See Your Heroes

There are only so many things I see or hear about where I just have to make sure I do them. When I was a boy, there was a backpack designed to emulate a school locker, and upon a single viewing of the commercial, I went and found my mother, asking her for the backpack. I got the backpack all right. Things like that only come along so often, and a good example is an improv show that I attended last night.

I think it was Saturday night that, after a long, full day which left me exhausted, I read a tweet promoting a show at iO West called "Horribly Funny". The tweet advised the presence of special Heather Langenkamp, and that sure got my attention. You see, I'm a fan of horror movies. I have found that in Los Angeles there are many people more knowledgeable and more single-minded in their enthusiasm for the genre, but I really like horror movies too, and so I'm a big fan of Heather Langenkamp, who starred in several of the "Nightmare On Elm Street" films.

I didn't really know what kind of show "Horribly Funny" was, but it didn't matter. Anything that delivers an idol like her would be adequate reason to leave the house. I probably would have gone to a time share seminar if she was going to be there, so the fact that it was an improv show I'd enjoy anyway and that it would cost me no more than five dollars was just gravy. I decided I would make sure that this happened for me.

I was unable to entice friends into going. There were a couple who were interested, but not enough to move mountains, as I was ready to do. I went alone, which I usually avoid at all costs. The experience lived up to my hopes. Now, the way an Armando works is that the team of improvisers come up with scenes based on a story told by the monologist, who is inspired by a suggestion from the audience. I was delighted that she took my suggestion, which was "lacquer".

Her story largely revolved around the difficulty in keeping her hair neat while filming "Nightmare On Elm Street". I was over the moon when she observed that I could probably relate to her plight (and with my voluminous, curly hair, I sure could). The team sprang into action, seizing upon numerous details from the story, plot elements from the film and hair issues being among them. Heather watched from the side, but did not return with another monologue (which I, biased, of course, really wanted).

I wish like hell that I could have found her after the show and said hello, but I did not manage to do so. That's a typical thing for me, although this time I don't think that nerves were the problem. Having had a couple drinks, I suspect I had sufficient liquid courage for the task (and not too much to look like a fool), but my cursed commitment to seeing the other teams perform surely did me in! Well, at least I saw what I came to see.