Started out as just a normal day. It was my third day at a new job which involved sorting financial statements. After that, my friend Rob and I had tickets to see Patrice O'neal at 8PM at the DC Improv. After work, I parked by my old work so I wouldn't have to pay for parking at metro, and to see if my work check had been delivered (it wasn't). I was trying to kill as much time before the 8 PM show.
I go to comedy shows like most people go to concerts. I've only been to 1 music concert (Cypress Hill, thanks for asking) but 20 comedy shows. I'm not even sure how I got started listening to comedy. I think it was at the University of Maryland cause I would frequently download standups/cds of comedians and listen to them as I did my homework or went to sleep.
Patrice is one of my favorite comedians that I've seen live. I could listen to him riff about anything all day. I forgot how I first heard about him, either from The Sports Junkies or Opie and Anthony. This was my third time seeing him live, both previous sets were awesome.
I got there pretty early and as a result, my seat was front and center. The 2 random people who Rob sold the extra tickets to came in about 30 minutes later, and Rob was the last person to show up at the table.
I wish I remembered the openers that night, but I don't. I wish there was a way to get my hands on the raw taping that night. Patrice had a great set, but I wasn't feeling it the first couple of jokes because I was stressed about some other stuff but towards the middle of his set was the good stuff, then he called me out.
He was just trying to be friendly, he did great crowd work, and he asks me what my name was and I said "Tolu." I could just see it on his face, and I knew I was done for. I had no idea this was being taped so I just went along for the ride. You can download and listen to it here. I thought it was funny, so I just laughed along. I'm used to being picked on at comedy shows because I'm usually the token black guy. Somehow I've never been made fun of because of my weight.
Normally after comedy shows with Rob, we go to the local strip club and watch the ladies but I was a bit on the broke side so we didn't. He had a cigarette and was drunkenly, unsuccessfully hitting on the store manager of the CVS. Then he we went home, but on the way home we had some Wendy's. Looking back, if I had known that there was a Nationals and a Capitals game that day, I probably would not have gone, but oh well.
I sent out this tweet thinking it would be an inconsequential moment in my life. November 29th, I got a tweet from my friend Tom that my name was listed as a track on Patrice's new CD. I knew it had to have been me cause there is no way Patrice O'neal found 2 people named Tolu and made fun of them both. I was honored. When the CD came out, I made sure I had an iTunes copy and a physical copy.
I know, last October, when Patrice O'neal had a stroke, he was scheduled to be at the DC Improv the last weekend of April. I hoped for the best, but I knew the chances of a full recovery were slim when they took him off the lineup on the website. I understand its a business, but it would have been nice to see the Improv leave that slot blank or to have a Mr.P listening party on that date.
I miss you, Patrice. There will never be another one like you.
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