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- [00:00]
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- [01:08]
Jonathan Ames
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- [02:35]
Rudy Rush
Three years ago. Fourth of July weekend I was performing at Caroline's Comedy Club and I was opening up for Tracy Morgan from Saturday Night Live. And I had a great show. I mean, not, you know, it happens all the time. But just this particular time everyone was, you know, after the show everybody came up to me and they were telling me how much of a good job I did. But there was these two ladies straight leave it to Cleveland. You Know, Leave it to Beaver mothers. They came up to me, tell you how much I watched that show. They came up to me and they were like, oh, my God, you did such a great job. Blah, blah, blah. This is our first time in New York. It's our first time here. It's our first stop. You did such a great job. And I was like, you know, thank you very much. And they were like, well, you know, you seem like, you know, what's going on in the city. Can you kind of like, point us in the right direction as to what we can go do and hang out and see? And I'm saying to myself, I'm looking at both of them, and I'm like, whatever direction I point them in, they're going to be in the newspaper tomorrow morning. I said, I'm going to take these two ladies out and show them a nice time. Now, most of us are New Yorkers in here. I didn't take them to too many crazy places. I took them to a couple of places where. Where they had music and probably eight to 10 people, but they enjoyed it. They were from all the way in Portland, Oregon, and they were here for the first time. So reluctantly, I became the tour guide for the rest of the weekend. Two other sisters flew in, actually, their daughters were performing at the UN so I'm walking down 42nd street with these six white women and all the black dudes looking at me like, I'm about to rob more. I'm the biggest pimp that ever lived. But they were really appreciative. We had a really great time. I showed them a nice time around the city. I was surprised. I knew so much about the city. And just out of nowhere, one of the ladies said, you know what? You have to come out. We do this rodeo every year in Pendleton, Oregon. You have to come. I said, okay. If you haven't noticed, I'm a brother from the hood. We don't do rodeos. But then I thought to myself, I said, okay, I'm a comedian. I've done a lot, you know, in terms of seeing things. I went from Miami to Tampa, saw the orange groves, flew over the Grand Canyon, saw the mountains in Montana. Just because I was a comedian, not because I saved my money and went. So I said, you know what? This would be another adventure that I can say, at least I tried it. They fly me out there. As soon as I get out there, I have a New York City cap, got a sweatshirt on, everything. They were like, mmm, you can't really wear that out here. So we're gonna take you and get some clothes. Well, they take me to this store where, you know, you got the wrangler jeans and the shirts and the hats they give me. The store attendant, she gives me these wrangler jeans. I mean, these things are Patrick Swayze tight. All right. So I come out of the dressing room, I'm like, are these okay? Everybody's like, no, those are perfect. And I'm looking at myself in the mirror. I'm like, it is true what they say about black guys. Damn. So I got this whole get up on. I got this black Stetson. I mean, I'm looking like, you know, Will Rogers dipped in chocolate, right? So we go out to this bar, and we all having drinks. You know, the ladies, husbands are there. We having a great time. So this guy comes up to me. He has, like, two teeth in his mouth, and he's like, come with me. I want to show you something. I said, where I'm from, we don't go with people. They got two teeth in their mind. So my buddy Tom, he's with me. He's like, no, you know, I'll walk with you guys. So we walked two blocks. This is no lie. We walked two blocks to a small little pub just for him to show me a picture of a black dude who was there in 1915. I was like, you know, you should have just called me a and bought me a drink at the bar where he was at. Then I thought about it. I'm like, okay. You know, maybe this is his way of just trying to, you know, show me that, you know, I'm accepted, and, you know, he didn't know how to do it. And I'm just thinking in the back of my mind, like, 100 years from now, they're gonna show some other black kid my picture. Like, so, like, the following day, my buddy Tom, you know, he's a photographer, so he gets all access to the fields or the rodeo grounds and everything like that. So I'm feeling kind of uncomfortable with Tom, but he's kind of protecting me. So I'm kind of like, all right, I'm cool. I'm a little comfortable. So he introduces me to the fence crew. Now, for you who don't know what the fence crew is, these are the guys who go out on the field and make sure the fences are up and make sure everything's right for the rodeo and blah, blah, blah. And one of the funnest things, working with the fence crew, they actually snuck me on the field during the festivities. I mean, you got thousands of people in the crowd. And if you guys don't know, they have like this thing, the bronco bunking. That's when the horses come out and they throw the guys every which away and it's very dangerous. Just my luck. This wild horse is coming at me with two guys trying to corral the horse to get into the pit. So I'm like, okay, I play basketball. I got some moves. So I actually dodged and I got out of the way. My hat fell off and I got up. Everybody was cheering. I'm like, I never heard this applause at a comedy show. Anyway, I've been going back for the last three years and these are like my best friends now, you know, like, I cut off my schedule in September. I'm like, I'm going to the rodeo. You know, I'm like Batman. I put my little, you know, hat and my boots and my pants in my bag. Yo, where you going? Nowhere, bruh. Going to rodeo. But the thing that is so special about this experience for me is that I actually happened to be out there during 911 and you know, the three hour difference. I wake up at seven in the morning to watch SportsCenter and these buildings are collapsing and I'm thinking, what movie is this? You know, until, you know, the reality strikes me that this is actually happening. And my mother works not too far from there and my sister and I can't get in touch with anybody. They're okay. But at the same time, these people stopped everything that they were doing. There was no rodeo until, you know, because I'm the only guy from New York out there and they knew I was from New York. So the cowboys are coming from the pits and everything like that just to make sure that I got in contact with my family. And I thought that was very, very, very special. And. Which makes me want to go back for the next 50 years. But that's the type of people that they are. And even like the year after that, I came back again. They had a tribute to to 9 11, which was funny because they flew in a firefighter from New York and this other guy from the police department. I'm like, hey, what's up y'all? I'm Rudy, I'm from New York. They were like, what the are you doing here? It's like, it's a long story, man. But they actually enjoyed themselves too. So it was cool. We got to, you know, hang out and stuff. But the thing that was so special this particular year, a friend of ours, Lucas, older gentleman, he has bad Arthritis. Had, like, two fingers on one hand and like, maybe three on the other. His wife passed away, and he's an older gentleman, so everybody kind of like, you know, grouped around him, made sure he was okay. That was the focus of our trip this year. And it was so funny. During the opening festivities of the rodeo, they were singing the national anthem. And those of you who go to events, you know, you never. You know, sometimes you're walking around, you never know where you're standing. And I actually happened to be at the top of the beaches with Lucas and. And they were singing the national anthem, and they had these F150 fighter jets or something come through. I mean, so close you could see the nuts and the bolts in the plane. It was really a touching experience. And, you know, he starts crying, and I'm quite sure he was thinking of his wife, that he wished that she could see something as beautiful as that. And I'm thinking of my friends that I lost in the towers. So he puts, you know, his two fingers on my shoulder, and I put my hand on his shoulder. And I love those people, and those are my friends. And that's my story. That's it.
- [10:53]
Jonathan Ames
Rudy Rush is a comedian who's been seen on laughapalooza, Def Comedy Jam, and the Chappelle Show. To learn more about the Moth's ongoing storytelling series in New York and Los Angeles and shows across the country, go to themoth.org where you can also find moth stories on CD, learn about our corporate events and training programs, and become a moth member. That's themoth.org.