An Irish Account: Seinfeld; stuck in a moment

Last week I was lucky enough to tour the English southcoast, lucky because it was unexpected yet attained last minute through work related circumstances. And fortuitous in a completely different way all together, since it was actually sunny. Sun in England! On the very week you visit the beaches of the south... when does that happened? Almost never actually. Not when you plan for it anyways. Its the reason why the English, even though owning quite decent beach fronts that fan their southcoast, still flock to more surefooted locals like Mediterranean Europe for annual excursions. At least down there, the guarantee of enveloping heat and regular sun is like the guarantee of a billion people in China. Ireland is infected in this same way.

During the tour I made visits to Kent, Dover, Brighton and Bournemouth (pronounced Born-smith, I didnt get it right the first time, myself, to let you know, and maybe to save you from the same future embarrassment) And spent another weekend up in London, with a short trip over to Oxford for a bit of the old fashion combo of Rowing and Comedy. Its like, what else is there to do in Oxford except higher learning.

That weekend, I shared that Oxford trip with a few friends and experienced my first true Seinfeld moment. There were five of us, Huong, Val, Becs and Becs boyfriend Jianni who I just met. Jianni was a truly funny and witty guy with an impressively quick mind. You see it turns out, he is a comedian; and not as in the "Im just sayin" euphemism kind of way, but in the professional kinda of way. The comedy show that we would be attending that night was one he would be MCing; he is going to be on stage. So here's the thing; hanging out for the day, how is one suppose to act in a group like that when a real life comedian is involved? Like really, comeon, you cant even pretend to compete. And if you try to even be funny, it'll likely fall flat and inferior, and most importantly seem transparently forced. In that light, you start becoming George. So why even try? What are you to do? Laugh at everything and enjoy the ride, thats what. Id make small remarks here and there, but nothing too ambitious, I kept it simple. Jian was going to do all the work, and lets face it, he's really good at it. Thats why he gets paid money for it, even.

The show itself? I laughed myself silly. And it was wierd having pseudo VIP status, being friends of the comedian on stage. Didn't get free beer or anything, but I was able to bring in left over Nando's chicken despite the bouncer blocking me. "Sorry youre not allowed to bring food in" "Oh. But its not for me. Its for Jianni, the comedian tonight" "Alright, go ahead, mate.." Such a empowering feeling, Im going to have to keep that line in my back pocket for the future, even though it would be an outright fib next time. And during the show? He even cracked a few jokes that referenced banter from earlier in the day and only made sense to us. So wicked... in-jokes with the comedian on stage. Thats a level of enlightenment few ever achieve... hahaha.. (I jest cuz only now Im allowed to be funny)

Pics of the English southcoast.