New York Trip, Part 2: That's entertainment

On May 29, I arrived in New York without incident, having relied successfully on New Jersey Transit to get me from Newark to Manhattan. There are three things I vowed to do in Manhattan: Eat a slice at Ray's, get my hair cut at the Astor Place Barber Shop and eat a knish. I got the first two done Thursday afternoon, as I walked from West Chelsea over to Astor Place and then back by the bust along 14th Street. Ray's -- the one Jon Favreau obsesses over in "Elf" and "Iron Man" -- is on Sixth and 11th, and the cheese never disappoints. As for Astor Place, I had a fine conversation with a barber whom I didn't really understand (thick accent), but we talked about how I used to get my hair cut there in the 1980s, and I got the best $14 haircut in Manhattan (very short, BTW).

So with my legs rubbery but my spirits high, I returned to my friends Elissa and Alec's condo. Alec, arriving home from work, hinted that he had plans for us that evening, and after he accomplised some business, we hustled through streets and driveways up to the Upright Citizens Brigade theater on 26th Street. Alec walks a great deal faster than I do, so I found myself trailing behind. Yet we managed to take our seats in the theater just moments before the show started. Looking around, I noticted that I was the oldest person in the audience -- a not altogether bad feeling.

So I had no idea what I was going to see. That's the beauty of New York: There's a surprise on every corner. This particular surprise came in two waves: "She Tried to be Normal" and Pangea 3000. The first title was a one-woman show featuring a rising comedian and actress named Lennon Parham, who presented a series of sketches framed by a late-night DJ routine. Her timing was impeccable, and she managed to make fun of people from the South (where I live) and people over 40 (which I am). I was a particular fan of her sketch featuring a student obsessing over a NYU professor and a drunken dance teacher locked in the age of "Solid Gold." I'm really looking forward to seeing her again.

After a pause, we were treated to sketches by Pangea 3000, a group of energetic young men whose best sketches involved a doctor eating a chicken parm sandwich while a family dealt with the terminal cancer of their child; a song-and-dance routine spoofing Branson acts; and a spelling bee where the "words" were the sounds of passing gas. The front row was taken up almost entirely of young women, who seemed to be fans of the ensemble. Nothing wrong with that.

So a haircut, a slice, sketch comedy and good friends -- a great day, and all things I miss about NYC.