Friends: a welcome difference

A huge perk of working on the road as a comedian is visiting family and friends I otherwise wouldn't be able to see that often.

I've done shows near family living near St. Louis and Charlotte and friends as far west as San Diego and as south as Punta Gorda, Fla. A most recent trip saw me visit my good friend Matt, his wife, Michelle, and their baby boy, Anthony. Matt and I met while studying at Chicago's Second City a few years back.

He then worked afternoons on-air at Joliet's 96.7 Will Rock, where I was featured as a guest from time to time. They now live in Dubuque, Iowa, in a beautiful new home.

Like I do so often, I compared my life with theirs. While I have virtually my entire life in a purple bedroom at my mom and stepdad's home, they have a three-bedroom house on an acre of land in the country.

That's not to discredit me or to place them on a pedestal. Rather, it's just the reality that we call life.

And it's a reality we have each freely chosen. Not right or wrong, glamorous or boring. Just different. And sometimes a welcomed difference at that.

It was a brisk Sunday afternoon, but not brisk enough to dissuade our playing catch. Matt and I tossed around the Nerf football as Anthony and Michelle went grocery shopping. There's something about playing catch that will never get old for me, be it with a baseball in the summer or a football in the fall. Michelle cooked an excellent dinner that saw 18-month-old Anthony make a mess of his corn and mashed potatoes.

He wasn't my kid so I simply laughed and took pictures.

She and Matt then compromised in the changing of Anthony's diaper a few hours later. And then Matt hid the diaper in my suitcase. What else are friends for?

A disagreement with their neighbors closed out the evening and had Michelle and Anthony in bed by 9. Matt and I then worked on my Web site, joking and poking fun as only guys can do after hours.

The next day I awoke to the sound of Anthony's voice and his small, but impressive vocabulary. At times, I pointed out certain words, sounding like I was teaching E.T. the English language. Anthony even weebled and wobbled, sometimes falling down like the half-in-the-bag Extra Terrestrial.

Matt fired me up a green pepper-and-onion omelet as Anthony watched "A Bug's Life." Later I tried to feed the toddler his lunch of a hot dog and green olives only to have most of it land on the floor. Or maybe he just found it funny to throw it there and have me pick it up and place it back on his high chair tray again and again. But why not? It wasn't my kid; I didn't know any better.

I was a bit amazed how a kid can have a toy box overflowing, but derive so much joy from removing Tupperware lids from the cabinet and arranging them on the floor. Right next to the uneaten hot dog and olive morsels, of course.

My visit had reached its end, and I packed the Prizm for home. Anthony was ready for a nap, and Dad had work to do. I was on my way with fond memories and a full stomach. And that's the life of a jokester who loves free meals, coming to a town near you.

 

Scott Deininger is a stand-up comic living in Shorewood. Check out his Web site, www.ShaveYourHead.com, and catch him live Nov. 28-30 at the Barrel of Laughs in Oak Lawn, (708) 499-2969.

11/23/03