Years later when I was teaching at a comedy traffic school, they started a drug and alcohol awareness program for high school students. Teachers who had a history with drug use were used in the program. They’d combine comedy with facts about drugs and alcohol and ended with a personal story about how drug-use affected their life. I thought the personal stories were the best part of the presentation. I was told that the school board and PTA loved the program but wanted the personal stories cut out. They feared that kids who saw a funny person talk about their past drug use would think that if that person took drugs and was funny, maybe drugs would make them funny, too.
That’s stupid, they’re not exactly glamorizing drug use. They're funny because they’re funny, not because of the drugs. They didn’t need drugs to be funny. Then I was reliving that same conversation I had with my Dad years before.
A few years later I heard on the radio that Chris Farley died. This guy was my age and we both idolized John Belushi, but he got to live my dream of studying at Second City in Chicago, then being on SNL. He had it all. I knew it was drugs before it was announced. Again I was reliving that same conversation I had with my Dad years before. I thought this was what my Dad feared could happen to me and I wondered if Chris Farley’s dad had had that same conversation with him.
To quote Lorne Michaels, "The value system that was around there was as long as people showed up on time and did their job; it was nobody's business what they did in their bedroom or what they did in their lives. That value system turned out to be wrong."
Stay Tuned and Happy Fathers Day.
Story Salon is Southern California's longest running, regularly performing live storytelling ensemble.
Performed on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 by Tony Figueroa.
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