# Has this sort of thing happened to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334 "2003-10-24T15:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334/21 "2003-10-28T09:17:25Z")
When I was 23, I was at a coffee house where this troupe called “Theater Sports” was performing. They would do something like “filking”, in that they would take words, phrases, or in this case, anecdotes, from the audience, and work them into an extemporaneous skit. I always seem to get picked when performers choose someone from the audience. Must be the red hair. Anyway, they asked me to share a traumatic episode from my childhood. Now, I have a lot of those, but they wouldn’t go over too well in a coffeehouse setting. My mind whirred, and I came up with this. “When I was in elementary,” I began, “there was a series of ads on tv for some kind of instant oatmeal. The jingle declared, **declared** , mind you, ‘We’re gonna make a hot cereal lover outta **you!** ’ With an ‘mm-hm!’ for emphasis.” [audience giggles] "Well, my mom was always trying to get me to eat healthy, so she got a box of the stuff, cooked it up… “…and I did not love it.” [audience laughs more] “In fact, I hardly even **liked** it. And the ad had **promised** that I would! They **said** it: ‘We’re gonna make a hot cereal lover outta you! Mm-hm!’ " [Rilchiam’s voice trembles] And they didn’t! Advertising **lied** to me!” [Rilchiam looks out at the audience, stricken] “How could they **do** that?” [audience guffaws] ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334/22 "2003-10-28T10:56:50Z")
You missed the call, Rilchiam. In your heart and soul, you’re a standup comic. Is it too late? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334/23 "2003-10-28T11:06:21Z")
Perhaps not! I am in LA, after all! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334/24 "2003-10-28T11:27:20Z")
I have a guitar. It’s hanging on my wall now. I was good enough to be a summer camp councilor, and impress folks in High School… I have a (piano) keyboard connected to this 'puter via a midi adapter. It’s fun to play a .mid file and watch the keys light up… I renovated the space where I live a year or so ago. My bathroom still needs those damn cabinet doors finished… My halloween costume is a big pile of fabric and tissue paper at this point. I’ll never be able to quit smoking. I’ve been single for ten years now (since my divorce)… This 'puter is multi-boot, but I’m using WinXP right now, instead of linux. And I’m still a pretty happy guy. WTF? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-sort-of-thing-happened-to-you/209334.md?page=1)