As I stood in line outside the UCB Theatre one of the gentlemen behind me began to recount a story about GZA from the Wu Tang Clan . Apparently, this gentleman had once sold weed to GZA, but somehow GZA didn’t remember him years later when their paths crossed at a party. After the two mile trek from school, I was hot, sweaty, and wasn’t in the best mood. I wanted to turn around a say, “What? GZA didn’t remember you? How’s that possible? Surely, you’re the only suburban white kid GZA has ever gotten a bag of weed off of after a show.” I refrained, and spent the next 30 minutes listening to him and his friend discuss celebrities they had met at parties.
Upon entering the theatre, I took a seat on the stage. The two gentlemen who were behind me in line, sat on the other side of the stage. During the first comedian’s set, I noticed the one who sold weed to GZA kept shaking his head. It wasn’t a playful, That’s So Raven type shake, as if to say “Oh no you didn’t”. It was aggressive and moved it in a manner that conveyed disgust and complete disapproval, as if to say, “No! No! No! I do not like it!” I also noticed that he didn’t laugh. I watched him, trying to figure out what was going on. His head indicated that he hated what was going on, but the rest of his body language said he was having a great time. Eventually I realized that he didn’t laugh because his laughter had been replaced by shaking his head side to side.
The contrast of it all is amazing. He likes something, thinks it’s funny, agrees with it, yet he shakes his head in a manner that universally means “No” or “I don’t approve”. Even a child could see the contradiction, after all it is non verbal nuances such as shaking ones head up and down or left and right that children first use to communicate choice and likes/dislikes. I wonder if he shakes his head approvingly when he comes across something he hates.
I continued to watch him and discovered that when he really liked a joke, he would thump his chest with his fist 7 or 8 times. His friend’s peculiar body language began to perk my interest as well. He sat on the edge of his seat with the palms of his hands on his knees, elbows extending to the side, staring intently at whoever had the microphone. Imagine a guy sitting in a chair just waiting for the right moment to pop up and beat someone’s ass. He looked pissed, but I don’t think he was. He laughed, commented on jokes to his friend. In fact, he was very vocal. After a joke about Ed Hardy shirts being lame, he shouted out, “Fuck Ed Hardy”. During another comedian’s set (yes, the comedian was telling jokes, and he interjected during a pause) he asked the comedian if he ever watches rap battles. Watches rap battles? Apparently, this guy’s friend is going to be in a rap battle, and this gentlemen felt the need to share this with everyone in the theatre.
As I walked home from the show, I developed my theory as to what was wrong with the two gentlemen. The gentleman who sold weed to GZA has a body and brain that work independently from each other. They have been at war for years. If the brain says stand, the body sits. If the body says go, the brain says sleep. If the brain says laugh, the body shakes it’s head. The other gentleman has a disease that makes him think that when people talk into a microphone they are speaking directly to him and expect him to respond. These theories are pretty good but my best theory is that there’s something wrong with me for putting so much thought into the behavior of two strangers.
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