The Many Faces of Mick Foley
Mick Foley: 20 Years of Have A Nice Day – October 16th 2019 – Hyena’s – Plano, TX
Just a few days earlier another WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley (who was the Friday night guest at Fan Days three years ago) was in town celebrating 20 years of his #1 New York Times Best Seller Have A Nice Day. I’ve seen Mick do his standup/storytelling bit a few times before & proud to say that I was at Madison Square Garden when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (along with Trish Status see above).
I must also admit that his standup/storytelling bit can be a bit hit or miss & here’s why:
Foley is funny, a great storyteller with some incredible stories to tell. He’s self-depricating (at times to an uncomfortable extreme) and charming & is generally interesting to listen to. However, sometimes its just so god damned earnest it becomes sickening, also Mick soooo wants to be more than just the wrestler who lost his ear, he wants to be thought of as Carlin or addressed with the same kinda respect for comedy as Chappelle & most of his act is him struggling with being neither.
The first time I saw him do this act in Brooklyn back in 2014, it was the perfect mix of this entertaining/frustrating dynamic but the next time (about a year later in Dallas) it was downright infuriating. His specials on the WWE Network aren’t much better & for awhile he picked up these really annoying habits of physical cues for applause. He’s also really in love with this idea that he only says “one F-Bomb” per show, will assign an audience member (most usually a female to keep them engaged) to “remind him” of how many he’s said already (as if he has somehow “lost count”) & the whole thing is a bit nauseating.
Yet, I keep coming back (& that’s all that matters right Mick?) and this time I was really glad I did. In spite of the above overused schtick he seemed more himself, at ease, and the intimacy of the crowd made the evening feel unique.
It was strange how many people in this tiny room I was wanting to dodge or to avoid small talk with & even stranger ended up sitting with a girl I went out with exactly once over 20 years ago & her new fiancé that ended up being my fave part of the evening. Good times.
Mick Foley – November 23rd 2014 – The Bell House – Brooklyn, NY
So the very next night, I return to the scene of the crime – the same exact venue, except this time under very different circumstances for very different reasons, to see WWE Hall of Famer – the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley.
An interesting, unique personality as you’ll find, riddled with dichotomy & contradiction.
For example, for a guy who’s known for his extreme brutality in the ring, he’s equally known for being one of the kindest & nicest guys in any industry.
You don’t come across many people who created a legacy getting hit with folding chairs, also have successful line of children’s books. His series of autobiographies have all made the New York Times Best-Seller list & I’ve read and enjoyed them all.
I’m a huge wrestling fan, though never been fond of the bloody Hardcore style he’s known for, you can’t help be a fan of someone this interesting, funny, an impressive resume of philanthropy & the only person who loves Christmas more than I do – (His awesome Santa Clause documentary I am Santa Claus co-produced with Morgan Spurlock is fantastic & I highly recommend it).
Ok, so given all of that, what kind of show was this going to be exactly? What was he going to do? He’s not really a comedian in the traditional sense but if he was just gonna tell stories and do a Q&A, I was more than fine with that. This was touted as a special night, full of surprises that was going to be filmed for an upcoming DVD release.
This time at the Bell House, their were folding chairs (thankfully they stayed put) in the audience up for grabs on a first come basis and I was lucky enough to grab one very close to the stage. Seated next to me was one of those awesome conundrums that could only happen in Brooklyn – a young Asian intellectual with the unlikely name of Francois who blogs passionately about video gaming, who I bonded with over the amazing pulled pork sandwiches they were serving at the bar.
That in itself is even ironic given that just last night this place was full of mostly lesbian hipster vegans in a neighborhood that seems to breed them, to tonight a bunch of mostly male wrestling fans eating swine. I was grateful for Francois’s company as you never really know what your gonna get at a wrestling event (especially in NYC) and at times it’s been disastrous – which brings me to my next point.
Three rows in front of me sitting in the front row where a trio of the most enthusiastic folks there, all decked out in some type of Foley gear or another that opener Jenifer Bloodsworth (good name) a former WWE writer, coming out to tell a tale of Ric Flair hitting on her, hilariously reminded that “umm..their’s no ring up here guys, settle down”.
After her brief set Mick comes out and the trio of guys go nuts – Mick, clearly having dealt with this before already had a prepared statement that was still funny, inviting & appreciated. In spite of this Mick still had to politely settle the trio down and even made a threat to one of them that if their was one more outburst he would have to watch from the back.
The fan he scolded was actually tame by comparison to Mick’s vitriol that everyone laughed when Mick said it as it clearly seemed like a joke. To drive this point home when Mick actually started the show and the kid exclaimed once again, Mick spent an uncomfortable amount of time arguing to convince the fan that in fact he wasn’t kidding at all, he was dead serious. It was so ludicrous and out of character for good ‘ol Mick Foley that no one including the fan thought this was real until shit got super real when a menacing looking bouncer came over and formally told the fan to get up and then escorted him out. This all happened in the first 5 mins of the show.
Now to be clear – I would be the LAST person to EVER defend a heckler, or one of these overzealous fans that can’t seem to behave in public – I have written extensively about the maddening aggravation I have suffered at wrestling events to the point that I don’t attend them very often for that very reason.
But let me be clear when I say that Mick totally overreacted and the crowd agreed by booing him loudly and some getting very irate. This is Brooklyn, people take action here. Mick joked and said “Man, your turning me heel here” but quickly realized how much he had underestimated how truly angry he had made the crowd and he never recovered.
How do you proceed with a show like this? – In the first 10 mins of the show, a show that no one knew what to expect (Mick joked that he was confident that we would exceed everyone’s no doubt minimal expectations) you’ve already turned everyone against you and then also casually mention that the plans for the show to be filmed had been scraped (which we already sorta knew by the absence of cameras) and this is before you’ve even started your bit.
Dressed in Christmas garb as part of a declaration to wear Christmas attire everyday for a year as a part of a charity drive, the show just couldn’t shake the earthquake that had hit it in the beginning. It consistently had that feeling when you’ve just had a huge fight with someone & had to drop it due to circumstances without actually resolving anything but the entire time your under the guise of having moved on from it, it’s still on both parties’ minds and everything up until resolvement is compromised and feels forced. Mick’s a sensitive guy and knew it and after about 30 mins in he had the bouncer return the fan to his seat.
That’s not the only thing that plagued this show –
One was Mick’s stage pacing – due to injuries a normal person couldn’t fathom, Mick walks with such a crippling cadence that actually shoots pain into the leg of anyone witnessing it. I had to fight the urge to do some heckling of my own by not shouting “Mick, PLEASE stay seated, I can’t take it anymore!”
The next is his mining for applause, I don’t know if it was due to what happened at the beginning or he’s just picked up some bad habits working out his act but he would do this grating thing where he would set something up and then deliver EVERY punchline in that deep, affected, hands-cupping-your-mouth-&-microphone thing and then quickly look up looking like a dog with his ears perked up and his mouth open like he was David Lee Roth surveying the crowd after just delivering his “Look at all the people here tonight!” line. It was painful.
Their were enjoyable parts too with lots of jokes pertaining to his Mankind character and his love for Christmas, as well as stories about his kids and life on the road.
But then it further devolved – I can’t help but feel like master performers like George Carlin or Jerry Seinfeld have made it look too easy and people think they can just get up there and wing it. It’s not as easy as it looks folks.
At one point Mick actually thought it was good idea to sing & brought out Sasha Dobson of Puss-N-Boots to assist on a song about boners to the tune of Lola by the Kinks.
During the Q&A which went surprisingly well given what he was up against and the general nature of wrestling fans when the last question promised a big payoff of this story that he had hyped about the idiosyncirices of rooming with fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page.
Turns out the audience member that had asked the question was a plant that was made all the obvious when opener Jennifer Bloodworth returned almost immediately after the question was asked, wearing props related to the question. A story about putting cookies in DDP’s bed was not the finale of the firework display that we had been wound up for. Sorry Mick.
Again Foley is a nice guy and he announced since the show hadn’t been filmed as promised (& probably still doing damage control from earlier) he generously announced that everyone that was willing to stand in line after the show would receive a free 8X10 photo of their choice.
As Francois & I were standing in line I could see the girl that “asked” the question that led to the DDP story, who was clearly his assistant for the night cementing any doubt of her planted status in the audience earlier. She also doubled as eye candy as she was dressed in a super skimpy Santa’s Helper outfit with the most cartoonishly large breasts I’ve ever seen. (Sorry I have no pic of this)
As I neared the table, I could hear Mick going on to no one in particular about what had happened with the fan earlier, clearly it was on his mind, seemingly trying to convince himself that he had done the right thing. Mick was nothing but super cool to us and I felt bad for him.
Poor guy, so thoughtful, he had to disclaim that during photo ops, due to sever neurological damage he’s suffered over the years, he can’t be exposed to the flash of the cameras & is forced to look away and was concerned that people might leave the experience dissastfied, under the impression that he wasn’t fully invested.
Your one of a kind Mick Foley, tweak your show so we can come see you again boss.
Photos –
Roy Turner
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