Ever since I moved to New York City, I have prided myself on being ‘one of the nice ones.’
You know — the type of New Yorker who will gladly help out a tourist who needs directions or has a question…because it wasn’t that long ago that I was was of them.
But yesterday? Things took a turn. Because I was hanging out with a native New Yorker who has no such compulsion to play nice-nice.
I was doing some extra work on a new television show called “Lights Out” on FX Network. We were filming outside the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side near Central Park.
Myself and Herbert — I’ve changed his name because I’m nicer than he is — were portraying press photographers outside the hotel, attempting to get pics of two heavyweight fighters as they entered the venue for a championship bout.
We were standing on the sidewalk for quite a while — one shot took most of the afternoon — so lots of tourists walking by asked us what we were filming.
My response? “The show’s called ‘Lights Out.’ It’s new on FX Network.”
Herbert’s response? “Lindsay Lohan’s rumored to be meeting her lawyers here. We’re trying to catch her coming out for ‘Inside Edition.’”
OR
“Queen Elizabeth has made an unannounced visit to the United States. Rumor has it she’s inside.”
Evil. But pretty darn funny.
But the time we had finished, I had joined in the fun, telling every tourist who walked by a different story. I figured it wasn’t really lying; it was adding another layer to their vacation…and would make a great story when they got home.
That sounds like something a New Yorker would say.
Yes!
Latter days
There are a lot of things I expect to find in Times Square.
Tourists. Jammed sidewalks. Street vendors. More tourists. Theatres. Traffic. Hey look — more tourists.
That’s a bit surprising.
The ad campaign by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was launched last week in Times Square in an attempt to re-brand the Mormon faith as “normal.”
The ads feature photos of ethnically-diverse, regular people. One guy is even riding a motorcycle.
Yep. Looks pretty normal from here.
Or is the timing and location of the campaign in response to the wildly successful Broadway show The Book of Mormon, which won nine Tonys (including Best Musical) and will no doubt go on to do a national tour?
If so, Church Fathers, worry no more. The Book of Mormon is one of the most positive things to happen to your religion since the golden plates. Everyone who walks out of the theatre knows more about your faith and the commonalities it shares with their own.
The humor unites us. The ads?
They’re just more traffic.
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Posted in Advertising, Broadway, Business, Commentary, Entertainment, Family, Friends, Humor, Life, Philosophy, Travel
Tagged advertising, Best Musical Tony Award, Broadway, Broadway theatres, Business, commentary, entertainment, family, friends, Humor, LDS Church, life, Manhattan, Mormon ad campaign, Mormon billboards Mormon taxi cab ads, Mormon Church, Mormon GOP candidate, Mormons, Mormons are normal, national Broadway tour, New York City, New York City tourists, New York City traffic, philosophy, presidential campaign, street vendors, The Book of Mormon, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Times Square, Tony Awards, Travel