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Thanks | Oct 09 2003

I’d like to thank everyone who attended my reading this past Sunday. I’m told it was the first time they exceeded the maximum seating allotment at the Bowery Poetry Club, so thanks again to everyone who chose to spend part of such a gorgeous day indoors, listening to me read.

I also wish to commend everyone on how they handled the evacuation. New Yorkers are known for the way they pull together in a crisis, and this was no exception. Like everyone, I saw the flames shooting out of the smoke machine, but I don’t think any of us realized that the curtain would catch fire as quickly as it did, nor that the heat would cause such panic among the chorus members. I had imagined that zen monks would behave with greater self-restraint than that, but this just goes to show that inner peace is more than just a matter of shaving one’s head and memorizing a few chants.

Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to state that I did not shout, as some have claimed, “Let me out first! I’m the featured reader!” The person who shouted this was my co-reader Jack Haskell, a notorious practical joker and ventriloquist. You crack me up, Jack.