A Wild(e) & Crazy Guy

Quite a few years back — in my special effects/traveling days — I had the opportunity to work a bar mitzvah at the “top of the rock” (aka the Observation Deck atop the Rockefeller Center) in NYC. First of all, anyone who can rent that location for a party is loaded, and possibly connected. That said, this person was probably more connected than most. And more loaded than most.

Putting it bluntly, they hired lasers to go along with Sean Paul’s (yes, you heard me, Sean Paul who had a top 100 hit at the time) performance.

So I’m there, and the doors aren’t supposed to be opening for another fifteen minutes. And we just got the “go ahead” to leave our post to take a break. I’m on the way to the restroom when they open the doors early.

Yikes.

There’s chaos, pandemonium, former pro football quarterbacks trying to find their friends in the crowd. Teenagers ditching their parents. Mass confusion. I’m off to one side, gaping at the Kelly Ripa working through the crush like a boss, and forget to look in front of me.

Cue crash into a tree. A human one. I look up. And UP some more… And there is me… nose to button close with Dan Akroyd. 😳

And I COULDN’T speak. That has NEVER happened to me before – at least not because of celebrity status. This is the gal who argued JFK conspiracy theories with a major rock artist over crew dinner.

Finally, I muster a, “uh… excuse me,” and step to the side.

It was that moment I KNEW my type. Not tall dark and funny… okay tall dark and funny is really awesome — kind of like brownies, vanilla bean ice cream, AND hot fudge. But mostly my type is FUNNY. I think I’d have the same reaction running into any of the comedians of my childhood/young adulthood. We’re talking the late (and greatest) Robin Williams, the Blues Brothers (see story above), and (as we get to the meat and potatoes of this post) Steve Martin.

Ol’ Steve is an extremely talented person. Besides his comic genius, he’s an author, a playwright, an actor, an art collector, and a musician. And he has provided me with my favorite inspirational quote. Side note, the attribution generally goes to him, however he has claimed at least once that he didn’t make it up.

Be so good they can’t ignore you.

–Steve Martin

Which means for me, no matter how much I want to be noticed, don’t forget to be good. To constantly learn how to be better than the last book, the last chapter, the last paragraph. Find joy in being as good as you can be. And do the work. This, coupled with my HEAVY issues of imposter syndrome, keeps me working hard at making my work the best I can as I’m plodding away.

That isn’t the only great quote, however. He’s also said, “You can’t really conduct your life by one or two phrases” and that’s also true. So, here are few more inspirational quotes I’ve gleaned from the master of the arrow hat…

“Now let’s repeat the non-conformists’ oath: I promise to be different! I promise to be unique! I promise not to repeat things other people say! Good!”

“Why sip from a teacup, when you can drink from the river?”

“Always make room for the unexpected in yourself.”

–Steve Martin

Which one is your favorite?