My mission succeeded. I promised the people of New York that I would bring an end to the strike upon my visit, and the next day the strike was called off!! I'm the man!
It was actually pretty interesting going down to NYC on Wednesday. Due to a tip from a friend who told me how jacked up the roads were with traffic, I decided to take Amtrak from Boston on down. It was easier for me to get to Manhattan from Boston than from Brooklyn. One of my friends just got stranded over there.
I stepped out of Penn Station around 7pm and started walking up 8th Ave toward my Laughing Liberally Lab gig on 45th. From the reports I expected a much more chaotic atmosphere. It wasn't like anarchy, yet I could just feel that something wasn't right. There were too many cars on the road and too many people on foot. It was as if the lunchtime rush was happening way after hours.
I peeped a bunch of TV vans and police officers. The media just love this sort of thing. They treated the pedestrians like Olympic heroes:
Reporters: "Wow sir, you just walked from 23rd St all the way to 34th! How did you do it? Did you think you'd make it? What do you plan to do now?"
Walker: "I'm going to Disney World!"
Yeah, there was a lot of extra movement, but like I said, it didn't feel as bad as I expected. Then I saw an image which made it clear that the situation was completely out of control. I saw a stretch Hummer limo full of regular cubicle-dwelling folks. There was no Cristal, no bling, no video hos -- just Joe and Jane Sixpack using any available form of transportation. When average peasants ride in a stretch Hummer on a Wednesday night, something is horribly wrong with the world.
After witnessing said horror, I made it up to the show where we performed for just a handful of customers. But, as they say, the show must go on. We did a kickass job in fact, and I laughed my ass off at the other comics who all put in some good work: Katie Halper, Dean Obeidallah and an Aussie named Jaime something who wrote some hilarious songs including one about Dick Cheney called "The President of Vice."
I'll probably be dropping by the Lab again in January before we do the big Town Hall show, so keep tuned in for announcements on both.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers, you're welcome.