A Prairie Home Companion

Laughter really is the best medicine and laughter shared with friends is even better.

We finally had a “date” with a couple that we have known for years. Every time we would run into each other we would say, “We should go out sometime.” We did try but all four schedules never seem to mesh.

Then Gary called to see if we were going to the simulcast of A Prairie Home Companion tonight. If so, could I call Julie to encourage her to go since she was iffy about it.

It was the perfect first date. We had a delicious dinner at Clyde’s Bistro located in two vintage diners on Lee Road. I highly recommend the heart attack special, Roasted Chicken and Wild Mushroom Lasagna. The portions are so generous that I will enjoy it again later this week as Loren will his Eggplant Parmigiana.

Then it was off to our local multiplex to see A Prairie Home Companion on the large screen in HD. A half hour pre-show was a look back at the more than 30 years of APHC. Then Garrison took us on a walking tour of downtown St. Paul. A particularly touching moment came when Garrison walked up to the statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald and brushed the snow off his shoulders and head. He pointed out how short Fitzgerald was and that they had not put him on a pedestal. Was Garrison ruing that he has been?

Garrison was in fine form tonight. I have been disappointed in his monologues and writings in Salon lately. It seems to me that he was often going for sophomoric humor about bodily functions rather than the wittier, erudite comedy of years past.

When the News from Lake Wobegon was over, Gary leaned over and asked, “Does he use a teleprompter?” No, he doesn’t. He does write out the monologue but then he just roams around the stage telling us a story. I explained that on the PHC cruises, he would sometimes get sidetracked and stop, looking bemused, and ask us, “What was I telling you?”

I had told Gary and Julie about Garrison’s trying to stump Fred Newman, one of the sound effects men. He did not disappoint. At the very end he had Fred creating one sound effect after another. Fred’s facial expression was priceless, a mixture of oh, no what next and I can do it.

One of the best shots was of Rich Dworsky’s hands. My, can that man play the piano!

If you want to catch the show, they are repeating it on February 9. Perhaps at a theater near you!