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Home turf
Penn Jillette makes stop in Greenfield and is glad he did
By DAVID RAINVILLE Recorder Staff
GREENFIELD — “When I came back to town, I didn’t realize Greenfield had turned into Brooklyn.”
Penn Jillette, internationally known comedian, author and illusionist, returned to his hometown of Greenfield Thursday night, and spent Friday walking around town before speaking at Greenfield Community College.
“When I last left Greenfield, it was a depressing, dead factory town,” he admitted.
He was impressed by all the changes that happened while he was away.
“Now, the old Clark’s Sport Shop has turned into a great performance place; it’s a club I’d love to play,” said Jillette. He was referring to the Arts Block, at Main Street and Court Square. If he had more time in town, he said, he’d try to take in a show.
In 2007, Jillette went on national television, saying that a Walmart was just the thing Greenfield needed. The town was featured on former Showtime series, “Penn & Teller: Bulls**t!” in an episode that focused on small towns’ resistance to the retail giant. On the show, Jillette lampooned Al Norman, nicknamed the “sprawlbuster” for his anti-Walmart agenda.
Jillette has since changed his mind.
“The way Greenfield looks now, I think we might have been on the wrong side of that one,” he admitted.
He couldn’t believe that the sleepy town he’d left now sports two Thai restaurants, a revamped Bank Row block and a used record store.
Jillette said he spent $200 at John Doe Jr. Used Records, buying new copies of old favorites, from stand-up comedy albums to old “dirty party records” from the 1960s.
His appearance at GCC was one of a handful of speaking engagements to promote his 2012 book, “Every Day is an Atheist Holiday,” which was recently released in paperback.
Jillette was also taken aback with the venue. Since he’d last seen the community college, it’s undergone major renovations.
“It used to be a depressing idea of a community college, a place I wouldn’t go. Now, I’m sitting here and enjoying it.”
Jillette sat in a cushy chair in front of the southern-facing, allglass wall of the upstairs library, watching the sun go down on what he said must have been “the most beautiful day of 2013.”
“Sitting here, I can’t imaging why I ever wanted to leave Greenfield.”
It was a matter of opportunity, or lack thereof, that made Jillette strap a few belongings to his back and set out on the open road, to make a go of show business. He said he knew he wasn’t going to get his big break in Franklin County.
― scott seward, Saturday, 2 November 2013 18:30 (ten years ago) link
she was really good. there were 50 people there, tops, in a theatre w/ a great sound system and acoustics. arty film backdrop.
if i was to offer advice to Mary, i'd say, "Mary, the harp is an amazing instrument, and you're a great harpist. Why must you feed it through that electronic gadget so so so so much? Let us revel more in the fantastic, unprocessed harp splendor. It is wonderful."
― nerve_pylon, Sunday, 17 November 2013 06:32 (ten years ago) link
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