One of the coolest things about this road-trip-adventure-honeymoon-nomadic-lifestyle is the opportunity to see entertainment that we normally wouldn’t get to see. Yes, living in Houston, one of the biggest cities in the country, most of the international mega-acts make their way through town.
But, the tickets are expensive, and they’re often played in huge arenas that provide inferior views to just watching a bootleg recording on YouTube. There are also many acts that don’t make it to Houston, because they’re based specifically in one city, or tour mostly regional.
One big one that we’re hoping to tick off our lists is musician Charlie Parr – a cult favorite of the midwestern roots scene – who I’ve spent 122 hours listening to, according to Spotify.
Some acts, like Charlie, we’ve got on our list. Others catch us by surprise.
The summer is festival season in Montreal, and after the conclusion of the Jazz Festival, where we discovered Urban Science (again, only would’ve seen them in Montreal), and the Circus Festival, it’s now time for the massive comedy Just For Laughs Festival. The lineup for this festival is unreal – Dave Chappelle, Jeff Dunham, Will Forte, Trevor Noah, Howie Mandel, Ken Jeong, Garfunkel & Oates, Jim Breuer, Michael Ian Black, my friend Hannah’s favorite Cameron Esposito, and literally hundreds of other comedians descend upon the city every year for a lineup that dwarfs anything you’ve ever seen in New York City.
As we were looking for a good act to see, I became overwhelmed (and needed to get back to work), so I dumped the duties of choosing a show onto @Janna. And she delivered.
One of our all-time favorites, Piff! The Magic Dragon, has a standalone show on Saturday, July 28th at the National Monument Theater – one of the city’s oldest performance venues.
For anyone who doesn’t know Piff, he’s an alum of the 2015 season of America’s Got Talent. His character is that of an asshole talking dragon that does something resembling magic.
He’s a show-in-residence at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, and is currently doing a tour – that doesn’t come through Houston.
There are some frustrations on our trip, and some frustrating things that have happened since we left that have nothing to do with the trip. But it’s these moments of serendipity that remind me of the opportunities this trip is creating, and why it’s so worth it.