AK Video of the Week: Uncle Bobby!

He used to do this all the time: break into song, from out of nowhere. A spontaneous injection of happy-go-lucky showtunes to spice up any dull moment.

I was trying to get a marathon going here, but he was kind of tired and petered out after a few minutes. I would give my pinky finger to know what he’s thinking at the end.

Why is Uncle Bobby featured as an AK Video of the Week? Because without him, there’d be no Anti-Karaoke. My entire childhood, I was terrified of singing. I was unable to let the sound come out of my mouth because I was so ashamed. To me, singing was the most embarrassing thing in the world… even though I longed to do it.

Meanwhile, I had this Uncle that was not only utterly unashamed of singing, but he was unashamed to break into song wherever he was, in any public place, with no warning. Shopping malls, restaurants, any public place was fair game. Show tunes were his favorite. I especially remember songs from The Wizard of Oz, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and My Fair Lady.

To him, singing wasn’t just for the stage. It was for waiting in line at the supermarket, for parking your car, walking down the street… for any moment, whenever you felt like it. It  seemed almost as if he lived halfway in the “real” world, and the other half in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The same went for film dialogue. He was fond of inserting into casual conversation famous lines such as, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a BUMPY RIDE.” (Bette Davis, All About Eve) or “-You wouldn’t do these awful things to me if I wasn’t in this chair. – But you ARE, Blanche! You ARE in that chair!!!” (Joan Crawford & Bette Davis, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane).

These films were moments of gold that he savored throughout his life. Life was never boring around him… ’cause if it was, he’d just reach into his pocket, dust off a little ditty and spice up the moment with a bit of showbiz.

It worked the opposite way, too: if you were fighting or upset with someone, Uncle Bobby would recite those lines from Baby Jane or All About Eve and BAM! You forgot for a moment what you were so angry about. Instant levity.

On his memorial guestbook, one lady wrote to say that Bobby was the only other person she knew who knew the words to every song in West Side Story. That made me chuckle. Those are the things he left us with: not just loving memories, but fun ones.

I hope I’ll always enjoy life as Uncle Bobby did. He didn’t just “have” fun, he manufactured it out of nothing. What a gift!