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MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL SHORT: Tonight's WWE Raw Host - Hey, I Know That Guy! Aug 3, 2009 - 7:12:26 PM
Ten, I don't know, fifteen years ago I got a phone call from my high school buddy, Johnny. His older brother Henry Pruette (You may remember the Pruette brothers from a column I wrote last year about when we all went to the Mid-Atlantic TV studio taping even more years ago. Or not.) was going to try doing some comedy at an Amateur Night in Raleigh. He was a lawyer in his day job; in fact, I later used him when, uh, never mind.
Anyway, I was a little concerned about this invitation. Henry was, and is, one of the sharpest, most eclectic guys I've ever met. (He 's also an ordained minister.) You didn't want him or his pal Philip turning his attention to you, particularly when you were a skinny, insecure hal-drunk high school student.
A sharp wit among friends doesn't always make a comedian, though. After watching four or five awful acts stink up the tavern, including one drunk who messed up about three minutes of a Richard Pryor album, I began wondering what I was going to say to Henry after he bombed, too.
Luckily, his long shaggy dog story about his experiences working at an Eckerd Drug store went over pretty well.
And he wasn't the only one on the stage that night who was actually funny. The Asian guy who introduced him wasn't bad, either.
He wasn't a lawyer or a preacher. He was a doctor.
A couple of months ago Johnny called me. "Remember the Asian guy from the comedy club?"
"Ummm, yeah."
"Well, he gets naked in that movie The Hangover."
Ken Jeong went to Duke Medical School. His father was a (very conservative) professor at North Carolina A&T State University….
And tonight he's co-hosting Raw.
Whatta world.
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