HBO Fest peaks tonight

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 18th, 2006

Comic Relief is on HBO this evening, featuring the one-named comics (Billy, Robin and Whoopie). The HBO website arrogantly says, “Everybody in comedy will be there; will you?” Well, we’re somebody in comedy and we’re not there.

In culling our worldly possessions (in anticipation of our move to a new dwelling in the next 100 days), we came across (and threw out) our Comic Relief 1987 T-shirt. It had shrunk to the size of a hand puppet. (Or one or both of us was the size of a hand puppet 21 years ago and it hasn’t shrunk at all!) We got it, if we recall correctly, for phoning in a donation during that year’s cablecast. Back then, the money went to hope the homeless. Back then, comics actually had extra scratch to kick in for helping the homeless– blissfully unaware that many of them would be teetering on the brink of homelessness a scant seven years later! Oh, the irony! (We exaggerate, of course, but exaggeration is but one of the many weapons in our comedy arsenal!)

One of the main reasons we aren’t physically in Vegas to observe firsthand the goings on is that The Female Half of the Staff has been sick as a dog for the past two months or so. And just about three weeks ago, she was diagnosed as having an ulcer and was also found to be suffering from acid reflux (which we like referring to with the much more whimsical-sounding “GERD!”), so after fulfilling her contractual comedy obligations this fall, she welcomed the few weeks of relative inactivity that our recent schedule has afforded her. (For perspective on TFMHOTS’ current tummy trouble, take a moment to read her March/April 2002 column entitled “From The Gut,” which pretty much certifies that this recent digestive problem has been with her longer than anyone realized!)

And this GERD phenomenon might be a little more widespread than anyone realizes. As evidence, we present the following citation from website Mother Tongue Annoyances:

Spend an hour at Blogger.com reading a few personal weblogs and it won’t be long before you read several comments that consist of the following statement, either entirely or in part:

OMG! I think I threw up a little in my mouth reading that!

This ultra-mega-super-duper-pooper-scooper-gag-inducing Internet cliché (c’mon, Tim, tell us how you really feel) is almost always enough for me to dismiss whatever the rest of what the commenter had to say and skip to the next comment, post, or weblog/Web site.

Coincidence? Who’s to say. We find it very suspicious to say the least.

SHECKYmagazine.com– Only we can go from Billy, Robin and Whoopi to homelessness to GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease to pop culture etymology in the space of one posting.

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