Wednesday, October 5, 2005 was another busy day to add to my bustling vacation on the West Coast. Jimmy and I had been up late the night before catching our appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and we were off to a running start that morning with much to do beginning with many stops to make. I had a twofold reason for wearing my nice purple shirt once again that day. I guess it never occurred to me to simply wear a white t-shirt and throw the dress shirt over it when it became necessary.
But I trudged through the very hot day – purple shirt and all – starting off that Wednesday morning at Jimmy’s office so I could photocopy the snipes on the back of the Steve Cox photos which we had scanned the previous night. There were some really cool pictures in the bunch, but I was glad to have them out of the way and be able to get them back to Steve in a timely fashion.
We then moved on to some of the locations from the Laurel and Hardy silent classic Big Business – first to the houses in Culver City and then to the main house in the Cheviot Hills area of Los Angeles that was destroyed in the film. It’s always great to see the magnificent location which was featured almost as a character in the legendary short and I had visited on each and every one of my five prior visits to California.
We then headed to the USC campus to scout some of the film locations from Hog Wild. This was the first time I had ever seen these locations – and they were much better than I had assumed they would be. Jimmy and I brought along some frame blow ups so we could make some first-time matches. What I remember best about this venture was sweating bullets in my long-sleeve shirt.
We also stopped by the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. I had already been there once that week to see Stan Laurel’s final resting place. This time we were meeting Steve Cox there so I could return those blasted photos. I also found the site of the pseudo Penn and Teller grave which serves as a punchline if you happen to force the three of clubs on an unsuspecting victim before going to Forest Lawn. I snapped the photo below with my camera and Jimmy snapped one with his digital camera – which would come in handy later on that week.
The first photo with the Penn & Teller ‘grave’ – or rather cenotaph
Then it was on to the first reason I was wearing that shirt – the taping of Dr. Phil at the Paramount Studios. Bob’s friend Michael had obtained the tickets for us. I was hoping for The Tonight Show – but this was the best he could do on short notice. (My chance for that taping would come during my next visit). But the cool thing was that he snagged us some V.I.P. passes so we bascially had the run of the studios. The bad thing was there wasn’t all that much to actually see other than the high school which had been used in some TV series such as Happy Days.
Dr. Phil reduces another guest to tears
The taping was fairly enjoyable in itself, but it was annoying to see so many middle-aged women fawning all over the doc as if he were Paul McCartney. The topic of the show was the effects that rumors and innuendo can have on people’s lives. One young girl confronted a classmate who had started rumors. Another lady whined that a rumor had been started that she was once a man. Both the teenager and the man-woman were sitting directly in front of us for the entire taping.
Jimmy and I can be seen on the right. I’m directly behind the he-woman (she-man?)
I’m on the far right, feigning enthusiasm by applauding
After the show, we were roaming around the lot with our V.I.P. passes when Dr. Phil came out surrounded by a ridiculously-large entourage and a security guard. This group walked him all of twenty-five feet from the studio to his dressing room. Although I couldn’t care less about Dr. Phil or getting an autograph, I certaily would have tried to get a photo with him for my Christmas newsletter if I thought it were feasible. But unfortunatley, he came across as a thoroughly pompous windbag that needed six people to protect him from the likes of Jimmy and me.
Following the taping of Dr. Phil, Jimmy and I headed over to The Magic Castle, my second reason for wearing a nice shirt. I had to add Big Jimmy’s suit jacket to it as well. This was my first time here and my friend Rick Greene was kind enough to use his membership to get us in. I enjoyed a great steak meal with Rick, Bob, and the entire Wiley clan. Rick took me around and showed me the W.C. Fields bar, Irma the magic piano, the Dante the Magician room, and the seance area (where Bob moved a book and nearly set off an alarm!).
Photographs were not permitted inside the castle, so this is the best I could do
We lined up for the first performance in the Palace of Mystery (the large theater) where the featured performers were the Pendragons – an amazing husband and wife duo. There they did the fastest version of a metamorphisis that I have ever seen (and they have been rewarded by the Guiness Book of World Records for the speed of the illusion). Quite a good show that combined capturing beads of light with a wand, a card trick with a sword (in which Bob was involved), linking two strangers’ wedding rings together, a floating impalement, passing one through the other (the interlude), and turning one of them into a tiger…and each other. I was amazed and delighted throughout the entire performance.
The next room was the Parlour of Prestidigation, in which there is always a mind-reading act. The one on this particular evening seemed rather lame after the great main show we had just seen. After this show Rick and Bob took off while the rest of us lined up for the Close-Up Gallery. As amazed as I had been by the Pendragons, I found this long-haired performer even more amazing. I have never been able to determine what his name was, but they announced him as having had recently won a Close-Up Magician of the Year award.
This small theater only seats twenty-two people, so there isn’t much room for a magician to be sneaky – but this guy was able to pull a live rabbit out of his hair, turn a dollar bill into a live butterfly, swallow a batch of needles and thread them in his stomach, and make silver dollars appear and disappear under his hands – all about two feet from where we were sitting!
Overall, a very busy day. I enjoyed the Magic Castle so much that I was sure to go back there the next time I ventured out west (as seen here). And I have hated Dr. Phil ever since.
The trip will continue with Disneyland…
I still like Dr. Phil, but I can vision he is just as you described him. I think he has let fame, money and power get to his head, but overall I still like watching his shows and hearing his point of view.
Did you know Penn (is he the one that does talk) is going to be on Dancing with the Stars this next time. I learned that from watching Oprah this past week.
Bev
February 24th, 2008