Mark, Matthew, Luke and John

From my father I inherited the Winter Blues, which is a euphemistic name now that I think about it. Every year, and it isn't always in winter either, I get slow and sad and just unable to do anything. It's quite inconvenient, and it always worries Will.

On Wednesday evening we combatted my latest attack of malaise by going to the ACME Comedy Theatre for a live performance of What's My Line?

OK, I pretty much wanted to go because two of the panelists were Wil Wheaton and Nellie Olson Alison Arngrim. But by midday I had decided that we oughtn't go, on account of the bank issues we've been having (which, by the way, are still not resolved!). But then I realized that the only way to shake my mood was to get myself out of the house. Will, being the Best Husband Ever, insisted that, despite his exhaustion from work, he wanted to do whatever I wanted to do. So he picked me up and we drove to the ACME (which is only two blocks from his office). We easily found street parking and bought our tickets. With time to spare we wandered into the restaurant next door to the theatre and I bought Will a beer. When the doors opened we found good seats. It's a small theatre with stadium seating, so any seat would have been a good seat. A young man played piano music on a nice keyboard, prompting Will to say that if he played an instrument he hoped he'd look as happy to just be playing music, and me to say that I would buy Will a Casio for Christmas (one of the ones with only 40 keys and the god-awful settings that make it sound not at all like other instruments). This later became a genius idea for Casio-treadmills, to learn piano and exercise simultaneously. I will make millions.

Then the show started. It is completely improv and follows the format of the television show pretty closely (as best I could tell, never having watched the show). The host, J. Keith van Staatan, worked well with the audience and was quite funny. The other panelists were Ann Magnuson, who is incredibly gorgeous and a nice throw-back to Old Hollywood, and Andy Zax, who is less annoying than I believed him to be from the few times I watched Beat The Geeks. The guests were Conny [something], the Registrar-Recorder; A trio of chimney sweeps; Richard Sherman; and Jose Conseco. Richard Sherman told stories about Walt Disney, and came down to play "Chim Chim Cheree," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and "It's A Small World," which he encouraged everyone to sing along with. (Most folks sang along with "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" too, and yes, I have typed that out each time.)

Wil Wheaton is my favorite celebrity. Not because of his work, specifically, but because he is such a real person. When Richard Sherman was revealed, his jaw dropped open, and while he was playing the songs I could tell that Wil was near tears from happiness. And the look on his face when he took off his blindfold and saw Jose Conseco...I can't describe it. Hero worship obviously came into play, but it weas just this look of disbelief at being so very lucky. I know just how he feels.

And I think I've beat back the Winter Blues for a while.