Day 3: My Friends Say I Pronounce It “Hill-air-ee-us.”

I'll drop everything, including my baby nephew on his head, to catch a good episode of “Benny Hill.” What can I say – I dig slapping old guys on the noggin.

I do love me some good physical comedy. And last night, I saw a world-class example of it in a Broadway play called The 39 Steps. It’s a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s films, as if it were being produced by a small theater company, rife with flaws and no budget.

Ads for the show claim that four actors play 150 different roles, but the the truth is, one of the four actors plays one role, another plays three, and other two guys split 146. They often play three and four characters at once, switching from policeman's hat to derby to bowler, as fast as they can move their hands. It was awesome.

I luckily saw the show on a Tuesday night, and after Tuesday performances the actors – see above pic – answer questions from the audience. They were dead tired.

2009 had been shaping up to be a cultural dud, but all of a sudden I’ve seen the best film of the year and one of my favorite plays ever, all within five days. This is a record that’s gonna stand like Bob Beamon’s long jump record. Sweet.