Going it Alone

While it’s great to have city newbies to show around (or feel like you’re showing around), one can’t always be so lucky to have enthusiastic whipper snappers at hand. Despite the lack of guaranteed company in the city, I can guarantee there is something fun, new and interesting to do. Sometimes opportunities to experience cool things come up, but people don’t.

Most people would just throw in the towel, “Nah. That’s ok. I don’t really want to go alone.” The next time this happens, go alone. Trust me.

In a bout of good luck, I was offered four pairs of complimentary tickets in five days. The first of these five days, I was lucky enough to find friends to attend the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Dress Rehearsal—yes, they did have to stop the performance, and, yes, it was both funny and entertaining. (The addition of the 3D game this year definitely added some pizzazz.)

Wednesday I was offered two tickets to see Shemekia Copeland at Jazz at Lincoln Center Thursday night. I said yes, assuming that I could find someone to go with in the subsequent 24 hours. Note: I had never heard of this woman prior, but did a bit of research. She's the real deal.

As it turns out, after Spectacular Day One, everyone in my phone book seemed to have disappeared or suddenly become extremely popular.

While I could have easily gone home Thursday night and gotten some sleep, defeated by my alone-ness, I thought to myself “How many chances do you get to go to JALC for free? And to see a woman currently dubbed the Queen of the Blues no less?” The next thing I heard was “59th Street Columbus Circle, next stop 66th St” and I dashed out of the subway to the box office to claim one of the two tickets under my name.

My favorite tune of the night was her "Wild Wild Woman." Girl can sing. The song also reeks of pride and sass. She's totally proud of who she is and doesn't apologize for it. Ladies, take note.

Her band was feelin it on this chart, too—Arthur Neilson and Willie Scandlyn on Guitar, Kevin Jenkins on bass and Morris Roberts on drums. And I started feelin during the audience participation in "Who Stole My Radio." It turns out, you don't need someone else in order to enjoy a concert. I think it appropriate that I enjoyed the blues alone.

This particular weekend also happened to be the New York Comedy Festival. I’m a huge fan of laughter. In fact, one of my favorite songs as a kid (and maybe still) is “I Love to Laugh” from Mary Poppins. I just thought it was the greatest idea, that every time you laughed you would float up to the ceiling! I even translated the song to Spanish the day I learned the verb “to laugh.” In New York, the price of laughter is usually high, so free tickets to the NYCF were a must-take.

Saturday night I got tickets to see Bill Maher. I’d never seen his show on HBO, but everyone said he’s hysterical. I watched a YouTube video of him. Politics, religion. Very Daily Show but with a bit more contempt in his voice. Unsure that I would be well-informed enough to follow his humor and unsure that I would be secure enough to laugh with him as he poked at religion, I decided “Why not?” He’s supposed to be great, so let’s do it.

Only when I said "let’s" I apparently meant I’ll do it. Once again, I couldn’t find someone to join me. So I gave the extra ticket to a woman who was standing outside with a sad sign declaring “I only need one ticket.” We climbed the gilded stairs to the mezzanine of the Beacon Theatre.

I was super-bummed to be there practically alone, not counting my new random companion. It’s one thing to go to a concert by yourself and listen to some music. It’s another to laugh by yourself. But as soon as the show started, I realized that the only perk of going with someone to a comedy show is that you can recount the jokes together after. While you’re there, you’re just laughing at a guy with a mic in his hand.

So I laughed with the people behind me who were CLEARLY enjoying themselves. In fact, I thanked them afterwards for being my surrogate comedy buddy and they were so excited that they made me feel part of a group. They were having a great time, eating it up. I felt just like a wave in the sea of people laughing at Bill Maher and the state of American politics. Because sometimes all you can do is laugh and hope you float to the ceiling.

Night five I had tickets to see Russell Peters at Caroline’s. This time, I was sent for work since I was blogging about the night. Now experienced in attending a comedy show solo, I was looking forward to this. Peters was hilarious and so were the guys before him. For the second night in a row, I had a fabulous time even though I was by myself, sharing it with strangers rather than a close friend.

Of course, I love experiencing the city with friends new and old, New Yorkers and out-of-towners. But it doesn’t always work that way. There will be times when you get tickets to a raved-about show or passes to a famous comedian’s performance and no one you know can sit beside you. Venture out on your own. Spend some time with yourself.

My whirlwind blast of a weekend is proof: It is always better to experience alone than not experience at all.