Some friends invited us to the screening of a new movie at a theater on the Fox Studios lot. I had not been on that lot for close to ten years.
As we rolled through the studio gates, I recalled the last time I had found myself at precisely the same spot.
I was coming for a meeting, and had stopped for the standard “check-in”, and “security” procedures. As a guard rummaged through my unthreatening trunk, another guard, a middle-aged female, greeted me with an effusive smile.
The moment she glanced at my Driver’s License, however, her smile immediately evaporated.
“Is there something wrong?” I inquired, somewhat nervously.
“I’m sorry,” replied the guard. “I thought you were someone else.”
“Oh, yeah? Who?”
“I thought you were that comedian. Adam Shandling.”
And there you have it. I had just been mistaken for another person. Two people, actually, as the lady guard apparently believed that the two comedians – and I, it must be assumed – all look alike.
Dark and curly. The Composite Jew.
This encounter can easily be looked at as a putdown. I had been confused with someone (two people, though the guard had conflated them into one) she unequivocally liked better. There are also intimations of ethnic funnyman stereotyping.
And yet, it’s an enjoyable memory. For two reasons:
One,
It’s a wonderful story.
And two,
I was still working then.
As you can see from my profile picture, I'm sometimes confused with my dog. At least you were confused with people. And funny people at that!
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Pomerantz; you must have heard of Chekov's Gun! What was the movie you previewed, and how did you like it? That was the thing I was expecting to find out by the end of your post. I guess, maybe, I'll find out next week.
ReplyDelete-z