Connect the dots! LA LA LA LA!

Anne and I got to go see The Pee Wee Herman show last night. It was phenomenal, and I realized about 20 minutes into the show that I was sitting on the edge of my seat, grinning and jumping around like a little kid … because that's pretty much how I used to watch Pee Wee's Playhouse.

After the show, we were fortunate enough to listen to Paul Reubens do a Q&A with about 100 people. As much as I loved the show, I would go back every night just to listen to him talk about acting, writing, comedy, and performing.

I asked a question about the scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure that I talked about on RFB #19. I wanted to know if he improvised that, or if it was all in the script, and hoped that he would just talk about it a little bit, because I think that it's one of the most hilarious, perfect, subtle comedic acting performances I've ever seen.

He said that it was all in the script, confirmed that it was tremendously fun to do, and then told us how he did a show at the Groundlings a few years ago where he used that scene as inspiration. The show was a fake actor's showcase, where all the performers did actual scenes, but they did them the way really bad actors would do them. (The thing about showcases is that actors hope casting people to come see and hire them, but they never do. The audience ends up being friends and family – the same ones who have suffered through all the other showcases you've done – and it's all a little bit depressing.) The only catch was that, to be in the show, you couldn't do the same bad acting bit that someone else was doing. This was a tall order, because the were some extraordinarily talented comedic actors in the show. Paul said that he and Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne) did an actual scene from an actual play, and he made the bad acting choice to mouth every single word of dialog she said, just like he did in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. He said that it was the only time in his career that he had to focus and concentrate really hard, so he wouldn't break and end up laughing.

Anne and I also got to meet him very briefly, and I talked with him for about 90 seconds, before I realized we were holding up the other people who wanted to meet him. He was incredibly gracious, humble, and kind. When I thanked him for providing me with a lifetime of joy, he thanked me back, and I could tell that he meant it, and I kind of wanted to hug him.

But all of that isn't the reason I wrote this post. The reason I wrote this post is to share with you a video he mentioned after the show. In a discussion about Jim Nabors and Charo, he told us to go to YouTube when we got home, and search for Charo doing Love Will Keep Us Together. He said it would change our lives.

Well, he was right, and now it is my great honor to change your lives. (You know, paying it forward and all).

Thank you, Pee Wee Herman, for a great show, a lifetime of joy, and changing my life through the magic of Charo.

88 thoughts on “Connect the dots! LA LA LA LA!”

  3. A few things: Does anyone care for the safety of the bongo players who were a good 10 feet in the air?
    The Finnish Band and their dancers looked as if the cleared out the briefing room on the Enterprise D.
    And…SSSssshhhhhhhhhhhh, I trying to use the telephone!

  4. Hmmm, I can’t say I felt any life-changing impulses. Then again, my family watched all those cheesey variety shows in the 1970s so I probably saw this when I was 12 years old and had the impulse later that evening.

  5. Bongo playing must be very hot work. They’ve all been forced to open their shirts! 😀
    Now that we’ve all seen the awesomeness that is Charo, close your eyes and imagine what she could do with a certain Rick Astley Song!

  6. Hahahahaha, Ken! Rick Astley ain’t no joke, buddy! He’s never gonna give you up, let you down, run around or desert you. What more can you ask for? OK, fine. He’ll never make you cry, say goodbye, tell a lie or hurt you…convinced yet?
    *Warning, I’m in sleep deprivation mode, so those of you who know what that means, brace yourself for some extra-special nutty nonsense!
    On a completely unrelated note, I really think that we should put an end to this silly “Chuck Norris is so tough…” nonsense and replace him with Charles Bronson. Charles Bronson was so badass that he’d kill you and bring you back to life just to kill you again. Don’t believe me? Watch all five “Death Wish” movies.
    Yes, I am aware that he’s dead. But his corpse could still kick Chuck Norris’ ass! Long live Charles Bronson!
    Okay, nutty sleep deprivation mode nutty nonsense moment over. For now…

  8. Today’s secret word is… molybdenum!* So you all know what to do when someone says the secret word, right?
    *Usually funnier in a lab.

  10. I never watched PeeWee Herman. I did catch Charo’s show in Hawaii in 1990. WOW she put on a great show. I had a table in front of the stage and her opening number HOT HOT HOT she came out and danced with the guys around the stage. She pulled me up and I danced behind her with my hands on her hips. I was looking down at her breasts, I didn’t see the photographer. upon leaving the show I was stopped and asked if I wanted to buy my picture with Charo. The photographer said “it was the best picture of the night because all the other guys looked up at him, I was looking where I should be looking” yes they are real and they are spectacular. LOL
    oh, I did buy two copies of the photo

  12. If you want to see a video that is REALLY funny go to hulu.com
    and type in MARAKA
    This is a short taken from Saturday Night Live.
    If you have kids or have ever seen three seconds of DORA you will laugh until tears are coming out of your eyes.

  13. I would curse you for getting the Connect the Dots! ditty stuck in my head, but mostly I’m tickled that hey! I’m not the only one who still sings that! 😀

  14. I can see parallels of Charo and Paul Reubens. Neither are appreciated as much as they ought to be. Charo’s real talent was rarely on display on TV. She is a phenomenal guitarist. But to promote herself, she chose her hootchy cootchie bit.

  16. My parents have what I would call an “R” rated version of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse on VHS somewhere in their vault. I believe that it was originally part of a comedy special that aired on HBO. I’m imagining that the show that you and Anne went to see was probably closer to that than the Saturday morning program, and if it was, I just know that it had to be hilarious.
    My Mom loved Pee-Wee’s Playhouse so much that she would sit there and watch it with me on Saturday mornings, she thought it was brilliant. Which it was, and I stand by that statement. She’s the one that turned me onto the show to begin with. I was outgrowing Saturday morning programs at the time and I walked in on her watching it one morning, hysterically laughing at it. After that, I made it a point to make sure that I was awake when it came on. I think my Mom was more upset than I was when they took the show off the air. I was in High School when the whole “scandal” went down and had stopped watching it by then, but I didn’t think any less of Paul Reubens, despite what my Borg Hive of a Catholic school was preaching down our throats. That show was one of the most imaginatively wonderful TV programs to ever grace Television ever.
    But getting back to the “R” rated version…I think I first saw it when I was about 12 or 13, basically when the show was still in its infancy, all I knew is that I saw a tape labeled “Pee-Wee Herman” and happily popped it into the VCR and was like “Whoa…where the hell did THIS episode come from?!” The only real memories that I have of it are when Miss Yvonne comes over to talk to Pee-Wee, you can distinctly see up her dress, courtesy of mirrors on the tops of Pee-Wee’s shoes, and another moment where he hypnotizes some lady in the audience into stripping down to her underwear. There were other “not intended for children” moments in it, as well, but the Playhouse totally ruled, and I’m glad to hear that it’s making a comeback.

  25. It’s like the best of two different parts of my childhood… Born in the early 70’s, I used to watch the variety shows with my mom and dad. I don’t remember Charo’s show, but I do remember her guest appearances on numerous shows (like the Love Boat).. I just remember getting to spend that time with my parents.. and then when I was older, Pee Wee Herman… I loved Pee Wee’s playhouse and ever missed an episode. Hard to believe that Laurence Fishburne was Cowboy Curtis and Phil Hartman was Captain Carl…

  28. Being English (and despite having an American husband) I, until 5 minutes ago, had no idea who Pee Wee Herman was / is. So I Youtubed him and got

    .. which left me somewhat bemused and rather amused!!! So actually I am more greatful for the introduction to Pee Wee Herman than Charo (though she is rather spectacular with the hair and the hips and the swaying!).
    Am off to find more Pee Wee Herman and grill my husband re him when he wakes up. And also, am I the only one who sees some resemblance to Sheldon in BBT?
    Also am reading ‘Just a Geek’ atm in the wee small hours whilst feeding my 2 week old baby. Am thoroughly enjoying it including the honesty, humour and soul bearing. Thank You!!

  29. Viva La Charo! OMG I can’t believe I used to watch this kind of stuff when I was a kid. The 70’s were so weird, in retrospect. And fabulous. But at the time it was just TV, y’know?
    And WTF is up with those images at the end. I didn’t see them as Parrots until I read the comments here. Was that the logo for her show? Creepy.

  32. Wil,
    I’m posting this here since I know not if Twitter is the proper vehicle for the question:
    Will you be Delving at PAX East?
    There is very little info regarding what will *actually take place* at the event (first con ever, btw) — and WotC hinted they will be there as well. I’m trying to make sure I sign up for the “good stuff” when I arrive.
    Yes, it’s still a month away, but I was hoping more info would be out by now.

  33. Is it bad of me to say that I watched those hips with the the sound off three times and… aaahhh… I’m done now?
    Yes, I think it is.

  35. Wil,
    I am glad to read that you had a great time at this show. To me, comedy is the hardest performing art. I will always have respect for these types of performers.
    I am now preparing, in Delaware, for a storm that may lead to record snow fall. All of us, on my collection firm job, are also preparing for not getting paid that day even if there are alot of vacation hours built. It is amazing how some people bring their politics to work with them and will use a storm as a reason to seize things like Castro or Stalin. I saw a kid endure this type of hate crime today, on the news. I, like him, will also survive. This is comedy to people like Stalin. This is also one of the many reasons that I think comedy is the hardest performing art.
    FG
    FG

  37. Well…um…
    Oh, hell, it was kinda cute. And it could’ve been worse — she could have sung it as a duet with Jim Nabors. Now that would have changed my life, and not for the better.

  38. I love Paul Rubens and am glad to see he’s still doing great stuff. I’m not sure how Charo and Jim Nabors end up in the same sentence, but I was expecting some sort of duet in that video–now THAT would have changed my life!

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