Leaving Sydney and Gavin McCloud.

I went to see Gavin McCloud’s performance – you know, the “Love Boat” and “Mary Tyler Moore Show” guy. You see him around the ship and he will pose for pictures with you, if you wish. I didn’t wish, but his show was interesting, in a train wreck sort of way. He did tell some amusing stories about stars he had worked with over the years. But as he talked about fellow cast members or stars -most stories seem to end with him in tears talking about their funerals or the eulogies he gave for them. He seemed to have a difficult time remembering to amuse, not depress. Even his Mary Tyler Moore story somehow ended up with her being almost blind now due to diabetes and having a terminal brain tumor. Well, I thought, at least we aren’t talking about her funeral. But nope, we transitioned right into her son’s funeral. His death was ruled suicide, but Mary was there and said it was an accident. “His toe got caught in the trigger of his shotgun while he was playing around with it”. His presentation was a bit like a cross between some audience participation game show and playing trivia. Audience members were hollering out the names of stars or movies that he couldn’t remember while trying to relate a story … “You know the tall guy that was in “Kelly’s Heroes” with me, what was his name?” – “You know the movie I mean, that one with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman”- then he looks around for someone to lend a hand.  Even I hollered out “Casablanca” to help him out on that last one. There were some entertaining stories and he did seem to be a genuinely nice guy. Hey, I figure it is a step up from “The Beaver”. We will see who the big “star” is on the next segment.  I remember a cruise I took one time with a geriatric Jerry Lewis as the headliner. He had huge blown up pictures on stage with him of his 2 year old daughter. He must have been 78-80 years old at the time. The women were all appalled, the men impressed.  I think cruise ships must be the last gig you get before your agent starts booking you into a community theater in Boise.