A brush with the teeth of greatness

So, as an astute reader over at Live Journal has pointed out, that is indeed Erik Estrada* as the traffic cop. I chose to draw Erik Estrada because,… well … when you think of a traffic cop who do you picture?

It does bring up an interesting story.

Several years ago I was hired by a comedy promoter who I seldom worked with to drive to a town about an hour away from my home at the time and open a comedy show for him. The headliner was a guy I knew and liked, and I needed the money, so I agreed.

When I got to the gig, the sign out front said “Comedy night! Headliner-NAME WITHHELD” ( Okay, it didn’t say name withheld. There’ve been shows I wish the advertising had read that way, but this night they used his name. I’m just keeping him out of it here on my blog) “Featuring-Scott Meyer and hosted by Erik Estrada“.

I stared at it for awhile. I could only think of three explanations.
1. Some young beginner comic had a name similar to Erik Estrada, and this was a misprint. “Erin Estranza” perhaps.
2. Some young comic was named Erik Estrada and was using the name until forced to stop by some lawyer.
3. The club owner was pulling a joke/scam. After being promised Erik Estrada, the audience would be given an obese Hispanic in a state patrol uniform. Everyone would laugh and no refunds would be offered.

One thing was for sure. There was no way the real Erik Estrada was anywhere near this place.

So I go in and there, shaking hands and chatting with the audience is the actual Erik Estrada. Turns out the club owner was doing a special series of shows. Ours was Ponch, another featured Don “Maxwell Smart” Adams, and the last featured Adam West. Whether that was the last due to budgetary reasons, lack of interest or my friend who headlined the Adam West show getting stinking drunk on stage and spending 10 minutes just singing the Batman theme over and over is unclear.

So, Mr. Estrada kicked off the show, introduced me and the other comic, answered some questions and then hung around until everyone who wanted to talk to him had had a chance. He was a really nice guy, and he seemed shocked when I told him that to me he isn’t Ponch. To me he’s Marco.

The closest thing to a negative I can say about him is that his teeth are unnervingly white. It’s eerie. You look at Erik Estrada’s teeth and they seem to look back.



* Mr. Estrada’s image is only intended as an homage, and in no way implies the consent of Mr. Estrada.