The John Maucere Talk Show

Yesterday for my Halloween weekend I made a new friend visiting from Maine that Ronnie suggested I get to know which I happily did so. We met up in Queens and he brought 2 other friends, one of them I knew superficially from before but have always been fond of him and made a new friend, a man who used grew up in Ireland and moved to the states at age 25. I met all 3 guys at the Queens subway stop 74th & Broadway (Jackson Heights area) by Lexington School for the Deaf. We went to a nice Indian buffet and had a splendid time chatting over dinner. It was nice to be with new people.

Unbelievably it snowed here yesterday and I was grateful for my LL Beans Wellies which kept my toes dried and warm. The snow was BEAUTIFUL and I know many people grumble but not me, its awesome. The ground however was a slushy mess anyone who wasn't wearing some type of water proof shoes would be damned yesterday.

After we ate we headed over to Lexington School for the Deaf to watch The John Maucere Talk Show with Paul Raci. As per usual the show started later than schedule, typical DST (Deaf Standard Time) although they said it was to give people extra time to arrive from the lousy weather. But we all know its because the latecomers are also on DST ;P

What I didn't know about the show was it was suppose to be a David Letterman, Jay Leno type show with the host John Maucere, his "sidekick" a CODA (I think?) terp Paul Raci (like Andy Richter was to Conan O'Brien). You probably recognize Paul from Switched At Birth or as I learned last night is signed SAB. Anyways Paul plays the male terp that follows the character Daphine on SAB when she takes a cooking class at a nearby I think private hearing school. He seems pretty nice and relatable. I had no idea he had a long acting history till I saw his resume on IMDB website but he sure does. John even had his music arena covered by DJ Supalee which was cool cuz I had heard a lot about him over the years.

Back to the show because talk shows often involve a "live studio audience" we became that essentially. They filmed the show which meant stop, start, stop, start. John Maucere is extremely lucky to have David Rivera as his personal cheer leader! I am not sure what his role is called? I guess maybe an MC or the side show performer? On the program he is listed as a Tickler which I have no idea what that means? Jester? Not sure but my point is David Rivera did a FANTASTIC job keeping the energy up and never did he leave us hanging or bored. I give him the award for best performer and entertainer for last night's show. Sorry John, I saw you perform your materials at Deaf Timberfest in PA in 2010 and that was great but last night the oscar goes to Mr. Rivera! I think it was good Mr. Rivera engaged his audience and his ASL skills top-notch, basically its candy for the eyes. Of course the joke I told was too "hearing" but really I was the 1st one to get on the stage and get that ball rolling so I did my part for my fellow Deafies :D

John Maucere also had 2 guests appear, Patty O a sustainable fashion designer who's work I have seen on and off over the years. I would've liked to have seen her clothes showcased over the totes "made from my ex's jeans" which I did think was clever gimmick and of course sustainable, no waste involved. I guess it was just like oh, we only get to see her totes no other items?

The other guest was Sean Berdy who plays Emmet on the TV show Switched at Birth (SAB). It was cute because there were these 4 teenie boopers hearing girls sitting in the right front row, basically his groupie, fan club so cute! Sean reminded me of my old friend JT from MSSD, similar signing style and level of confidence but he comes off nicer person than JT ever was. I got to say Sean is one of the brighter one, I will be curious to follow his career as time goes by and if he along with Katie LeClerc character can help change mainstream audience mindset on what Deaf(ness) is all about? I am hopeful for the 1st time in a long time. When everyone was all ga ga over this show when it first came out. I resisted, all I could think of was the previous attempts of Hollywood on us Deafies and I cringe. I don't think I can ever forgive Kelly Martin for portraying us Deafies as retarded people (yes I say retarded because it was retarded they had her act that way!). God there were scenes where she ran to a piece of clothing and sniffed it! SNIFFED it? like a dog would come on!?! Ugh so I did not see Sean Berdy's show till last month thru netflix and then I became one of the blathering fans of the show SAB on FB! The audience really did treat Sean Berdy like a celebrity, during one short break people rushed to take photos of Sean and John, very interesting. I know Alexa W for many years, met Terrylene, Deanna Bray, worked with Darren F, Flash and many other performers so seeing Sean Berdy did not send me into a fan frenzy mode like I was when I met the magician David Blaine on the train a few years back. Nonetheless I enjoyed seeing Sean on the show and running into old faces with other attendees. In total a good I think 3 hours we sat there but I am glad we did, we got to root each other on. If you get a chance to catch The John Maucere Talk Show with Paul Raci, do so, why should the hearies have all the fun?!

When the show ended and the guys and I said our goodbyes I dropped them off at the trains and headed back to Manhattan to see Blondie but we didn't go out to celebrate Halloween. The weather was lousy and no one really seemed in the mood. That's fine, there is talk of pumpkin carving tmw so I am happy with that.