Good Things Come: A Night With Adam Sandler and Friends
I mentioned on my social media Friday night that the live show I had just seen was incredible, but never explained why. It’s now Tuesday morning and I am still thinking about the Adam Sandler and Friends show in Phoenix. The reason it was incredible is too long to tweet, and it’s even too long to Instagram, but it’s just the perfect length to spell out here. If you’re an Adam Sandler fan, a Saturday Night Live fan, or just someone who can appreciate a “favorite idol” story, grab a sandwich and read on.
Some people might like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, so they showed up and realized that was also the guy from Big Daddy… along with some comedian buddies!
As a kid who appreciated Adam Sandler on The Cosby Show — as well as David Spade in Police Academy,Rob Schneider as Richmeister, Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds, and Tim Meadows as “The Ladies Man” — I couldn’t wait to see when they had free reign. Now they had their own show, seventeen years after Sandler’s “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You!” debut album.
I had that CD. I had “Stan and Judy’s Kid.” Any album that Sandler released, I bought. Any movie he made, I watched. His likable and hysterical characters on Saturday Night Live made it easy to answer that question of “favorite celebrity.”
It was Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Al Franken, Dennis Miller, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson and Nora Dunn’s era that hooked me on SNL, growing up on Saturday night television. How do you top the Golden Girls Saturday nights on NBC? SNL with that cast. Come to think of it, I was really lucky to watch all of it. Golden Girls, Empty Nest, 227, Sisters, Amen, GLOW, that era of SNL… and if it was preempted, at least I got to see Saturday Night’s Main Event, followed by Showtime at the Apollo and Grudge Match. What a time to be a kid at home, or babysitting on a Saturday night.
I never thought of that SNL cast of ever leaving… I would have hated that. I also never thought about new members coming on board and fitting in. All I remember is Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, Norm MacDonald, Tim Meadows, Rob Schneider, Julia Sweeney and Melanie Hutsell coming on board. They joined the cast in established segments. They created new segments. Before I knew it, while there had been so many tremendous casts of SNL and unbelievable talent, but this time was the golden era.
Every week was funny. Every week was entertaining. Every week was truly…golden. Back when I was able to “choose favorites,” Dana Carvey was my number one. Church Lady probably set that precedent and everything he followed with from Garth to Ross Perot to Massive Headwound Harry kept him up there. When Adam Sandler came in with his goofy Weekend Update appearances and quirky characters, I was immediately a fan. I jumped on the Sandler bandwagon that may or may not have even existed.
There was so much to enjoy. Lunch Lady Land for the kid that loved his school lunch ladies… The Thanksgiving Song for a holiday that is one of the most special to me that just doesn’t have songs…and the Hanukkah song for this Jewish kid who had never heard such a creative way to sing about my favorite gifting holiday. How could you not like Adam Sandler and his Halloween costume ideas? He was the best and I not only appreciated his songs, his characters and his sense of humor — I also IDOLIZED him.
I didn’t have a lot of friends or the best social life in my school days. But I had pro wrestling and SNL, so I was happy as can be. As time went on, the cast continued to change. Great talent came and great talent went. When Sandler left the show, he didn’t disappear like many others. He made movies. Not Oscar winning movies, but better ones. Good-fun-entertaining movies that made me laugh. He found success on SNL, then continued on and found the same success in movies. Not only that, he took his friends with him. Have you ever noticed his movies all have the same crew of actors?
Sandler made it, and his friends made it, too. He continued to achieve success and have his friends as part of the ride. Not solely because they were his friends, but because they fit. They helped add to the success. In wrestling, when the wrestlers were having fun, that also meant the crowd was having fun. In all of Sandler’s projects, he and his friends are having fun…so, naturally, the audience has fun. It’s that Sandler humor of interacting with the cute old lady, or old man, or the little kids. Sandler is everyone’s buddy who everyone wants to be friends with. He refers to everyone as buddy and pal. And it almost seems like Sandler is just like the guy he plays in Mr. Deeds, Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates. I pictured him as an amazing father, based on Big Daddy. I actually thought I had a good idea on what to expect him to be like, just based on his work-without even knowing him. Until one day.
I lived in LA for a short time, right after college when it didn’t seem like WWE was going to be moving forward with me as their ring announcer. I thought maybe with the experience I had at 23, I’d have a shot in LA. I needed an agent, but in order to get an agent, you first needed to get work. And in order to get work, you needed an agent.
It was a long seven months, but right before it ended, I was on the beach with my buddy in Malibu. The first and only time I’ve hung out there. We sat there all day until I finally felt dark enough to leave. Twenty minutes after I left, Scott called my cell phone. Scott was one of four friends that I had in LA and was also trying to make it in Hollywood-which I would say he did, because he got the role of pube cake holder in American Wedding.
Anyway, he told me if I ever wanted to meet Adam Sandler, this was my chance. Sandler was surfing right in front of where we had been sitting all day. You better believe I turned that car around and went back to the beach. The only problem was Scott had left. He couldn’t point out where to look and everyone surfing looked the same from that distance. I was staring at a bunch of guys in wetsuits. I lost hope for a minute until I noticed one guy who stood out. It’s not that he looked goofy, but he definitely stood out because he looked.. goofy. I was staring right at Adam Sandler!
At that same moment, I noticed him flagging down a friend who was on the opposite side of where I was. Picture a triangle. Out in the water and to my right was Adam and, out to the sand to his left, was his friend. He motioned for his friend to meet him and they both started walking towards each other. Stephanie Tanner would probably have a thought about this, but I knew that this was the best chance to meet my biggest idol. I walked up the sand as his friend walked down the sand as he was moving across the water. Would I make it in time? Also, will he be the same kind, funny guy from his movies? He could easily be a jerk, which would actually be understandable since I’m crashing this meeting with his friend…
We all reached that center point in the sand at the exact same time. Without ANY hesitation, I said hello to him. It’s hard to say the right thing at this point, because anyone who meets him is going to say the things and they’ll all be taken the same way. You’re a big fan.
I just wanted to make it short and sweet… and basically just be able to meet the guy whose work I had admired for years and also made up part of my personality.
And I did. He was exactly what I would have expected. Super friendly and polite, he listened to what I had to say and was cordial. I tried to earn some beach cred with him by informing him that I was one of the part time ring announcers at WWE and worked with the Big Show, who played Captain Insano in The Waterboy. We wrapped up the minute long conversation and I finally let him talk to his friend. This was an era where cell phones didn’t have cameras just yet and I never got a picture with him, but I had something even better. An experience.
I grew up idolizing an actor that I did not know and did not know me…and owed me nothing, yet when meeting face to face, he was exactly what I had built up in my mind and took the time to give me that experience and make the experience what it was.
Not long after that, he and Rob Schneider came to WrestleMania in LA and sat in the front row. Approaching him as a fan on the beach is one thing, but being the announcer of the show he was watching would definitely be a cool place to say, “Oh hey.” While I was flown in to be the announcer for that show, the plans changed earlier in the day so I could only see “The Sandman” from a distance.
The show on Friday night was the next opportunity I had to see Sandler in-person. I missed out on my opportunity to see his live show that he brought to U of A my freshman year and this one show was sold out. I had been scheduled to come back in time from my tour with Tool, but then found out I would have to be away on the 12th. By the time I found out that I would actually be in Phoenix-I had no way of getting tickets. I reached out to the Comerica Theater on Friday and asked them to please call me if any tickets were released last minute. They assured me that the guest list was longer than the available ticket list and I didn’t stand a chance. I remained hopeful and polite, and left my contact info. Hours later, the theater called back with good news. Tickets had just been released. Before they could even finish the sentence, I graciously accepted.
Schneider served as the master of ceremonies and did a stand up set. He brought out Tim Meadows, surprise guest Norm MacDonald, David Spade, and then Sandler. Each performer, the same ones I enjoyed watching as a kid, came out and performed new material. These guys who I liked in high school were people I still liked in 2016. They wanted to be there. They were having fun. They interacted with the audience and they entertained the sold out crowd in Phoenix. Sandler was starting to wrap up his set and played an incredible song in memory of Chris Farley. I’ve never heard anyone ever say that they didn’t like Farley. I even got to meet him a few months before he passed away and, just like with Adam, he was awesome. It was a quick-but-meaningful meeting that I actually posted on my Instagram (@justinroberts) not that long ago. The song ended and brought a lot of tears to the eyes of both the cast and the fans in the crowd.
When Sandler finished his set, he brought everyone back out to the stage. Allen Covert, who appears in and also writes a lot of the movies that we have all come to love over the years, as does Tim Herlihy, was standing on one side of the theatre with another Sandler cast regular, Jonathan Loughran, on the other. Not only did they put on an incredibly entertaining show, but they went above and beyond by offering a Q&A session. I thought that was really cool. Just like in wrestling Q&A sessions I have hosted, this is a crew of guys who have been in the movies we loved and behind the scenes of some of the best episodes of SNL. Their stories would be mind-blowing.
Unfortunately, with anything live, you’re going to get the people who ask to take a selfie or an autograph. And that was the first question. When you’re sitting on the edge of your seat hoping whoever gets called on to ask a question that could have five interesting answers from five of your favorites, it is extremely disappointing to just see someone run up on the stage. Yes, it’s cool for them, but not for the crowd. Instead of saying no, instead of asking if anyone had an actual question, instead of getting frustrated –Sandler and the gang accommodated everyone. When the questions came in, we found out the origin of the Goat Song. I talked like the goat senior year in high school, so that was a cool story (Sandler’s story, not me talking like him). We even got to hear “At a Medium Pace.” You could go for years without hearing that, but the words instantly come back. Have you tried that with “Ode To My Car” or “Crazy Love”? He even sang the present version of Wedding Singer’s “Grow Old With You”, directing the lyrics towards his wife.
MacDonald, who was unbelievably funny as always, told his favorite Chris Farley story about how Chris told him that he had something really important he needed to share. He told Norm that he needed to be able to trust him and took him on a walk 30 minute away from everyone to confide in him that… “Pat was a woman.”
Those are the memories I have. Pat…Farley…Burt Reynolds on Celebrity Jeopardy telling stories about them. Everything came up from my favorite SNL era by some of the guys who were a huge part of it. Spade got in a beep beep boop number dial and Schneider popped the crowd with a “You con do eet”. Friday night brought my childhood full circle. I loved again today, what I loved years ago and in my memory. Friday night was incredible, and now I think you understand why.
