Pauly Shore is not dead.
Nor is his career, considering he packed the Lake Norman Comedy Zone in the Galway Hooker last Tuesday.
Random fun fact: CL editor Carlton Hargro opened up for Pauly Shore back in the day at Ball State University ... or Testicle Tech, whatever you want to call it.
I wish Carlton had been there, too, because one of the openers was more annoying than funny. The pasty good ol' boy went off and asked, "Where my black people at?" (WTF?) Only one person shouted, and it just so happened to be Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams.
And then Pauly Shore got on stage with the salutation, "Hello, white people! NASCAR up in here!" I'm colorblind so I didn't notice, let alone care. But what difference does it make?
The next night, I was at the tip-off party for the CIAA tournament. And although about 20 parties coined themselves the CIAA tip-off party, Pop Life at Prevue was in fact the tip-off for the mini-All-Star weekend in Charlotte. There were so many parties, even Discovery Place and the Convention Center were bumping. So, after Pauly Shore failed to amuse me with his intro, he then proceeded to make fun of me. That's not hard to do, but he sentenced me to the stage and called me out for writing in my moleskin note pad that I take with me everywhere -- it's my favorite accessory. Next thing I know, I'm getting interviewed.
"Where you from?" "Virginia." "Virginia, huh? How'd you get from Virginia to Lake Norman?" "Drove!"
I am such a smartass. He kicked me off the stage, claiming he was the comedian. OK, so maybe Pauly Shore's career is dead. Oh, but he has a sketch comedy movie out on Showtime.
You know what else is on Showtime? The L Word. It's like the lesbian Sex and the City. And you can go to the Season Five L Word viewing parties at the Wine-Up in NoDa to watch it every Sunday until the finale. Thirty to 40 women regularly attend, many of whom are dating. Razz Berry passes out chocolate-covered fruits and you can order a Sweet Bitch Martini to wash them down.
From NASCAR to CIAA to lesbian congregations, there's an array of diverse subcultures within Charlotte. Different strokes for different folks, right? But this is why Charlotte is such an enriching place to live. Embrace the differences, because open minds lead to open doors. I managed to enjoy myself and meet new people at all three events, but this is coming from a girl who can make a trip to the DMV exciting.