Some people know that I absolutely love comedians. For those that don't, when I was in high school, I used to stay at home Friday nights (when everyone else was out partying) just so I could watch Comedy Central's Friday Night Stand Up. What's a comedy lover to do when DVR didn't exist back then?

So when Dheerja and I went to a conference in NYC last year, she told me the best place to go was the Comedy Cellar. We went for a show while we were in town and it was absolutely awesome. The best part is that there are always tales about big name comedians dropped in announced to try out new bits for their next show.

We were back in the city on Thursday for a career fair at Columbia on Friday. With this, we decided to catch the 10pm show (8pm and midnight were the other options). I really wanted to catch the 8pm show because out of all three, it was the only show that had a comedian I was really familiar with. Todd Barry was the biggest name, and I absolutely love him, but it just didn't work out time wise.

So we see the 10pm show and put us in the front row (obviously the seats for mad ridicule for those that have been to a comedy show before ... especially at a place like this where the comedians don't hold anything back). After watching three of our first five comedians, the emcee comes out and says, "Our next performer, star of the Broadway show 'Motherf**ker with a Hat' ... CHRIS ROCK!"

The Comedy Cellar just lost it. And I couldn't believe it. There we were, five feet away from Chris Rock. He came out with a few sheets of paper on new things he was working on and performed for about 45 minutes. It was absolutely awesome. As he walked off to what felt like ten constant minutes of applause, the emcee came back on stage.

"Well, that was a treat, wasn't it?" he asked everyone. "So how do you follow up that? ... Well, ladies and gentlemen ... Dave Chappelle." We all looked around and no Dave Chappelle, then he continued, "ha ha ha, just kidding. You really think that could happen? But in all seriousness, ladies and gentlemen .... Dave Chappelle."

We turn around again, and sure enough, Dave Chappelle walks on to the stage smoking a cigarette. He performed for an hour and a half(!) and just seemed like he didn't want to ever leave the stage. When he was finally done, they kicked us out because they midnight show was waiting to get in. For over and hour and a half.

For twelve dollars, I will never get the comedic value that I got Thursday night. I can only be so happy that I was in the right place at exactly the right time this week.