High Flying Comedy

I am the first to admit that I am old beyond my years. I knit (sometimes). I think the perfect weekend involves staying at home and getting all my affairs in order (and affairs means errands and cleaning, not the many men who vie for my attention, because lord knows I can barely keep the one in order), and I have a very strict bedtime of 10pm.

I am useless after 10, and even moreso the next day if I fail to get my 8 hours of sleep. And yet, the past two nights have found me up until 11pm. 11PM! Do you hear that? I am barely able to function because I went to bed at 11pm....two nights in a row. If you haven't fallen over, carried by the shear force of your eyeroll, then I applaud you.

It started Monday night. I had been told that this was a Castle episode not to be missed.

(Don't you just want to pinch his wittle cheeks? I know I do. And I don't necessarily mean the ones beside his nose.)

Now, for those of you doing the math....Castle airs at 10pm. Which is past the aforementioned bedtime. So Thatboy and I usually tape it and catch up on Tuesday night while I'm making dinner. Except, we had a problem. I wasn't going to be making dinner on Tuesday night because we wouldn't be home. And we have so many shows on DVR that who knows when we'd get to it. So we decided to stay up and watch.

And then dragged ourselves to work the next morning. I even offered to drive Thatboy in so he could catch a couple more minutes of sleep. And then last night I picked him up from work and scooted us over to The Old Globe so we could see Boeing Boeing.

I've wanted to see Boeing Boeing since 2008 when I caught a glimpse watching the Tony awards. And of course, the fact that it was nominated in almost every category and won two didn't hurt its appeal. I love love love old farces. There's just something about the old storylines that still feel fresher and more novel than many modern comedies.

Just in case you haven't heard of Boeing Boeing, I'll break it down a bit for you.

Let me introduce you to Bernard.

Okay, so maybe this isn't really Bernard. Maybe it's Tony Curtis. But maybe Tony Curtis played Bernard in the film version of Boeing Boeing. And maybe picturing Tony Curtis will help to impress upon you that Bernard is suave and smooth and quite the playboy. And maybe some of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out WHO THE HECK TONY CURTIS is. Shame on you! Shame. Shame. Shame.

Bernard lives in Paris. And Bernard is engaged to three women. Yes. You read that right. It's like the French version of Big Love. Except not. Because you see, none of these women know about any of the others. "How is this even possible?" you may ask. Well, according to Bernard - it's easy, because each of the women is an "air hostess." (That's 1960s speak for flight attendant)

First there's Gloria. The American. Who believes that the best way to spend an evening is by practicing the technique of kissing.

Then there's Gabriella. The Italian. Who can't wait to be married to Bernard because he's such a homebody, he'll be the perfect husband.

And finally, there's Gretchen. The German. Firey and passionate and patriotic.

Bernard has the whole thing worked out to a system. None of the women are ever in town at the same time because they have different TIMETABLES! (Which is 1960s speak for a directory of flights which never ever ever change)

The play takes place on a day when Bernard's long lost best friend from school, Robert, shows up at his apartment.

Jerry Lewis played Robert in the film version with our boy Tony. And look what he looked like back then. Not the goofy sidekick we think of. And yet....you'll NEVER guess what Robert's whole role in this is. So I want you to imagine bumbling, prat-falling, spit-taking Jerry Lewis every time I mention Robert. Or any time I mention bumbling, prat-falling, or spit-taking.

So, wouldn't you guess it. On the very day Robert shows up, chaos erupts in Bernard's normally organized life. First Gloria's plane gets grounded due to the weather. Then Gabriella gets moved to a faster plane, meaning she can stay the night instead of just a couple hours. And Gretchen? Well her plane gets in early and she has 3 DAYS to spend with Bernard. Do you see where all this is heading?

(Macaulay Culkin was neither in the film nor stage production of Boeing Boeing - but his sentiments accurately describe the situation)

And hilarity ensues as Bernard and Robert attempt to juggle the women around the apartment so that they don't realize what's going on. Thatboy and I couldn't stop laughing. The physical comedy was SO over the top it went from being ridiculous to funny. Even the overacting in a couple of the scenes which would normally have me giving it a critical eye just became more of the fun absurdness of the situation. The writing was fun, quick, and sharp. There were parts where I was literally bent over double laughing. Thatboy enjoyed it more than he thought he would and we discussed that we really don't go to see comedic plays as often as we should. Or maybe they just don't make them the way they used to.

Since I didn't make dinner last night, I'm going to plea extreme fatigue and bring something for you from the archives. BUT there is a connection between Boeing Boeing and this dish. You see, Gloria, the American, has some very unusual eating habits. Given that the original play was written by the French, I'm inclined to believe they were poking fun of the American diet. (Mon Dieu! Peut-il être?) In one of the scenes, Gloria fixes herself up a late night dinner of frankfurters and whipped cream. Now I don't know about you, but this American doesn't think that sounds like a fabulous meal. I much prefer to pair my frankfurters with something like....BACON!

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

4 sausage links, cut into slices (This time around I used little smokies since I had been sticking them in our lunches and had some leftover)

4 slices of bacon

brown sugar

1) Preheat oven to 400. Place bacon and sausages on a skewer - weaving bacon in between sausage pieces.

2) Place bacon/sausage skewers on a lightly greased baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 30 minutes or until bacon is crisp.