VaVOOM, Baby, VaVOOM!

Last night, I had the privilege of going to a show called Lucha VaVOOM!, a Mexican Wrestling/Burlesque show in Downtown Los Angeles.  I got the tickets courtesy of Drew Carey.  Well, specifically, he offered tickets to anyone in the TPIR bungalow who wanted to go.  Having never been to something like this, and wanting to explore more of what this town had to offer, I accepted.  Apparently, a friend of his was guest announcing and that's why he was going.

Myself, MaryBeth, and Vanessa were the only ones from the bungalow who ended up going.  When we got there (at the Mayan Theater in Downtown L.A.), we were met by Drew's assistant, who gave us the tickets, and we headed inside.

The look of the Mayan is pretty much exactly what you'd think a theater called "Mayan" would look like: a Mayan temple motif.  It was very packed in there; I had no idea how popular LVV was (having never heard of it until I was offered the tickets).  The types of people who were there was very varied.  I guess all types can get down with Mexican wrestling.  Or pretty ladies dancing.

Our group included a few of the TPIR models, the make-up person, and the current guest announcer and his friend.  Drew himself was there as well, but he had VIP seats right by the ring with his fiancee.  Prior to getting to the theater, I head learned via twitter that a former guest announcer for TPIR and Whose Line alum, Jeff Davis, was the guest announcer for LVV.  This made me very excited cause I had the pleasure of working with his while I was a Page at CBS when he was auditioning.

The show itself was very entertaining.  The was a burlesque dance, followed by a fight, then another dance, then another fight (you can sense the pattern).  All were good as the night progressed, and by the end of the night, surprisingly, I got very into it.  It's not something I would do every week, so thankfully they do shows every so often.  All in all, I'm glad I experienced it.

While the show was fun, it was hanging out with coworkers outside of work that was the most fun for me.  Usually, I'm running around the set, handing off changes to the script and making sure I've done everything on my checklist before the "on air" sign starts flashing.  I see all of these people, and I do interact with them, but rarely is it ever more than business when I see them.  So to be able to have drinks with them was truly a fun time.  Sure, we talked about work, but the main topics had nothing to do with work, and that made it so much fun to hang out with them.  Just getting to learn more about each other and laugh outside the workplace, I feel, brought us a bit closer, especially considering how some of us are new to the job.  And I'd like to think that I made some new friends that night.  Great night overall.

After the show, I went to thank Drew for getting me a ticket, and I also got to say hi to Jeff.  He remembered who I was, and had mentioned that he had heard news about me, but hadn't seen me in a bit, which was nice to hear.  Hopefully I'll be seeing him again in the future.

There is so much more I would love to say about this night.  But I'm feeling kind of tired, so I'll make this quick:

Yes, I hung out with the models.
Yes, they are as pretty off the set as they or on set.
Yes, they are very nice and funny, too.
No, you cannot have their numbers.

Peace Out.