Free Tickets if you can get to SF this weekend!
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Hastings Class of '75 Message Board ]
Posted by Alan Fine on August 29, 19100 at 01:21:53:
I'm planning a mini-Hastings reunion in San Francisco this weekend, September 2nd, and I hope people can attend. (Shit, I hope I can attend.)
I want to offer any Hastings Alums in the San Francisco area the opportunity to see Ringling Brothers circus with your families at 7:30 pm this Saturday night at the Cow Palace for free. (www.ringling.com)
Jon Weis, a clown and acrobat headliner who performs throughout and closes the show as the world's first "Clown 'n Ball" (yes, he gets fired out of the cannon at the end) has graciously offered complementary tickets to all of my friends and their families. I'm assuming he can get a good number of tickets as he IS one of the stars, but we can't be greedy. Depending on how many he can get -- and how many people RSVP, we can split the cost of any overage, bringing the expenditure down considerably. Ticket prices are ordinarily anywhere from $11 to $50. (These may be worth $35 or $50!)
How I know Jon is a funny story. Years ago, I wanted to write a screenplay called "Big Top Cop" about a detective who has to go undercover in a circus. The character hates circuses and clowns, but has to "buddy up" with a clown to solve a series of murders. I was working at Universal Studios at the time and used my clout to get free tickets and to go backstage to speak to the circus folk for research. Luck was with me, for I was introduced to Jon.
At the time Jon was a clown (second in command under the "Boss Clown") and part of the world's first two-man cannonball stunt during the finale. Jon asked me if I wanted to REALLY do the research for my script and offered to sneak me into the circus as a clown to see EXACTLY what it would be like to BE my character. Well, I jumped at the chance, chose San Francisco and the Cow Palace as my debut, and absorbed a semester of Clown College while pulling an all-nighter with him, (he was a clown "Henry Higgins" to my "Eliza Doolittle"). I then performed in seven shows with him and the other clowns, was wired with a tape recorder, and no one ever learned my true identity. The script I wrote was eventually optioned by Pachyderm Entertainment, ironically a subsidiary of Ringling Brothers itself. Neither Pachyderm, nor Ringling, ever knew I infiltrated their own circus to get the realism they so loved. (Unfortunately, the script was never produced, but Pachyderm bought ANOTHER script of mine and the video of me undercover is priceless.)
Now, I personally may -- or may -- be able to make it up this weekend, but Jon's invitation was truly a gesture of friendship as it is not restricted by me being present.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BY EMAIL OR PHONE IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, AND HOW MANY TICKETS YOU WOULD WANT.
Alan
818-216-3321 mobile
PS. I'm also emailing this message to all SF residents.