After Today, I Need Charles Pierce as Mae West! STAT!

Today has been a difficult and slightly depressing day, and I need a laugh.

I started the morning with a performance of ALADDIN...

...which wasn't bad, but I don't think that painting your face blue, pulling around a carpet stapled to a wheeled platform and pretending that it's "flying," and singing any note above Bea Arthur's range any time before noon is quite what Thespis had in mind when he stepped from the chorus and created "theatre"...

...If he'd known that this was where it was going, he'd have stayed in the chorus. Trust me...

...and after the play, I went to my office and discovered that my computer wouldn't - - not couldn't, but wouldn't - - access the internet. I tried all the standard techniques / tricks to fix the problem but nothing would work, so instead of making a dent in my To Do List, I played "Uneducated, Redneck I.T. Guy." With myself. It wasn't fun. At all.

And right before I left work, my mother called to tell me that her employer has changed health insurance policies and under the new policy, she will no longer have a co-pay, but she will have a $2,000 deductible. My mother's salary is very small, so this was too much for her. My brother and I will do everything we can to help her with expenses, but my mother's initial response was that she would no longer see her doctor. At all.

My mother is diabetic. Not seeing a doctor regular checkups is simply not an option. This new insurance policy is basically destroying her spirit, her health and the last of what was left of her "job satisfaction."

And hearing my mother so upset preys on my guilt. My guilt for not living near my family, for not being nearby to see her on a more regular basis, for leaving town and pursuing my goals, my life. Needless to say, after I spoke with my mother, I was depressed.

Thankfully, I had a meeting with Karen Bronson and Doug, Mark and Debbie to rehearse their upcoming Season of Concern cabaret benefit.

Seeing them, laughing with them and singing with them make me feel so much better.

And after discussing this clip with Karen on the ride back home, I felt it the perfect way for me to laugh my way out of a difficult day.

I've talked about Charles Pierce before when I posted the videos of his brilliant Bette Davis impersonation, and these clips are from the same concert. Only this time he tackles Mae West. And his Mae is just like his Bette - - pure comic genius.

"I woke up in a cow pasture outside of town. There was a bull chasing me. I was tired, so I ran."

It's funny because it's true. Well, for me anyway...