[CR]The comedians around us!

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From: <"brianbaylis@juno.com">
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 19:11:18 GMT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]The comedians around us!

Greetings,

I have to say that meeting other framebuilders, especially from other countries, is really spacial. Every one of us is unique (to say the least), and yet we have this common bond that connects us to both ourselves and to you people out there. The thing that the Cirque provides that nothing else can, is it brings us together face to face. So when I have an opportunity to get to know everyone better, the things that happen, the common interests that come up, all the life stories and other praddle, and the one liners; these will be fond memories for the rest of our lives. It is magic that so many talented framebuilders and painters attend this event. Some come for business. Some come for pleasure. For me it is a vacation, but amongst people with whom I do business with. This in itself is a little bit unusual. I normally come in wound pretty tight, as maybe one or two persons experienced when I first arrived. But as I spend time there and begin to relax; I soon become refreshed and inspired anew to continue my work. We're in an honorable profession. People (at least a few in the world) appreciate what we do and that which inspired us to do what we do.

It was wonderful to meet Mike Barry and his wife and to see his work and some of his collection. We didn't have much time together, but his gentle nature and excellent work speaks for itself. His passion is obvious, and that is as it should be; in all of us.

I had a little more time with Darrell McColloch (sp?) from OZ. Kirk Pacenti and Dazza were kind of paired up, as were Bruce Gordon and Ed Litton. We had some dinners and breakfasts together, which is one of the best times to get to know one another. We talk about music, hobbies, life experiences, a tad about framebuilding, and a VERY tiny drop of gossip. My favorite part is the humor. Joke shareing, theme jokes (jokes of the moment that keep popping up throughout the meeting or even the entire Cirque), and the priceless you-had-to-be-there one-liners. I found Darrell both highly skilled and delightfully intellegent and funny. I hope he makes it back soon. I know it's quite a trip.

I didn't get to spend much time with Doug Fattic. He was a bit under the weather this weekend. I did however have plenty of time to get to know him better in Houston. (More priceless moments.) I'm sure we'll see him back next year, right Doug?

But without a doubt, for me, the headliner was the "Eddie and Bruce Show". None of us had any idea what we were in for. I had only briefly spent time with Bruce and Ed at VR and at the Ledgends of Framebuilding event in San Francisco. Marvelous times by the way; but this performance may never be topped. I'm serious. First of all, it started so subtlely that Pergs, Maurice, and myself didn't even know the curtain had gone up. I believe the first act started sometime Friday afternoon at the "Garden Party", possibly fueled by the ingestion of some alcoholic beverages. Bruce and I became new best friends sometime during that rarified afternoon of checking out Dale's extensive collection of "stuff" and hobb-knobbing with everyone before dinner. We arrived on the tale end of the dinner crowd and Maurice and I sat with Oscar and Felix. No one in that huge room could possibly have had a funnier evening at their table. About halfway through the meal I noticed the "routine" they were running. Ed and Bruce were playing the part of an old married couple, and I mean EXACTLY, and so craftily that we didn't notice until mid meal. Martin and Lewis pale in comparison to this pair. Ed plays the straight man (Ollie, Felix, Gleason, Rowan, Dean Martin, etc.) and Bruce (Stanley, Oscar, Norton, Martin, and Lewis) slings out the jokes as Ed sets them up. Once we noticed and mentioned it, they turned it up to "11". Maurice and I were rolling on the floor by the time the shebang was over. They kept it up at the ice cream parlor and on into the night. I didn't hit the sack until 2:30am that night. Actually, these two are so good I'd say that could be the Marx Brothers and only with the two of them. Ed plays Zeppo and Chico, Bruce plays Harpo and Groucho. I can deffinitely picture Bruce with a cigar as he askes "Wanna buy a Duck!?" (Ed plays George Fennimen in that routine.)

I don't know about this. My "Bruce Gordon was rude to me" button is probably obsolete. I've got a movement afoot to produce the 2005 version. "I was AMUSED by Bruce Gordon". Look for them in your Cracker Jacks soon. We may cut a deal with the Froot Loops people also! Maybe it's time for an Image change, buddy? I feel a disturbance in the Force!

Anyway, this only got funnier as the weekend progressed. Once I recognized Ed as the straight man, I was awed by his genius. Bruce is good, but Ed is brilliant. I REALLY had a blast with you guys. We'll have to do this again sometime. We all heard each others life stories and how we go into this insare business in the first place. You really can't put a price on finding out what rare exotic frame bit you have been looking for that the other bloke has a bucket full of. We even had a really funny "discussion" as to whether a particular fork crown was Nervex or Vagner. Bruce asked me to settle a little lovers spat over the issue. My vote brought it to 2 to 1 in favor of Bruce. Ed was not satisfied. We asked a few other builders and Hilary Stone, and still we were deadlocked, even though the tally was still one up for "us". Ultimately we ended up useing Jeff Groman's cell phone to call Roland Della Santa in Reno for and answer, and more importantly a line on the crowns in question. Roland and I talked on the phone for several minutes, since it was only 9:30pm where he was and I was the only one not useing water bottles as wine glasses. Another priceless evening. Ed got funnier as the evening progressed. This was the night of the auction and for this portion of the show Ed was playing "contrarian". It took a while for me to suss because it's difficult to see the twinkle in Ed's eye behind his glasses. Oh yeah, and his eyes were squinting more as the water bottle became more air and less liquid. He asked me for a review of his performance the following morning, since apparently he wasn't all that sure himself. He was exceptional and in complete control. I actually wouldn't be surprised if he was just doing his Foster Brooks imitations (the "drunk" comedian on Laugh-in, for those who don't remember), but I believe the wine was genuine.

I think I made it to bed around 1:30am that evening. Crazy.

If I have time, I'll write more later. Now that I'm all refreshed and relaxed, I can start in catching up on stuff effected by my going to the Cirque. There's a lot of it.

Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Bring your sense of humor to the Cirque. There's always plenty of other time to be serious.

This year we all had the pleasure