Every so often, you find that very special person in your life.
A person who makes you smile, who provides you with unforgettable lines that you laugh at for eternity, a person who you grew up with yet reminds you that not growing up is perfectly okay too.
For me, that person is Chevy Chase.
Just kidding.
That person is BCole, who brought me to see Chevy Chase.
As we get older, with increasing frequency we see authors, musicians and movie stars touring the nation to discuss their art as their works become more iconic with age. Or perhaps they’ve always done this and we’re only now noticing.
These days, tickets to such events are becoming increasingly scarce, but the price of admission is worth every penny if it provides us with the opportunity to see or meet someone we’ve cherished since childhood.
For me, that person is Chevy Chase.
BCole surprised me this holiday season with limited engagement seating to see Chevy Chase as he (really, we) celebrated the 35th anniversary of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. A packed house filled Downtown Tampa’s Straz Center with countless adoring fans wearing Griswold hockey jerseys all shouting out movie lines before they happened.
After a romantic dinner, BCole’s surprise Sunday had us filter into the Straz for a full showing of the film, and afterwards, a Q&A with one of the funniest, goofiest and most beloved actors of our generation.
Most of us first laid eyes on Chevy Chase in 1975 when Saturday Night Live hit the air. He has been a constant for us since then. From Foul Play to Caddyshack to Fletch to Three Amigos to the Vacation movies, Chase has been making us laugh by being his own clumsy self.
“I believe all comedy is physical,” he told the crowd when asked by the moderator about his brand of comedy, that for years has been characterized by the pratfall. “Charlie Chaplin” was his immediate answer to the comedian who influenced him most, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his work, and who could not be.
After a lengthy discussion of Christmas Vacation, the moderator asked Chase, who had his wife of 45 years by his side, about his other memorable roles. They dimmed the lights and showed scenes from the films we’ve all come to know, love and recite by heart.
They showed his early Weekend Update anchor desk scenes. “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.” They showed the party scene from Foul Play where Chase first meets and flirts with Goldie Hawn from across the patio, fumbling over the bar and spilling everything on it.
They showed the iconic Danny Noonan theme (“na na na na na”) from Caddyshack where Chase nails every putt but one, citing the Zan philosopher Basho and the difference between a donut and a Danish, which was my high school yearbook quote.
And of course, the scene from Fletch, admittedly his favorite character, where Chase asks the doctor whether he’s using the whole fist. Moooooooon Riiiiiiiiiver.
They showed the Lip Balm line from Three Amigos, the bologna sandwich scene from the original Vacation and the Big Ben/Parliament scene from European Vacation. After each belly-aching scene, Chase answered questions about what he remembered from those films, as the crowd laughed along as we’d done so many times before.
Chevy Chase has been making us giggle for fifty years. At 82, he has lost a step. The hard times and relentless partying have caught up with him, in other words no more intentional pratfalls, BUT he is still as sharp and witty as anyone who has ever been.
It’s hard to get a straight answer out of Chase. It always has been. You’ll get far cruder dick jokes than you ever will sincerity; he is a master of deflection. But in the rare moments that his honesty and true self is revealed, sharing conversations about those he’s worked with and cared for in the past, his fondness for the characters he’s played, you catch a rare glimpse of the man who has made us laugh all these years and how grateful he is for that opportunity.
We too, Mr. Chase, are grateful.
