A Luncheon

Yesterday I attended a lunch meeting of about 40 guys representing all aspects of show biz. The group consisted of writers, actors, producers and musicians as well as some of the top show biz lawyers in town. We met at Cá Del Sole which is right next to Universal Studios. The location was picked not because of its proximity to the studio, but because it's relatively close to the Burbank Airport. Four of the guys we were meeting with flew in from San Francisco that morning and did not want to drive all the way over to the West side just to be sheik.

We were discussing participation in several shows through out the coming year. I am vague about the circumstance and the venue because it is difficult to explain. For the purposes of this blog it is enough to know that everyone is donating their services, so egos and big money deals do not cloud the fun. I have known most of these guys for several years and it is always a great time when we can get together. It doesn't happen more than a couple times a year because of every one's schedule. It's a very fast track at these meetings and the guy with the best and/or quickest line wins. No hostages, no kings X, every man for himself.

I don't know who won the adlib contest yesterday. I'm not sure if anyone is keeping score. The judgment can be hampered by wine flowing at celebratory levels but I know I hold a top five spot at least until the next meeting. The important thing when you are adlib hunting is stalking the moment. That's still an aspect of timing, but the moment is almost as important as the internal speed of the joke.

For me the moment came in a relatively formal period of the afternoon. One of the San Francisco inmates was talking about the schedule. Several of us needed to know show dates and times for our calendars. We were finding out that some of the productions had a firm date and creative team assigned, but some did not. The phase was, "When we get into March and April of 2010 the dates get a little 'squishy' ". Someone blurted out, "Squishy, is that a legal term?" Another person said, "Yeah, What's a squishy date?" I got there first and shouted, "Fifty bucks, same as downtown." Big laugh, slam dunk, high fives from the comic actors, victory lap around the restaurant.

So I will be allowed to attend the next meeting in hopes I can shake out some more comedy prey. But it won't be easy, the next time, like always, everyone will be hunting.
As you were,
Jay