Cursed Penn - 5/31/00

We're finishing up this run at the MGM. Last night we had friends in the crowd (Mac and his gang, Banachek, Tina) and a good size crowd. The show had been really hot lately and we're getting ready for NYC. I'm feeling very good about the show and having a blast doing it. It just keeps getting better - except last night. The opening went fine (I remembered the card), but on Looks Simple my bass was awful. It sounded like Neil Young. I thought it might be just my monitor and I asked Rex to turn my monitor off, but it wasn't that. I tried everything while I played, but nothing would fix it. I kept talking and Teller kept working, but the bass went out. Robbie came up behind me with another bass, I kept doing the bit and changed basses, but the backup bass didn't have a strap and wasn't turned on. I turned it and then, I was Kramer, I dropped to my knee and played it that way but the backup had the same problem, plus no strap. It was that the batteries weren't checked on both. Rex fixed it by Séance.

That kept me a little off, and I couldn't really hit a groove. I wasn't awful, but I couldn't find the pocket. When I would ask for a volunteer or look for one for anything, this guy would yell, "I know rob pike!" It's one of the odder heckles. It wasn't stupid or bad, it was just odd. I had no idea how to respond. I said something stupid like, "Yeah, he's a good friend of mine, but . . . " I didn't do much with it, that's for sure. After the show he said his name was Thompson, but not Ken. What do I know? There was nothing wrong with what he did; it just goes down as a very odd heckle. I wish people would yell at Carrot Top, "I know rob pike." If everyone did it, it would be great.

Then for Knife, the woman busted us. It's the first time we've been full on busted so we had to cut the bit short. I don't think we could have done anything different and it's only been once, so I guess we're okay, but what do you do when you're busted on "Paper Balls over the Head?" It's a tough call.

But, I guess overall the show was okay, I mean, we didn't get shot in the face and killed.

Penn

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