Thankfully, Tracy Morgan is healing from his 2014 accident. Once he is done healing, he said, “I’ll get back to making you laugh. I promise you.”

Tracy Morgan has made me laugh very hard. The time he made me laugh the hardest was when we watched a movie together in Times Square. I’ve been living in New York City for 17 years now and I’d say it is one of my all-time favorite New York experiences.

My girlfriend and I had just sat down in the 42nd Street Regal to see Sam Raimi’s over-the-top horror/comedy masterpiece Drag Me to Hell. We were chatting in the half-full theater when a couple walked into our row. The man spilled popcorn on me as he clumsily climbed past. “My bad!” he exclaimed. The voice sounded familiar. “I’m spillin’ popcorn up in here! I’m outta control – somebody ’bout to get pregnant up in here!” It was Tracy Morgan, and he entered the theater using his own catchphrase.

Tracy sat down next to us and was talking loudly to his female companion. He apologized to me again about the popcorn, and we made a couple wisecracks about the movie trailers. I knew that he had just filmed the Kevin Smith flop Cop Out, and I asked him how it went. He made a few affable comments about the shoot, which I think was in Canada. Tracy was loud and boisterous, and generally acting like we were all in his living room. A few people in the audience turned around, squealed and waved. His presence was large and he was totally unabashed about it.

Drag Me to Hell was the perfect movie to watch with Tracy. It’s outrageous and hilarious – but also a loud romp that is only enhanced by some uproarious commentary. Tracy made a lot of brief wisecracks and interjections to the characters onscreen, but there was one moment in particular that I’ll never forget. Apparently, Tracy heard a fart in the audience after a particularly scary moment in the film. “Yo, he farted!” Tracy exclaimed. “Somebody got so scared, they farted!” Tracy was dying with laughter. Waves of laughter went through the audience, too.

Get better, Tracy. New York loves you.

 

During my art class yesterday, we listened to RUN DMC’s classic song ‘My Adidas’ and then discussed it. Last night, following the class, I literally dreamt about shopping for Adidas sneakers (the sneakers in my dream were elaborate, colorful Adidas sneaker-boots; I realize now that this was influenced by a scene about Lemmy‘s boots in the documentary I watched about him this week). This struck me as profoundly successful promotion, and got me wondering what kind of endorsement deal they signed. According to one source, “The hip-hop group’s song ‘My Adidas’ garnered a $1.5 million endorsement deal in 1986, and 19 years later, the partnership is still going strong.” Considering that this is the first time I can recall a promotional message leading directly to a dream about purchasing a product, I don’t think any sponsorship price tag could be high enough.