by Rachel Rippetoe |
What’s the oddest way to spend a Saturday night? How about going to a live podcast that talks about a show that ended in 2007? What kind of dork would go to something like that?
The answer is me. I would.
The show was “Gilmore Guys,” and I booked my tickets months in advance. I actually bought two tickets in anticipation that none of my friends would ever pay $18 to do something so bizarre.
The premise of the podcast and its series of live shows is simple: Two guys talk about “Gilmore Girls” in depth, with each podcast covering one episode of the series.
The two “Gilmore Guys,” Kevin Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe, have opposite experiences with the early 2000s CW series.
Porter, like me, grew up with the show and has a genuine reverence for it, while Adejuyigbe is watching each episode for the first time. It makes for some fun debates and a constant battle of avoiding spoilers.
The Guys talk about everything, from what boyfriend was right for Rory (the answer, SPOILER, is none of them) and why Lorelai and Rory keep wearing coats that look like salami, to the more serious questions of “Why is everyone in Connecticut white?” and “Are Lorelai and Rory actually the most entitled characters on the show?”
Not to mention the question whispered in hushed tones and raised shoulder blades every couple of episodes: “Is this homophobic?”
The podcast adds an extra element of discussion with its assortment of special guests. If the podcast has provided any type of revelation about Amy Sherman-Palladino’s brainchild, it’s the wide variety of fans “Gilmore” has scattered throughout show business.
Okay, now that I’ve solidified (maybe) that it might not be the craziest thing in the world to have spent $18 (fine, $36) going to this, my night may seem less strange.
After 15 minutes spent looking for a parking space, my friend and I finally joined a line outside of the Aladdin Theater that stretched down the sidewalk.
As we waited, I saw someone I recognized skip in front of us. I glanced at her black framed glasses and short black hair and thought I was hallucinating. It was Keiko Agena, it had to be.
I vigorously poked my friend on the shoulder.
“That’s Lane Kim. I swear to God that’s her.”
My friend began to question my sanity, and neither of us were able to get a good enough look as the alleged actress slipped into the theater.
I was nervous as we took our seats in the balcony. The show was covering episode 6x08, a contentious episode for both Gilmore Guys as they have been avidly anti-Jess (Rory’s former boyfriend).
There were lots of Jess supporters in the audience, in contrast to one Dean supporter, who Porter and Adejuyigbe offered to escort to their car at the end of the show. Do you know how many people get mugged at live podcasts about Gilmore Girls? Apparently a lot. Gillies are violent, you guys.
The crowd was engaged throughout the show’s two and a half hour stretch, and the highlight of the night was toward the end of an audience Q+A, when Porter asked an audience member a question of his own: “What are you most excited to see in the new Netflix revival?”
In a clearly fake high pitched tone, the “chosen” audience member replied, “Um, I’d really like to see Lane Kim.”
The guy sitting in the seat next to her jumped up and exclaimed, “I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT WAS HER.” The audience was in a frenzy and my sanity was finally confirmed: It really was Keiko Agena. I mentally kicked myself for not getting her autograph as the show moved into its final moments.
At the end, everyone on stage sang “Where You Lead, I Will Follow,” and Pop Tarts were thrown into the audience.
It was a fun time for dorks like me. “Gilmore Guys,” I give you nine out of ten Keiko Agena autographs I failed at obtaining.
Rachel Rippetoe is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rippetoe18@up.edu.
