After a sweltering wait (an hour in late afternoon heat) we entered the theater to wait for another hour listening to Tony's favorite music. It was downright chilly in there, and felt wonderful after the 97 degree heat. The policy was open seating, so we felt lucky to get 5 rows back, on the side, with a perfect view (we thought).
After collecting lots of drinks revenue, the theater brought out Mr. Bourdain right on time. He started off with a few comments, telling us he had thought the new book would show a kinder, gentler Tony Bourdain. He then read a chapter from his new book, Medium Raw, proving that he retains a boatload of anger. He was an excellent reader, looking up now and then to connect with his readers, explaining the chapter's premises with asides, and being very entertaining.
Then he opened up for Q&A. Wow, the questions were as revealing as the answers. People really study the guy! They had penetrating questions about everything, old shows, relationships with other food people, how he treats his 3 year old, things he remembers, how much pot he smokes, what his favorite drug is, etc. He was brilliant! He has such a depth of experience and is so articulate that he kept the audience rapt. His speaking was laced with profanity, which most of the audience enjoyed.
At one point he described his clueless TV producers using focus groups to figure out how the show was going. He and his team were trying very hard to be unobtrusively obscene. In one particular episode he was in the far North, putting on a long fur glove. He described it as like "fisting a Samoyed." The producers had no idea what that meant, but the focus group was laughing hard.
There seemed to be a lot of New Jersey people in the crowd. The only sad note of the evening came when someone asked if Tony (being raised in NJ) enjoyed a pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich. The answer was a succinct, "No!" Also, unfortunate for us, the microphone on our side of the theater blocked our view of the stage for quite a while.
After an hour and a half of real enjoyment (ours, and apparently, his) he left the stage to start signing books. The line wrapped around the theater, upstairs, across the balcony hall, then down again, so we just took a couple pics and left.
Afterward we had drinks and a bit of nosh at Little Woodrow's on 6th Street. Nice place with tons of different beers, but empty on a Monday evening. We just sat and talked about how much we enjoyed the show.
Not watching TV leaves me at a disadvantage when people mention shows or personalities. Since I knew nothing about Bourdain, I looked him up while reading your post, Jim.
ReplyDeleteToo bad such a "brilliant and articulate" speaker has to give a talk that's "laced with profanity" and sadder still that "most of the audience enjoyed" it.
And to think that lots of people stood in sweltering heat and paid money to listen to Bourdain.
Sometimes, being disadvantaged is a good thing.