Dare to Be Stupid: The Ska Mailman Meets “Weird Al” Yankovic
By “The Ska Mailman” Adam Wallace
This last weekend, I had the honor of seeing my hero, “Weird Al” Yankovic, in concert. The last time I saw him live was the summer before I went into the 8th grade in 2007. I was obsessed with this man. By this point in my fanhood I had purchased his complete music video collection, the entire series of, “The “Weird Al” Show”, that had aired on CBS, and every single album and single and compilation that iTunes had to offer. I swear I watched every “Weird Al” Show episode so many times that I had most of them memorized, I even watched with all of the commentary tracks to learn as much about it as I could. My dad’s friend, Brian, loaned me a bunch of VHS tapes that he had of various ALTV clips that had aired on MTV in the 80s and 90s, a fake documentary about his rise in the 80’s, and the best VH1 Behind the Music episode ever (with a later update because his career has literally never stopped). At my 13th birthday, I made everyone listen to, “Straight Outta Lynwood” while I went over all of the behind the scenes footage I had watched so many times as a live commentary track to the album. I pirated UHF and watched it over and over and over. But my absolute favorite item was my White & Nerdy hoodie that was the replica of the one worn in the music video. So I was pretty excited when my dad told me that he bought floor tickets for me, him, and my friend Taylor, to go on a road trip from my hometown of Nampa, Idaho to Yakima, Washington to see him perform at the state fair.
The entire car ride was filled with excitement. We got to my grandparent’s house in Toppenish, Washington and unloaded our bags and I ran right back to the truck to get to Yakima as fast as possible. We had to park in a neighborhood that had mostly boarded up windows and red lights in all of the windows that weren’t boarded up. My friend, Taylor, told me he grew up in Washington and that he knows the red light means they sell crack and have prostitutes there. I still don’t know if that’s true or not, but at that moment I believed him. He told me to put my chain wallet (make fun of me all you’d like) in my front pocket because it WILL get stolen if I put it in my back pocket. Sure enough as soon as we entered the fair grounds I felt someone try to steal it. I say all of this so that you can understand how nothing could have possibly bothered me that night. I didn’t care that I was away from home in a setting that was slightly dangerous and different from what I was used to because I was going to see my hero.
We got to our seats and I was ready. I was in my White & Nerdy hoodie in the dog days of summer, but no amount of sweat was going to bother me. The show started and I was in it for every second. I can remember every detail of that show to this day. The costume changes, the clips he showed between songs, the POLKA! My dad bought me a disposable camera for that trip, I ran up to the front of the stage and took photos. I thought that would be as good as it gets. I was so wrong. “Weird Al” started playing his Beck pastiche, “Wanna B Ur Lovr” from the album, “Poodle Hat” and he got down in the audience and sang these hilariously bad pickup lines as seriously as possible. I held up my homemade sign I had made of aviator nerd glasses and a moustache with my life motto written underneath it, “Dare to be Stupid”. He wandered over to where I was sitting and put his face directly in mine and sang right at me. I took many pictures on my disposable camera and couldn’t believe what had just happened to me. After the show, I didn’t want to ride any carnival rides. I didn’t want a snack. I wanted to relive the concert moment by moment. (If you ever want the full detailed concert from that day, I can still recount every moment, just DM me)
On the way back to Idaho, my friend and I played our favorite songs (non-“Weird Al”) and I realized at that moment that music was my passion. I had an eclectic taste for music already. I was listening to Sum41, The White Stripes, Run DMC, Bare Naked Ladies, Paul Simon, Queen, Metallica, Lamb of God, My Chemical Romance, and a million other artists. Then I realized that my eclectic taste came from “Weird Al” himself. He was never limited to parodying one style or genre. He had a clear love for everything. He made fun of them by understanding and respecting them so deeply.
I never got that film developed and that camera is lost to time. I remember the images in my head, but that’s where they will stay. My friend, Taylor, ended up moving back to Washington the next year. But before he left, he sold his comic book collection so that he could buy me an accordion. He presented it to me the day before he left and told me his love for Batman was nothing in comparison to my love for “Weird Al”. It’s quite possibly one of the nicest gifts I’ve ever received in my life. Taylor, thank you. You were a great friend.
Let’s fast forward now to this last weekend. I’ve passed my love for “Weird Al” on to my children. With even more amazing things to show them, like the Disney Channel show “Milo Murphy’s Law” or the "Captain Underpants Movie”. My daughter especially is a fan of his longer songs like, "Albuquerque” and “Trapped In The Drive Thru” but you can hear her through the walls when she’s in the shower yell-singing, “I LOVE ROCKY ROAD” and teaching her cousins to sing, “I always eat too much and throw up but I’ll soon be back for MY BOLOGNA!” (apologies to my sister-in-law). So when I told my kids that for the end of summer break we get to see “Weird Al” live, they were in shock. When I told them we had VIP passes to the meet and greet after the show….I still have hearing loss from their passionate freak out. Maybe I should have told them in a wide open field rather than our family SUV.
The day came and we got to the show and found the VIP tent where we got our laminated passes and stickers and cut the entire line through security for early entry. We found a spot in the lawn for general admission where we were basically with all of the expensive seated folks, but just off to the left. A perfect view of centerstage and the giant screen behind the whole band. The opener, Puddles Pity Party, wouldn’t start for another hour and a half. Just like when I was in middle school, nothing bothered me or my kids. Not the heat, not the mud, not the mosquitos.
The band took the stage and broke into the opening 4-hit that Pharell Williams is known for, launching into, “Tacky”. The screen on stage showed Al singing the song as he walked from backstage though the crowd and onto the stage. The second you could see him step outside, my kids were clinging to the fence in front of them pointing and excitedly speaking with each other, “He’s right there! In real life! I can see him!” The rest of the night was filled with the same exact top level musical and comedy performance that I remember from being a young teen. Only I wasn’t the only one with that enthusiasm. My kids were hanging on every word and they were so attentive and I immediately thought of a recent “Weird Al” quote from an interview where they asked about his daughter who had recently graduated college:
“My wife and I talk about this all the time. We always used to say it would be great if we had a Nina at every age living in our house –just one through twenty-two. Twenty-two Ninas. Because each one is so special and so beautiful and lovely. It’s such a sense of loss when that person becomes something else –equally good– but you’re missing the other person. You know what I mean?” - “Weird Al” Yankovic on NPR
He’s always been a comedy and musical hero of mine. Only now, he’s become a life hero. What a sweet and caring way to think of your kids. And here are my kids watching the same person who inspired me and feeling inspired themselves. Maybe someday they’ll have kids and think that same way.
On Mother’s Day when my son was an infant, we got into a really serious car accident. We were listening to “Bad Hair Day” Al’s 1996 Album. The Firefighters laughed when they came to the scene and said they loved “Weird Al”
When my son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and almost died at 5 years old, my wife and I were meeting with a diabetic educator to go over how our lives had changed and what it would like from then on. She started explaining the parts and functions of the Pancreas and I went through every part and function myself. When she asked me how I knew I said, “ “Weird Al” has a song about it called, Pancreas.” We all shared a laugh in that moment that was the first time we were able to laugh after a serious situation.
When my daughter was expressing how sad she was and how out of place she felt at her school, we watched the music videos for “I Love Rocky Road”, “Trapped In the Drive-Thru”, “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise”.
It was after he wrapped up the DEVO inspired pastiche, “Dare to Be Stupid” that I started to cry. Because while “Dare to Be Stupid” is meant to be silly and random, it also serves as a reminder to never let anyone dictate who you are supposed to be and what you feel is worth your time. If they think it’s stupid and it brings you joy, who cares. Dare to do the stupid thing that makes you happy. I think my kids understand that on some level. So I cried at “Weird Al” Yankovic, and I really don’t care if that’s lame.
After the show ended, we got in line for the meet and greet. We waited another hour and a half to make it through that line and once again, it didn’t matter how long it took. We were all together and we were all happy and all laughing. Even my wife, who never cared much about “Weird Al” understood why we wanted this so bad and she was excited to meet him. It was now our turn to get photos and our merch bundles and autographs. My son goes first and takes a fun picture. My daughter greets him in her Hawaiian shirt that Al immediately compliments and he puts his hand out like you do for a fun photo and my daughter gently places her hand in his and he quietly laughs at how sweet of a gesture it is. It’s my turn. I’m finally next to my hero and I ask him, “for the photo can we skank?” without a single hesitation he says, “Sure!” and counts to three and we skank and he gives me the best “Weird Al” flail and crazy face that I expected. My wife gets her picture with him and she gives a great big smile. All of us get our photo together and I feel like Al’s face was different in our family photo compared to our individuals. He looked less like he was posing for a fan photo and more like he thought we were a sweet family.
My son asks him, “Is a Twinkie Weiner sandwich any good?” referencing the ‘treat’ that Al eats in the movie, “UHF”. Al gave a real hearty laugh and said, “No, they are disgusting.” He looks tired, but not mean. He seems like he really wants to give everyone a minute of his time and does what he can to make them happy, even after performing a 2 hour show, in his mid 60s! I had him sign a picture from a book his drummer, John “Bermuda” Schwartz put together of a bunch of photos he had taken throughout his and Al’s careers. The picture is Al in front of his tour bus with a Mustard Plug shirt on. I knew Al was a ska fan in the 90s, but I just didn’t expect this picture when I bought the book. So I asked Al to sign it and he was surprised and happy to do so. We had a small exchange about Reel Big Fish recording his ska song, “Your Horoscope for Today” and he asked me a couple of questions and then he started signing the posters we had from the show. During that time there was a moment of silence that was probably 15 seconds, but felt like 4 minutes. I had so much I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t spit anything out. I was so overwhelmed by how much he meant to me. I managed to spit out, “Thank you so much, the show was amazing.” and he said his thanks and wished us a good night. We left and I was so happy to meet him, but I did feel like I wish I had said more.
I didn’t expect or want him to remember me or our interaction. I’m not a fool. I know he talks with so many people every night who all tell him how much he means to them. I wanted to tell him more for me. I wanted to get off my chest how much he has done for me. So that’s why I wanted to write this article. This is everything I wish I had told him in that moment of silence we shared. He’s a healthy guy. He’s currently 65, but you would never know it. There’s still a chance I might meet him again and maybe I’ll actually get to tell him. But until then, I’ll share it with anyone who’s made it this far.
