So where did we leave off...

Oh yes. Paul Reubens, aka PeeWee Herman, asked for my autograph and email address, after we met super briefly at a DVD signing on sunday. I obliged, not being sure whether or not anything would come of it.

Well he emailed me the following morning, asking if I was interested in going to the tribute to Paul Reubens in San Francisco that night, as well as the following after-party. I said yes, and called his office as he suggested.

The lady at the office was expecting my call (which was totally surreal) and took down my name +1 for the show and the backstage list.

Later that day, a coworker who I had been relating the story to came up to me and told me Pee Wee Herman was on the phone for me. After giving him some shit for ribbing me, I realized he wasn't joking. I took the call, and Paul and I talked for about 10 minutes, about the logistics of that night.

Meghan K-T and I headed for San Francisco about 7pm and made it to the show right on time. This is where the weird VIP treatment that I'm not used to starts.

There were front row tickets waiting for Eliot Cirivello +1 at will call. Yay :)

We saw the tribute, which as actually pretty good, considering. The interviewer seemed kinda full of himself, but that aside, it was very insightful and enjoyable.

What I have found consistently interesting about listening to Paul Reubens (post peewee) speak, is that he has to know that one stupid Tequila Dance or 'Haw Haw' would get such a huge cheap pop from his audience, yet he resists it. I don't think it's a rejection of that which made him famous, like the whole "Capt. Kirk - William Shatner" thing. I just think that he tries to stay real. And that's really the moral of the story, and the best thing I can say about my new friend Paul. He's real.

Anyway, after the show, we pushed past the hordes of people rushing the stage to to the back. I was on this list as well. "Eliot Cirivello" Another giddy little pop. That's two in the cool category.

We got back stage and met some of Paul's friends, including the old manager of the Pizzeria he used to work for as a young man. When I walked in the dressing room, he looked over and said  "Hey, you made it." Which is awesome. Paul was expecting me. So yeah, we hung out with Paul Reubens in his dressing room for a while. We all talked about how we were gonna get to the party at Amante, which is a little bar in North Beach (Little Italy). Paul offered to have us caravan, following his car, which we did.

We all exited out the back door, which was pretty cool, cause when Paul walked out, he had us in tow, and there were people out there waiting. We just got stand there and revel in the 'we're with him' moment.

We got in our car, and pulled around behind his car. We followed it over to Amante and parked. We were, once again, on the VIP list for the club. Cool Pop #3. We got into the club, and were directed by our new friend Zachar to the table we were sitting it, which was the big reserved booth in the corner. So here we were, at the reception, sitting at the reserve table with Paul. We ate and drank, and talked a lot.

While eating I asked Paul, "So man, why me?" his response? "Why Not." He said it's a biz where you dont get to meet a lot of people, so when he sees someone that would be cool talk a bit more with, or hang out with, he tries to get in touch with them. He's got a kind of people radar he's learned to trust over the years. I walked through the line at Amoeba, and afterwards he said to himself "The odds are good I won't be seeing that person again, I should have talked to him for just a few minutes more." Except, I hadn't gone anywhere. I was still standing there waiting for my friends. So he sent his dude over to get my info so we could hang out while he was still in the city.

After a while, we took off from the party. Got pictures with paul, and said good bye. Walked Paul to the car, said our Goodbyes, and we were on our way.

About halfway around the block, Zachar caught up with us and suggested we come hang out for a while back at the hotel. Another pop.

We got into Paul's Limo, and they drove us back to our car. In the car, I got to mention to Paul how watching the PeeWee christmas special with my dad at 2am this year was a really fun and special memory for me. He mentioned that he was really proud of that special. We talked about Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cher, Whoopi, and KD Lang. It was good times. Then we got dropped off at our car.

We drove back to the Omni Hotel, our car was valeted on Paul's bill, and  we went up to the room, one of the big suites, and sat around shooting the shit. We were there for like two hours, just talking about whatever. Music, Movies, Disney, etc. We talked very briefly about the 2 Pee-Wee Scripts, and other things. It was totally chill. Just the five of us, hanging out in a 16th floor SF suite. Near the end of the night, I noticed there was a small handwritten note on the table in the Suite.

It was really intense, seeing that Paul had taken the time to write down a note to remind himself that i was going to be at the show that night.

And that was pretty much it. There is one more detail, but I'll tell you that little thing individually. Be sure to ask me. I’d just rather not have it in writing.

Anyway, Paul Reubens is an awesome guy. All and all, we were hanging out with him for like 6 hours, and It was a really killer night. Totally relaxed, lots of fun conversations and stuff, and just really kicking it with someone who used to be a funky childhood memory, is now a friend.

Whenever I watch the playhouse, I can point to it's proprietor, PeeWee Herman, and say, "That's my friend."

That's my friend in that funky grey suit.

-Etcee