       Some excerpts that I wrote down ... from her 60-minute first act, 35-minute second act, and 15-minutes responding to written questions (about Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Christiane Amanpour).

•  During the part on Women's Lib:  "What came first?  Was it the person who founded SHEboygan ... or the one who founded MANitowoc?"  

•  A lot of her "liberal" comments and jokes got good applause, so at one point she asked, "Are we sure I'm not in Madison?"

•  "It's tough to be cynical these days.  You can't keep up!"

•  "Then there's stuff my mother told me that really aren't true.  Like 'Enough is enough'.  And, 'They wouldn't be in Washington if they didn't know what they were doing.'"

•  "The next Chapter in our nation's history is going to be Chapter 11."

•  "There's so much Identity Theft going on these days, that it's hard not to be scammed.  It hasn't happened to me, and I keep wondering 'Aren't I worth it?'"

•  "You know, 'oil' is usually identified by its source.  Like Peanut Oil.  And Olive Oil.  So, what about Baby Oil?"

•  In one of her skits, she portrays a six-year-old.  "Her mother asked, 'Why is the box of Animal Crackers empty?'  So, she explained that what happened was that the Animals all got mad at each other and started eating each other, and that's why they're all gone."  "Sounds simple enough, but after my show, an 8-year-old came backstage to tell me 'If that's so, there should be one left!"

Fascinating stuff:

I get a daily blog called www.delanceyplace.com, which has very interesting stuff, like ...

•  We think we think independently, but we really don't.  We are VERY influenced regarding our thinking by the reactions of the people around us.  Illustrative Point:  In a 1984 debate, Pres. Reagan made a funny remark about his challenger, former VP Walter Mondale.  Those who HEARD the audience's favorable applause thought it was very funny, and Reagan won the debate.  Those who had the applause reaction held from them felt that Mondale won the debate.