Friday, April 11, 2008

Laugh, Clown, Laugh

Today at 2 minutes after noon, I bought a ticket for my wife and I to see Robin Williams "Working on Material" this Monday at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco.

They were sold out by 5 minutes after noon.

It's the primary reason I'm on their e-mail list for upcoming events. It's about the only way I would ever hear about it. We saw him live for the first time in mid-2002. He did some phone interviews on KLLC and KFOG, and we made the plan to go get in line that Saturday when they went on sale. It was his first time doing it, and Bimbo's was not prepared for the demand. Or the scalpers.

Now you can only buy tickets on Ticketweb, and are lmited to two tickets per credit card and the person usign the card has to pick up the tickets at the box office the day of the show.

That Saturday morning, the line went all the way across the front of the club, and around the corner, up the hill. I think the limit then was 8 tickets per person. He was doing a show that Saturday night and a show Sunday. We had just gotten around the corner to the front when they announced the two shows were sold out. The collective groans and sighs traveled down the line, and then they told us they were asking Robin if he would consider doing more shows. The guy acted like he was on the phone to Robin (probably only his agent), and then there was loud begging and pleading for more shows.

Jennifer and I were starving, but we didn't want to leave the line. Then they announced two additional shows, and a four ticket per person limit. By the time we got to ticket office, the second Saturday show had sold out, but we managed to get two tickets for the 10:30 PM show Sunday night.

We made the plan to be there as soon as we were allowed to line up, and so Sunday afternoon we were back in line outside. We chatted with people who were going to see the 8:00 show, and one guy who had seen both shows Saturday, was in line for the 8 and was hoping to get back out and in line with someone he knew to see the 10:30. After finally seeing Robin, I don't think my face could have handled laughing that much in 36 hours.

What we saw was his work in progress for the 2002 tour which he recorded on Broadway.

We have seen him two more times at Bimbo's and each time has been amazing. I am extremely excited about Monday night. Jennifer and I will be waiting in line early (the door's open at 6:30), and hopefully we will get a front row table again.

This, more than skiing or surfing, is what makes California, and more specifically the San Francisco Bay Area, great. The chance to see someone as funny and entertaining as Robin Williams up so close that you can see the sweat on his face.

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