It was 9 am when the circus came to town. Our video shoot was at 10, so I was running around taking care of the last minute minutia to make sure everything would go smoothly. I heard a knock on my door, and I just swung it open thinking it was Elliot, coming over a little early to drink coffee and cut promos about life, like he usually does (Elliot has a tendency to work heel in life and in promo cutting). But, it wasn't Elliot at the door. Nor was it a vacuum salesman, a true believer, someone trying to get me to sign some petition, or a kid vandalizing my retaining wall. I've encountered all of those characters darkening my doorstep at some point or another so none of those would've surprised me. This time I was surprised, however. This time it was the man who would star in our smash hit music video for Kayfabe: Virgil.
"Gorilla Monsoon always told me to show up an hour early because in show business, plans change", was the first thing Virgil said to me while standing on my doorstep. As a kid who grew up listening to Gorilla and the Brain call the spots, this opening salvo was really surreal to me. How would it be to get advice from Gorilla Monsoon? I guess, if it was you, you probably would hold onto it for 30 years too.
Virgil and I had been on the horn a week earlier, setting everything up, but he had called me from Canada and there was a lot of distortion on the line. I was hoping he could hear me better than I could hear him. It sounded like a windstorm at a Timmy Ho's on the other end of the line, but I went ahead and gave out my address, phone, etc., to set up the deal. As I was talking I was making bullet points in my brain about what could go specifically wrong and what could be a workaround if it did. The only wasted effort was that. Virgil was an hour early, and before he was 5 steps into my house he was telling me stories about Andre the Giant that would make Rowdy Roddy Piper blush. Life can be pretty demented sometimes.
I have some more good stories to tell, but I should say Virgil was a total pro. He put himself into the project, gave out some great advice, and was game for everything we wanted to try. Maybe Gorilla Monsoon gave him some advice about that stuff too. If so, I guess, if it was you, you'd probably would hold onto it for 30 years too.