all because of George Carlin

Michael Grant with Whoopi outside the 92nd Street Y

“I am
where I am
because
I believe
in all possibilities.”
- Whoopi Goldberg

Me with Jim Norton.

"Well, I dropped out of high school
when I was a senior
and I went to one semester of
community college.
I always wanted to do comedy
since I was like 12
but I kinda believed it was
a dream that would never happen.

When I started I left myself no safety net.
I kinda made a decision that
this was it.
I was gonna do comedy.

You know I see a lot of guys
and they're like
'Yeah I'm doing comedy
and I'm going back to school'
I'm like well, good luck,
good luck man.

If you've got a safety net
you're not gonna
become obsessed.
To me
to be really a great comic
you have to somehow be
obsessed
with it because
what else is gonna motivate you?

It's like f*ck your social life.
I can't tell you how many
relationships I've blown
because New Years Eve I work.
Birthdays I work.
Anniversaries I work.
I mean to me
that's more important,
you know.

And women understandably
don't want that.
They want a guy
that spends time with them.

But again you can't tell a girlfriend,
'I love you
but you don't compare to this.
You never will.
You know nothing you do for me
will ever be that,
that fucking high.
You know you can't compete
with that.' "
- Jim Norton
on XM Radio's Unmasked

Jim Norton at the 92nd Street Y for
George Carlin: We're Gonna @#$%& Miss You
with Whoopi Goldberg, Judy Gold & Eddy Friedfeld.

I kinda stared at Jimmy
all starry eyed
from the second row
as he stooped to meet
and greet his fans after much
of the audience had filed out.

I felt like such a creeper
but it didn't stop me from staring.
Looking at Jim's eyes in the above picture,
I'm thinking he should be
very forgiving of anyone
with a creepy stare!

I didn't want to meet Jim Norton last night.
It was enough to just be in the same auditorium with him.
The only reason I lingered outside the stage door was so
Mike could grab a pic with Whoopi (see above :-)

Why didn't I want to meet Jimmy?
Well, for one, I had nothing clever to say,
nothing prepared.
Also, he seemed in a hurry and I didn't want to pester him.
And most of all
I DON'T WANT HIM TO THINK OF ME AS A FAN!!

Don't call me a fan.

I am..
an
ADMIRER!

There's a difference.

I wanted to meet him socially.
Perhaps as a "peer",
as a writer or academic
but certainly not as a stage-door-hanging,
gushy fan.

Now, I very well may be a gushy, stage-door
creeping fan,
but I don't want him to see me that way.

I deep down,
truly truly
really really
believe that Jim and I can be friends.

Sure
sure
sure
child-like obsession,
star crush,
yadda yadda.

But the more I see of this guy, the more I believe we can
...I dunno...hang out?

The panel discussion itself was wonderful!
It was a tribute to the late Geroge Carlin that focused on his
fierce commitment to free speech.

He, Whoopi and Judy were witty,
thoughtful,
provocative,
and deserved every outburst of applause and laughter from the 60 somethings in the audience.

Oh, yeah.
The majority of the folks were Upper East Side Jewish intellectuals over 50
out for a Sunday evening during the holidays.
This was NOT Jim's usual crowd.

Yet, he handled himself beautifully.
He talked about George Carlin's authenticity as a person and performer.
He railed against the arbitrary nature of censorship today - what's good for Imus ain't good for Jesse Jackson, etc.
He talked about the hypocrisy of censorship coming from the secular left rather than the religious right.

All the while he sat there, very calmly,
self-consciously still,
except for removing his gum with a nice white hankie when the discussion first began.

I was impressed and proud of him at the same time.

Jimmy Norton, the third guy on the shock jock team of Opie & Anthony was quite the erudite discussant on last night's panel,
creepy eyes and all.

sigh

So, yeah, I was happy to have been in the audience.

Then, after the show,
I was content to get a close look at him as I stood in the second row
creepily staring.

Marni and Mike were pressed up against the stage.
They clamored to get Whoopi's attention, but they also said a few words to Jimmy who was distracted but utterly charming.

When Marni asked to shake his hand he was obliging and seemed flattered.
He whisked his way backstage and was gone.

In my mind, the evening was over.
I was ready to go home and talk about all that had happened.

But Marni and Mike prevailed.
They told me I'd regret not meeting him.

But But But...
he''ll be playing around the metro area, including The Stress Factory in
New Brunswick over the next few weeks.

I can meet him another time, I reasoned.

It will be easy to meet him at a comedy club.
He'll be more relaxed, more in his element.
I didn't NEED to meet him right that second.

Well, Mike wanted to meet Whoopi, so we stayed.
We lingered with a few fans outside the stage door on 92nd.
We waited less than a minute.

Jim emerged from the stage door,
looking very good, I must say.
He was all in black except for the design on his t-shirt.
I had noticed his shiny dress shoes when he was on stage.

He really is gorgeous in his quirky,
humble,
self-denigrating way.

He paused for a pic with someone else.
I waited my turn, politely, a few paces back.

When he was free I approached him.
I didn't look him in the eye for some reason. I said,
"You keep looking at your watch, I know you're in a hurry..."

"Yeah, it's just cuz I have a gig downtown,"
he answered as we got into our pose.

This is the part I wish I could play back over and over again in slow motion.

He had on this buttery-soft leather jacket that made his whole being seem soft and cushy.
He warmly put his arm around me (he does that for all his fans...I know).

Now, as you can see, I was prepared for a possible,
upclose encounter, hence the decolletage.

He didn't look.

Not even a glance.

Marni snapped the picture.

As we disengaged from our wrap around pose, I said,
"You didn't even look at my cleavage!"

"I was trying to be polite," he answered affably.

I don't remember if I said something or not.
but as I did (or didn't) I gave his upper arm a little squeeze
through the buttery
leather sleeve.

Then the rest was a blur.
Marni said something to him and smacked his arm.
I turned away in an embarrassed daze.

There were two fans a few yards away, a youngish couple who stopped him for what may have been an autograph.
I was trying not to stare, but I kept stealing glances at him.
Again, he caught me.

Creepy McCreeperson strikes again (me being the creeper, not him).

He may have noticed me looking more than once, but as I said, it was a surreal blur.

He finished with the fans and off he went down 92nd
to catch a cab downtown.

I was floating on air but
I was unsatisfied.
I was borderline unhappy.

Not that he or I could have done anything differently under the circumstances.
But those were not the circumstances under which I wanted to meet him.

He's a nice, appreciative guy.
As a fanboy himself, he knows how important it is to be kind to his fans (and admirers).
Of course he's going to pose for pics and give autographs!

I mean, I could have been anyone and gotten the same attention from him (except look at that smile of his in the pic with me...he looks happy, right? RIGHT??...ugh!)

Picture posing and brief gushing was not what I had in mind.
I wanted to interact with him, talk with him,
not as a fan but as a woman, a person, a potential friend.

Dammit.

He flew to LA today to do press for Down and Dirty
the Friday night comedy series he's hosting on HBO.

He'll be on Leno tomorrow night (Tuesday October 7th)
and on Chelsea Lately Wednesday night (October 8th).

Well, I DO tend to bring people good fortune.
Maybe the timing is right for him to be even more successful than he has been.
I'll flatter myself by believing my energy is part of that.

I dunno.

He deserves great success for his talent,
for his hard work,
for his sincerity
and for his natural tendency to want to share a good thing with others.

It was nice to share space with him.

Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy.

I wonder if there will be more to this story.

*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*
Why is Jim Norton's Down and Dirty
a significant contribution to comedy?
Because it's sincere, edgy and unapologetic.
If you don't like it, don't watch it.
I'm just happy that Jimmy and his friends
are living, creating and performing authentically.
Bravi!

"It's a wonderful feeling to have found
something you're good at,
that you love to do,
and that other people think you do well.
Those are the three elements I think that
go into being happy."
-George Carlin

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