I went to see the comedian Gary Gulman at the Warner Theater this evening. I hadn’t heard of him until a few days ago when a friend invited me to go in place of her husband, who had to be somewhere else. This really is no reflection on his talent or his fame. I know the names of maybe two professional comedians who are not ridiculously famous (or infamous).
I’m so glad I went. Gulman recounted his experience growing up Jewish in the 70’s and 80’s in Massachusetts with a clever wit, keen self-awareness, and numerous literature references (much appreciated by we English majors in the audience) that keep me giggling and laughing aloud nearly the entire hour and a half.
He shared an anecdote about how his father insisted he repeat the first grade – much to his his horror. He took deep offense to this. He was way smarter than his peers who would progress unobstructed to second grade. One major element of proof: he was in the reading group The Sun Ups, an intellectually superior reading group to all the knuckle-draggers in the classroom.
This immediately brought me back to my second grade reading group. I was in Tapestries, which had a dark blue cover with multicolored tapestries in the center. This was a respectable group and considered a higher level. However, Tracy Z was in a group by herself. She was deemed so advanced that she was the lone member of Windchimes. I still remember stealing glances at the teal cover as Tracey bent her blond Dorothy Hamill-coiffed noggin earnestly over the text.
I wonder what became of Tracy Z. Is she master of all she surveys? Did she ever achieve Windchime-like status again after second grade? Is she doing standup somewhere? I guess I could look her up but I am content to wonder.
My Corner of the Village 